Ultralight Cookset

Allot of hikers strive to find the best ultralight Cookset for them which often results in us having many different setups, pots, stoves and various combinations.

I personally prefer alcohol and Esbit/hexi fuelled setup over gas which is obviously a faster fuel but it often works out heavier and bulkier.

My main go-to Cookset for some time has been an Evernew Titanium 600ml pot with a Trail Designs Titanium Sidewinder cone and Kojin stove. I simply love this cookset, it’s a great size for one person and boils pretty quickly when compared to some alcohol setups and faster still when using Esbit.

However, 600ml for a day hike or quick overnight camp is a little too much. Most of the meals I use require 300-350ml of water to rehydrate and I rarely drink a hot drink whilst eating a meal so I decided to try out the Evernew 400 companion cup.

While searching online I found a deal on the Evernew 400ml companion cup and as I had seen frineds use them with cones and other windscreens I thought I would grab one and base a cook set around it.

Whilst waiting for the pot to arrive I ordered up some titanium foil and started working out the cone design.

I was fortunate that two friends have cones that fit the 400ml cup/pot and they were kind enough to trace a template for me.

I was not 100% happy with the size of the cone the template would provide so adapted it slightly to make my own version. One of the cone templates was created using the Captain Paranoia cone script which can be found here.

Once I was happy with the template, after trying a few versions with paper and card, I used a pen to score the template and cut it out, made the join and tested the cone out with the pot.

The first version of the cone I made had an opening for the handles opposite the join, this worked ok but the pot didn’t sit correctly. I ended up breaking the first cone by unbending the join to adjust it slightly. DOh….

For the second cone, I put the handle gap within the join and found the pot sat allot better and the cone felt more secure overall.

Once I was happy how everything fit, I cut the air holes and gave the cone a test with hexamine blocks.

I also made a small alcohol stove that would fit inside with everything, taking the overall weight to 111g.

As Esbit/hexamine is much simpler and IMO more efficient than alcohol I am unlikly to use meths of bioethanol with this stove and will stick with solid block fuel.

I will use this cone and test it out for a few trips and then make a neater final version once I am happy with the overall design.