BridgeNotTunnel

Hi all, my recent blog entry belongs in this section.

I'm excited to try my first overnight ride.

https://astoriahd.blogspot.com/2012/0...pack-gear.html

^^^12.4 pounds including shelter

One thing I am lacking is something to boil water, or cook with.

The park I am traveling to has food there but I would like to cook some of my own meals as well.

Any suggestions for a light and versatile campfire cooking set?

Thanks.

fuzz2050

You don't really need a stove, especially for just one night. A supply of energy bars, dried fruit and nuts, and other food you can eat cold would be easiest and lightest.

If you want hot food, light weight, and cheap, then an alcohol stove setup is great.

I personally use an Imusa mug with a Supercat stove. A windscreen is important, but it can be made with a few ounces of aluminum flashing. If I'm going out for a while, or just want to burn things, I'll add an ikea woodstove. My entire cook kit is around 12 ounces with the wood stove, can burn alcohol, solid fuels like Esbit, or wood, and cost me less than $20. It's hard to beat that.

TheSergeant

My setup for <4 day trips. Use a Snowpeak 600 or 700 ti mug and you're good to go.

EDIT: Oooohhh---I totally missed this part the first time through : " campfire cooking set?"

BridgeNotTunnel

Thanks for the solid recommendations.

I really like that mug for my purposes. That's definitely the sort of quality and practicality I'm looking for.

I could make an early morning fire in the fire ring in my campsite, and use that mug to boil water for coffee and oatmeal, or even scramble eggs in it I guess.

I didn't think I would need a stove at this point, but it's definitely worth considering.

Maybe I can find a pan of similar quality to compliment the Imusa mug.

fuzz2050

If you want a light and cheap pan, I've heard good things about the T-fal One egg wonder. Takes a bit of DIY, but it looks like it can work pretty well/

Personally, I've never been much of a fan of real cooking while touring. Adding boiling water, maybe, but preparing an omelet on a camp stove is just too much work.

BridgeNotTunnel

Thanks, that pan looks good but it's too heavy in comparison to the rest of my rig.

The last town before the park has some good stores in it. I just hope they will let me bring my bike inside the store.

I'm thinking I might call ahead to the Kmart and ask the manager if he has a spot to safely stow my bike while I shop.

staehpj1

I use a pepsi can stove and an REI Ti pot. If you want to limit the budget, the grease pot from walmart can be modified to work well and it is very light.

stevepusser

>>Personally, I've never been much of a fan of real cooking while touring. Adding boiling water, maybe, but preparing an omelet on a camp stove is just too much work.<<<

I'm a fan of the zip-lock bag omelet myself. I've always found that starting and cleaning up a campfire to cook breakfast just takes way too long compared to an alcohol stove. (ignores all the comments about evil plastic poisons leaching into the omelet)

linus

Is this for a day trip?

Torrilin

There's approximately a gazillion alcohol stove options. For myself, I went with a Trangia premade stove partly because if it works out decently, it'll be something my sister and brother will be able to use too, and it'd be easy to teach our parents to use. Our family is full of cooking geeks, and we can be pretty hard on cooking gear. At home, we mostly use cast iron. And if the lot of us are together, there tends to be a good bit of cooperative cooking... so I was looking for something where we could standardize a bit. 3 or 4 standard burners is about what we'd use to cook dinner at home, depending on who is cooking, and what sort of meal we're having. (please note, cooking for us is not always a dramatic extravaganza... there's lots and lots of meals that come down to rice with stuff on it)

Think about what sort of hot things you like eating. That will provide your best clue about what sort of cooking gear you need. Someone who lives on Swiss Miss hot cocoa is going to be looking for different things out of their cooking gear from me who depends on tea, rice and eggs.

BridgeNotTunnel

my first trip i plan to leave one early morning to arrive at Fahnestock Park in the afternoon or evening.

get settled, eat, sleep.

next day ride trails in the park, swim, and generally enjoy the wilderness. sleep.

wake up early to ride back to NYC.

there is some food on offer at the park, but i will want to provide 2 meals a day for myself.

one of the last stores on my route is a kmart, i'll take on most of my food weight there and its less than 10 miles from the campsite. I'm even considering buying an inexpensive pan while im there.

ii thought it also might be possible to modify a heavy aluminum baking sheet into a short term use frying pan for eggs....

Aushiker

For what it is worth I have gone with a Trail Designs Sidewinder Ti-Tri Cooking System. I have been pretty impressed with it so far and like the option that I can use it as a wood stove if so desired.



Andrew

ratdog

Don't go to Kmart, stop at the Turcos market in Yorktown heights approximately 1/4 mile off the upper Westchester bike trail. You can pick up fresh bread, hard salami, cheese, store made sandwiches and any fresh or dried fruit you need for your short camping trip. There is no need to carry a stove unless you want to. FWIW, the bread is bake on the premises and even though this is a supermarket, you're going to find some of the best bread you've ever had. Hard and crusty on the outside and really airy soft on the inside and if you're lucky it'll be warm since they pump out batches all day long.

benda18

for the past 16 years the only "dish" i carried with me backpacking (or touring, they're not that different) was a single Sierra Cup. Cook in it, eat from it, boil water from it, drink out of it. Just one, plus a spoon/knife/fork and a stove. worked great for me.

BridgeNotTunnel

i found Turcos on the map, though it is off my route (kmart was actually on my route), i will opt for Turcos as it sounds really great, and i can avoid patronizing kmart. i'm not bringing a lock, are they accustomed to cyclists? can i bring my bike inside?

i think benda18's Sierra Cup looks like what i need.

I have to admit, I bought a 4 ounce plastic pour through coffee maker because i must have my blue mountain coffee.

ratdog

There is a bike rack right outside, but you should call to see if they'll let you bring the bike in. They have tables and seating inside. By the way, I was curious as to which route were you were planning. Would you mind sharing that?

BridgeNotTunnel

i ordered a large Sierra Cup

ratdog, i'm opting for the slower but safer route, but in all honesty I'm making up my own route though I'm sure others have done this ride many times.

I'm going to try to follow the trails (Putnam/South/North County trail system) North exiting the trails in Mahopac, then ride Route 6 to County road 47. On the map this looks like a possible route. I have rode on some of the trails North, and I think it might be a good way to ride quite a long distance completely out of traffic.

If you have any route suggestions, I would certainly be open to hearing them

linus

Snow Peak Mini Solo Cookset. Check it out.

ratdog

Looking at the map on Google maps, it looks like you should just ride all the way up to Carmel before getting off onto CR47 and I'm sure you already know, you can pretty much use trails all the way from the West side of Manhattan with a few jumps onto roads to get all the way to Carmel. BTW, I use to live full time in Croton on Hudson and still check on property there. Whenever possible, I try to bring my bike with me to ride the upper and lower trails. It's just so much nicer than riding in the city. Enjoy your trip.

BridgeNotTunnel

I like your suggestion, following the trail to Carmel would add another 2.5 miles to the trip but looks like it would be much easier navigation. I've almost got every piece of gear i want for the trip....

Thanks, I'm sure it will be an adventure as well as a learning experience.