When I first started looking for stoves, it appeared that the best solution was a small canister stove like the Snow Peak GigaPower or the Vaude Hot Rod. However, further investigation proved that there are really many options out there, several of which are much lighter than canister stoves.

Two often over looked stove types are solid fuel and alcohol burning. Both types of stoves can be easily built yourself and will cost you almost nothing. They’re also much lighter than the canister stoves and since there are no moving parts or seals to worry about, there’s very little to go wrong.

I won’t go into all the details here, but for those wanted to learn more, I recommend a visit to SGT Rock’s Hiking H.Q. and specifically his stove comparison.

I decided to go with an Esbit stove because the weight was slightly lower and I don’t have to worry about spilling fuel or my fuel bottle springing a leak and contaminating the rest of my gear.

Once I decided on the Esbit stove, the other pieces of my kitchen fell into place pretty easily:
 

Stove
I took an energy drink can (like Red Bull) and used the bottom 1/8 of the can to hold my Esbit tablet. I cut into the sides of the can to lighten the weight even more. I place a small piece of aluminum foil underneath the stove when cooking to prevent charring the ground or accidentally starting a fire. When I’m done cooking, before placing the stove in my cup for storage, I wrap it in the aluminum foil to keep the cup from getting contaminated with any of the residue left behind by the Esbit tablets.

Pot Stand
I took a fruit can, cut off both ends and cut the sides down so that it stands on three legs. This makes for a very sturdy, nonflammable, lightweight, stable pot stand. It could probably be lightened even further, but I didn’t want to weaken the metal any more. There are also some good designs out there that integrate the pot stand with the windscreen. This could save even more weight, but unfortunately it wouldn’t work well with the shape of my pot.

Pot
I use the large pot only from the Snow Peak 3 piece titanium cook set. This is one of the cheapest titanium cook sets that Snow Peak makes and the pot is extremely lightweight. It has rounded edges that let the flames from the Esbit tabs burn up around the side of the pot, thereby decreasing burn time. However, the rounded edges make it more difficult to store items (such as a windscreen) inside the pot.

This pot has just over a 2-cup capacity. This is fine for boiling water for one to add to a freeze dried meal, but if you want to do real cooking or boil more than 2 to 2 1/2 cups of water, you would want to select a larger pot.

Lid
I cut a pie tin down to size to just cover the top of my pot. I also cut three tabs into the lid to keep it from sliding around or falling off. When packed up, I keep the lid attached to the pot with two rubber bands.

Windscreen
I used SGT Rock’s design, but instead of using an oven liner, I used a disposable cookie sheet. All of the oven liners I found had ridges and weren’t flat enough. The cookie sheet is perfectly flat. By keeping my stove and pot stand pretty low, I was able to make a low windscreen that actually fits inside of my pot. I don’t have to fold mine over like SGT Rock shows, so my windscreen is able to maintain its shape.

Insulated Cup
I wanted a cup that I could use for drinking coffee or hot chocolate or cider in the mornings. There are lots of small, lightweight cups out there, but I wanted an insulated one. Since I couldn’t find one, I made it myself. I took an empty frosting container and cut it down to size so that it would fit inside of my pot. I then wrapped the outside and bottom with some foam from a hardware store and I covered the foam with duct tape.

Everything is sized so that the windscreen fits inside the pot. The pot stand fits inside of the windscreen. The insulated cup fits inside the pot stand (upside down). Lastly, the stove and a mini Bic lighter fit inside the cup.

This way everything stays together and by keeping the cup and pot stand inside the pot, the more fragile pie tin lid can’t be pushed into the pot or otherwise deformed.

Utensil
I use the Snow Peak titanium spork. A lexan spoon could also be used, but I liked the versatility of the spork and the sharper edge of the titanium versus a lexan version.