Gerry cans
I grew up with the metal cooking and serving and eating and such outfits being
called gerry cans. I do not know where that term came from, and I apologize
if I offend someone out there. Especially Germans...
The compact nature of the cooking/eating pots and utensils have been greatly
improved over the years, but I have found that the old Boy and Girl scout
gerrycans are the most durable, and cheap at thrift stores. They fit in almost
any pack, and there are some that are small enough to fit into the larger
butt packs for day trips. Look around at what you have, and what you think
you would need, and you may find that the simple kits are the best, after
all.
Most of the older kits are made of aluminum, steel and cast iron if you go
into the 1900's. The newer ones can be made of everything from ceramics, titanium,
even one-use paper packages with self-heating coils. With all of the options
out there, it is difficult to know what would be appropriate. I usually go
with the standard alluminum, mostly becuse if I dent it, I won't be out $40.00
for a cooking pot.
One thing to stay away from when looking at cooking utensils is teflon, or non-stick coatings. If you have pet birds, you probably already know this, but the fumes from teflon and other non-sticks can be toxic to birds. We have a different metabolism, so we shrug it off. Bringing such a thing into the wilds might be a bad idea.
If you are going to be cooking in your gerrycan, try it out. There is nothing
more disheartening than to get into the field, open your pack and find that
you can't use what you have along. If you are planning on using a white gas/pressurized
canister stove, use it at least once before you go out into the wilds to see
how it works, and if it doesn't. If you are using something like sterno(gellied
alcohol) or my canned candles,
try out cooking over one of those before you do it in uncontrolled circumstances.
The best way to survive is to know what you
can do, and what your equipment can do.
General food stuffs
I carry far too much in the way of food and food prep in my pack. But, then
again, I have a point of view that if you are not where you normally are,
why should you suffer for it? I carry a little of everything, and most of
it is easily disposed of or recycled. There are some people who say that you
should only use what you cary in, and others who say that you should only
eat what you can find. I use a combination of the two.
When you carry premade trail food, dehydrated and canned, it can be safer for you, but you still have to reconstitute it with water. Bringing in enough water can be a hassle, since we really should be drinking/consuming at least 1/2 a gallon a day even when we aren't hiking or camping. Finding water, cleaning it, making it potable and then cooking with it can be the downfall of the whole system.
It's always a good idea to be able to
find and glean food from the wild to suppliment what you brought with
you.
Order in?
Too many delivered meals in real life made a selection of condiment packets
available for my pack. I cook with soy sauce on a regular basis, so having
some in my pack makes sense. It also has salt and sugars that you want and
need when you are camping. Bring the condiments you would use in normal life.
Food Stuffs I carry in my pack.