I'm really struggling with which pots and pan to buy. We currently use some very large and heavy pots/pan. They are wonderful to cook with, however they are simply to bulky and much too heavy.

I've done a lot of research online and I really like the MSR Alpine stainless steel sets. Leaning towards a pot at least 2-3L (we enjoy a lot of coffee in the am and a large batch of Mac N Cheese). Only problem I see with this set is the pan has no cover.

It's usually only the wife and I although sometimes we'll have another couple tag along. We do all of our cooking over the fire, we bring no propane or backup so a cover for a frying pan is a must.

Looking for suggestions without breaking the bank. We are considering waiting until the Midwest Mountaineering Expo over ordering online so we can see and feel the different sets and sizes in person. Thanks in advance.

quote frlu0501: "I'm really struggling with which pots and pan to buy. We currently use some very large and heavy pots/pan. They are wonderful to cook with, however they are simply to bulky and much too heavy.

I've done a lot of research online and I really like the Alpine stainless steel sets. Leaning towards a pot at least 2-3L (we enjoy a lot of coffee in the am and a large batch of Mac N Cheese). Only problem I see with this set is the pan has no cover.

It's usually only the wife and I although sometimes we'll have another couple tag along. We do all of our cooking over the fire, we bring no propane or backup so a cover for a frying pan is a must.

Looking for suggestions without breaking the bank. We are considering waiting until the Midwest Mountaineering Expo over ordering online so we can see and feel the different sets and sizes in person. Thanks in advance. "

Wondering which "alpine" sets you're looking at? MSR?

In any case a 2-3l stainless pot sounds about right for what you describe. Stainless isn't really that light, but not sure what you're already using that's comparatively heavy?

If you're looking at stainless pots to cook on the camp fire with I think you'd be just as well served to just find something at a thrift store and it would be a lot cheaper...

I'm pretty happy with my t-fal from the dollar store set.

If you like the size of the MSR Alpine Stainless steel set but would like something a bit lighter. Look at the MSR Blacklite cook set which is no longer made but can be found on ebay quite often. It comes with a fry pan, two different sizes of pots and one lid that fits all three. They all have a Teflon coating to them which is nice for clean up time.
Another option is some of the GSI brand cooksets that come with mugs, bowls and plates.

If you are just looking for pots and pans I recommend the MSR Ceramic 2 pot set which was previously called the Quick 2 pot set. You can nest the Quick Skillet with the pot set. The same set is available as the Quick 2 Cookset with nesting cups and plates, if that's what you are looking for.

Thanks for all the quick responses.

This is where I'm struggling.

MSR Stainless Steel: The MSR Apline 2 pot seems at bit small at only 2L. The 4 pot seems about right with the largest at 3L and the fry pan is supposed to nest inside, but that is more pots than we need.

MSR Aluminum: I like the Flex 3 system paired with the Flex Skillet, however I'm not a fan of the handle or the plastic piece that the handle hooks into. Not sure this would hold up over a roaring fire. Anyone have experience with this?

The GSI Campfire sets seem appealing, although it doesn't appear they nest together? The GSI cooksets don't look appealing with the silicone lid over a roaring fire.

I wish MSR they sold each Alpine pot separately but it doesn't look like that's an option. Please keep the suggestions rolling, much appreciated.

It sounds like you just need a somewhat large stainless pot with no plastic that's reasonably light? If so why not just go for a cheap stainless stock pot from wall Mart or something similar:
Stock Pot

I know people like to use them for winter snow melting as well. You could probably find one in a smaller size easily enough.

Look on ebay for the MSR stainless steel sets and also at thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army. I have found several of these sets there over the years. Ebay has them on there quite regularly.

On the MSR Alpine sets, The lid on the 2 version is sized to fit either pot or double as a thin frypan. The 4 set is slightly different sized with lid for each pot, again potential frypans. Both set the lids can be used upside down on the pots to make a lightweight Dutch Oven for baking with coals on top of the lids.



butthead

I’m not a fan of entire sets of cookware, prefer to mix and match based on group size and menu.

I have this pot and like it a lot, sounds perfect for your use. Held up well for 5+ years of trips including countless times over the campfire.

Big fan of this pan paired with a light tin lid I had laying around the graveyard of old camp cook gear.

If I am looking to cook over an open fire I would ditch the idea of technical lightweight cooking gear altogether. Its not really built for that purpose IMO unless everything is just right. I would pick up individual pots and pans at Target which are not so thin. Thin pans do a poor job of heat dispersal and without the control of a stove performance is subject to suffer. Besides, do you really want your $75 cook set all sooty and oily? Not really.

Both MSR Alpine sets of stacking pots 2 pot set left 4 set right. After years (set on left over 40), of cooking on single double burner stoves and lots of campfires. Soot and oil wash off. Hot spots in thin pans will happen, and can simply be worked around, learned.

