The Kitchen Kit

 

A simple kitchen

At the heart of any kitchen is the stove. In this case it's a tiny little gadget that conceals a plethora of great features, from excellent pot supports, through a wind protected burner to an in-built piezo ignition. The MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe compacts down  small enough to fit inside a cup and weighs just 83g.  As I can't fly with a gas canister, I'll buy one locally when I arrive in France.

I don't plan on cooking, if I can help it. I am hoping to dine better than I can cook. But I do plan on being prepared to cook if the need arises. My food bag will allow me to get myself out of trouble if needed, but my cook pots can be modest: The Pinguin Double Cooking Set is just a small billy (pot) with a large cup that doubles as a lid or a smaller pot. Hard, lightweight aluminium, with folding insulated handles on both parts and a mesh bag to limit scratching.

I found a set of Nordisk titanium cutlery (knife, fork and spoon) and a simple plastic Wildo Spork to keep in my belt-pocket in case I get tempted by something in a local market (there's every chance of that).  At this stage, I have included a few waterproof matches and some hexamine firelighters, as they have always been part of my kit, however they are unlikely to make the final cut as I can't see myself wild camping to the point where I'll light a campfire. Not on this trip. 

I've included my water bottles in this kit, as water is an essential element in any cooking activity. It's worth mentioning that, on this trip, I should never be very far away from a source of potable water, and so carrying 2Kg of water in a hydration bladder is not my preferred approach this time. Instead I have bought 2 Pinguin light steel 1 litre water bottles. My idea, before starting out, is to carry one full bottle and one empty bottle on the trek. Not shown in this kit (as I'm struggling to find one in stock in Europe) is the Platypus Quickdraw Microfilter System.  Potable water may be safe to drink - but any unfamiliar water can cause havoc with a digestive system. (I could populate a world map with the cities in which I've needed Immodium!) So I plan to filter potable water into the empty water bottle as I go along, while I drink from the full water bottle. In balance I expect to carry about one litre, which I can expand to 2 litres if I should need to cook at some point.

Included in the photo above is my simple laundry facility: a soft plastic bottle containing a gentle laundry detergent, for hand washing my clothes, and an open mesh bag, in case I can't get my laundry dry overnight. This little piece of kit will snap onto the outside on my pack and give  my woollen socks a bit of extra air-drying, while still looking respectable enough to gain entrance into a boulangerie.