Old school mess kits like the one I had when I was a kid. It’s a great little setup, and the only two problems have always been: the pan handle is not strong enough to hold the pan when there’s any significant amount of food cooking, bending so easily as to be almost useless. And the cup is pitifully small. But the cooking kettle with top? That piece is awesome, and the plate works just fine.

I really love that kettle piece. The metal is thin and cheap, but that also means that heat transfers to food much more quickly. it cools quickly too. Now you might think that metal so thin that it heats too quick and cools too quick is a bad thing, and when cooking at home, it certainly is. But imagine you have a fuel gel fire going, or an alcohol stove burning, or a small tinder fire? every minute you burn is resources you use and in the case of fuel gels, canisters, or alcohol, it means more weight to carry. With a tin this thin, you need very little fire and heat to actually boil water or cook some light food. A cup of tea? 4 minutes on an alcohol stove, less than an ounce of alcohol (^-^).

And the fast cool down means it will quickly be cool enough to touch and pick up, vs. having to wait or use something to hold the kettle. That means you pick up your food faster. It does mean that you have to eat a little faster to get that warm soup/tea/coffee/meal in you and warm you up, but that’s a small price to pay in my book. All in all, that kettle alone is worth the $8 price of this mess kit.