Thick pans from kitchen supplies will work fine until it's time to pack and carry. Then weigh and shape is important, yeah it's a canoe trip with lots of room, but the OP never specified strictly canoe transportation. Some paddlers as myself prefer light weight easy to pack irregardless of the mode of carry.

The MSR 2 pot set frlu0501 mentioned is $49 from REI new, can be found used around $25, the stainless steel can be cleaned with a wire brush, without damage, have no handles to snag when packing.Cooks as well as some of the pots in my home cupboard.

My gear collection has almost as many camp pots pans, cookware as my stove pile. Aluminum, anodized aluminum, stainless, titanium, for a given size/volume there is little difference in weight or cooking. I just tend to grab SS more often.

Probably the most ignored consideration is matching pot/pan diameter to the stove burner area primarily used, just like at home you do not put a 5 inch pan on a 7 inch burner. Tall small diameter pots work best on small burners like Crux and Pocket Rocket, larger burner flame spreads work best with wider pots.

There is a huge selection of cookware available, new/used/unconventional, buy to suit your style and needs.

butthead

Is the Open Country 4 quart pot no longer made? That's a decent lightweight, inexpensive option.

We tend boil a lot of water in canoe country - our Open Country 4 quart pots have gotten a ton of over-the-fire use.

quote thistlekicker: "Is the Open Country 4 quart pot no longer made? That's a decent lightweight, inexpensive option.


We tend boil a lot of water in canoe country - our Open Country 4 quart pots have gotten a ton of over-the-fire use.
"

Unfortunately it appears that they are going out of business. I went on there to buy a pot a few days ago and they were sold out of all but the 2qt pots. Consequently I'm looking to buy one in the 4-8qt range...

It's a shame. They were great pots...

quote keth0601: "

quote thistlekicker: "Is the Open Country 4 quart pot no longer made? That's a decent lightweight, inexpensive option.



We tend boil a lot of water in canoe country - our Open Country 4 quart pots have gotten a ton of over-the-fire use.
"

Unfortunately it appears that they are going out of business. I went on there to buy a pot a few days ago and they were sold out of all but the 2qt pots. Consequently I'm looking to buy one in the 4-8qt range...


It's a shame. They were great pots..."

A shame, indeed. We have a 6-person set, the Mirro Weekender, which morphed into the Open Country name. Got it in the 70s and it still performs like new. Teflon coated covers/frypans but all else uncoated. Maybe a little heavier than today's options, and we don't take it on our 2-person BWCA trips, but it's on every car camping outing.

There have always been a few Open Country sets on the used shelves at VNO, but none that I saw last summer...

That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.

That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.

quote tarnkt: "I’m not a fan of entire sets of cookware, prefer to mix and match based on group size and menu.


I have this pot and like it a lot, sounds perfect for your use. Held up well for 5+ years of trips including countless times over the campfire.


Big fan of this pan paired with a light tin lid I had laying around the graveyard of old camp cook gear."

I have the same pot (plus the 3 qt size and reflectix cozies for both) and both sizes of the GSI frypan. Have taken all or some (depending on number of people in our party) into the BW the last four years and really like them. The frypans have been on a campfire but not the pots. I was worried how the pot handles would survive the campfire. We use an MSR Whisperlite for the big pots.

quote BuckFlicks: "That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.


That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.


"

Our men's group does this. The only stove use is for coffee water. and the occasional gravy, when we run out of space on the fire grate.

quote BuckFlicks: "That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.


That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.


"

I have never used a stove in 30 years while camping in the bwca, all cooking over the fire.

quote OldFingers57: "If you like the size of the MSR Alpine Stainless steel set but would like something a bit lighter. Look at the MSR Blacklite cook set which is no longer made but can be found on ebay quite often. It comes with a fry pan, two different sizes of pots and one lid that fits all three. They all have a Teflon coating to them which is nice for clean up time.
Another option is some of the GSI brand cooksets that come with mugs, bowls and plates. "

I've had Blacklite pots for....18 years? Still use 'em when I'm not solo!

quote thistlekicker: "Is the Open Country 4 quart pot no longer made? That's a decent lightweight, inexpensive option.


We tend boil a lot of water in canoe country - our Open Country 4 quart pots have gotten a ton of over-the-fire use.
"

I have some items from them too. Griddle, 4 qt. pot, folding campfire grill grate. All adequate for camp cooking and the price was great. Guess they weren't quite making enough margin to stay in business.....sell stuff real cheap, but make it up in the volume is a failing business plan sometimes ;>)

I don't think I could spring the cash for more expensive pots like the titanium ones just to save a couple of oz.'s. And that cheap griddle has now taken the place of my frybake™ pan when in a group of 4 or more due to increased surface area and ease of packing.

