I must admit I do like my proteins fried and most pans designed for back packing are simply too thin to serve properly as a frying pan. This is not a light weight pan but I was prepared to put up with that for the sake of a good meal.

Unfortunately even though seasoned it was far from “non stick” and after a while the base started to de-laminate and blister.        Not a good score Primus.

My old favourite Hobo Stove unfortunately is not really sufficient for melting large quantities of snow for drinking water, so I’ve invested in a new cook set.

The large wide billycan suits melting snow but what particularly attracted me to this set was the shallow pan with a composite aluminium base.

I found that in practice the spirit burner was not very efficient in cold conditions and the fuel was not always easy to find in stores after the flight. ( Airlines will not allow you to carry fuel in your baggage. )

I decided on a different approach this time. A compact wood-gas stove.

The principle is simple. Burning wood in the combustion chamber heats air which is then fed into the combustion chamber just above the flames which produces a very efficient burn.

A stove like this will provide useful heat for over half an hour on a small bundle of twigs, Nearly an hour on a handful of cut and split branches and if it is available, over a hour on a fill of eco cat litter.

Yes, that is not a typo... Cat litter...

I’m taking a slight gamble that the local supermarket will carry the type of eco. cat litter that is made from compressed saw dust.

The flasks I use are double skinned and keep the contents hot for about 24 hours.

That performance is reduced of course in sub zero temperatures but at least I can be assured of having liquid water stored overnight or through the day.

For shorter term storage, the stainless bottles are filled with hot water and then dropped into mt spare boot liners which insulate the water moderately well but more importantly, the heat from the bottles drives moisture out of the felt so that it can be brushed off as felt in the morning.

The plastic cup might seem an odd choice given my dislike for synthetic materials but it is quite deliberate.

For transport, the cooking pots, frying pan, stove and most of the small items pack into one bag.

The  flasks and bottles will be filled with small items like cordage and the bowl and kuksa have their own bag.

For a kit that is so versatile and capable it packs quite compactly.

Following on from making the lid for the frying pan. I used some of the scrap aluminium to make a small stand that I can use to raise the smaller nesting billy can a little off the base of the bigger one, which can be filled with water, turning it effectively into Bain Marie.

This is very useful for defrosting food items when needed and has other uses as well.

As you can see, it comes apart and lies flat  for packing and weighs very little.