I’ve got a GSI Dualist cookset that I’ve used for several years now and it’s great. But I’m building out a pack for my wife and figured she’d want her own gear. I don’t know if she’ll love backpacking as much as I do – or go out more than a couple times – so I figured I can go cheap on a few items and if needed we can always fall back to my setups. OR…if she doesn’t like backpacking…I’ll have a complete backup set of gear to loan to friends 😃

Okay on to the review…I picked up the Red Camp 9 cookset from Amazon for $19 shipped.

We’d gone on a car camping trip in November and I tested the cookset that weekend. Primary use for this pot would be to boil water for beverages or Freeze Dried backpacking food, so that’s all I really did.

The white plastic bowl/cup, corded bracelet and multitool are not well made and may just be there to make things interesting, I’d leave those items at home…in the garbage. The spork is useful enough and the sponge has a brillo-ish side to it so it will clean things for a while.

All in all, I’d say that this is a good kit. The pot and lid comes in just under half a pound. When paired with the Etek City pocket stove you’ll have a competent cookset. Is it the lightest, space efficient and durable cookset on the market? Probably not. But if you want to save money and need to start “somewhere” the Red Camp 9 is a good place to start.