If you are concerned about weight of different materials for pots, here are 3 on the scale. The MSR SS is 1 liter, the Alocs anodized aluminum is 1 liter, and a SnowPeak 900 ml titanium.
MSR 7.2 oz
Alocs 6.6 oz
SnowPeak 5.5 oz

butthead

PS: Open Country 2 liter
similar aluminum pots from 4Dog Stoves bh

I bought the msr Alpine set of three pots with the three covers a while ago. Since, I made up several different custom sets using one of those, a couple blacklights, and a gsi pan. I got a newer black light fry pan and I can do a lot with this setup. When weight is a concern I can back off on a pan or two, but I tend to use everything I bring at some point. Now a days our group solos have made good sense. We all have our likes and dislikes. We usually can all do our own thing in a fraction of the time vs cooking everyone's together. Sounds backwards, but also throw in the different food needs of people and it just makes sense. Especially breakfast, some people live on oatmeal while others would be hungry as soon as those dishes are done. But back to the cook kit thing, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up this or that kit and combine the best of the best. When I want to cook fish for more than me I like the outback oven pan of all things over the stove. Over the fire I'd stay away from coatings like Teflon unless you control your fires well. Kinda why the stick stoves are kinda neat. The best part about all this is options. I doubt there are too many people that use a lot of the same stuff 100%.

My usual pot set for BWCA trips includes the MSR Ceramic 2 pot set and a couple of GSI Pinnacle 10" frypans . So far, so good.

I am with Butthead, my alpine set is 28 years old and have cooked on stoves, campfires and sometimes even at home when I was single. I now mostly use a small zebra billy pot or just a large snowpeak mug that fits over a two liter bottle. Takes up no extra space that way and I mostly just boil water and do the freezer bag thing now days. The smaller and lighter the better.

quote mc2mens: "My usual pot set for BWCA trips includes the MSR Ceramic 2 pot set and a couple of GSI Pinnacle 10" frypans . So far, so good."

The MSRs look sweet, Cabelas has them on sale for 44 bucks....must resist

There are currently a couple of the MSR Blacklite cooksets on ebay right now. One set is new in the box starting at $39.00

Thanks for all the responses. We decided to go with the MSR Flex 3 Cook Set paired with the Flex Skillet. We had a mishmash of plates and cups that we planned to replace anyway, so this should work out.

quote BuckFlicks: "That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.


That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.


"

In 10+ years of BWCA trips I've only brought a stove once due to a fire ban. I've never had a problem getting a fire started. Plenty of birch bark and pine to get a fire started in even the wettest conditions. Collecting/cutting wood is part of the experience and much more satisfying. It wouldn't seem like a BWCA trip if I'm cooking over a stove.

quote Basspro69: "

quote BuckFlicks: "That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.



That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.



"

I have never used a stove in 30 years while camping in the bwca, all cooking over the fire. "

Never had a fire ban imposed during 30 yrs of trips?! Nice, that's some good luck right there!

I guess that's my background as a backpacker, and hiking in drier climates. More often that not, I'm hiking in a fire ban area/time. I love campfires, but as a backpacker, it's just a hassle carrying food that needs to be cooked, and a hatchet/saw. I'd never go camping without a stove. I figure, why take the chance?

If you don't have a stove, how are you heating up your coffee in the morning? Starting a fire for that? I generally don't like having to start a fire in the morning. I'd much rather flip a switch and have my coffee in a few minutes.

quote HowardSprague: "

quote Basspro69: "

quote BuckFlicks: "That's pretty bold cooking over a fire only, with no backup.



That's putting a lot of faith in dry firewood and your ability to get a fire going.



"

I have never used a stove in 30 years while camping in the bwca, all cooking over the fire. "

Never had a fire ban imposed during 30 yrs of trips?! Nice, that's some good luck right there!"

Ive been in the Q with fireban, and i think once in BW with a partial ban that was lifted while in there, not fun when your with a group.

mc2mens: "If you don't have a stove, how are you heating up your coffee in the morning? Starting a fire for that? I generally don't like having to start a fire in the morning. I'd much rather flip a switch and have my coffee in a few minutes."

We start a fire every morning to warm ourselves and some coffee, that fire usually leads into breakfast.

frlu0501: "

mc2mens: "If you don't have a stove, how are you heating up your coffee in the morning? Starting a fire for that? I generally don't like having to start a fire in the morning. I'd much rather flip a switch and have my coffee in a few minutes."

We start a fire every morning to warm ourselves and some coffee, that fire usually leads into breakfast. "

We most often just boil water for coffee and oatmeal in the morning, then we're off fishing for the day. We do however, shake things up and make a pancake breakfast and get a slower start to the day. On those days, we may get a fire going in the morning. And we always get a fire going at dinner time, and often use the fire to cook steaks or fish fillets. I've gotten used to having the option of cooking with a stove, or the fire, and often both.