My wife, Della and I used to carry two complete cook sets but we have shrunk that down a bit. Mostly we carried two pots because it simplified heating water for a shower, but as Della almost always takes a sponge bath and as all the food we cook will fit in the one pot we decided to carry just the one. Della saves a significant (for her) weight of around half a pound (1/4 of a kilo) – and has more room in her pack.
Another reason we carried two cook sets were in case we became separated in some accident or disaster each would still be able to cook his/her own food. For the same reason we used to have two shelters, a fly and a poncho for example and two satellite communicators ( a phone and a messenger).
We think it is essential to have two utensils (spoons/sporks, two cups and two receptacles for eating out of. The first two were easy enough to just double up on but we have done some experimenting with the dish/plate. Quite a bit of shopping went in to getting one which came in at an acceptable weight.
These are the best three we have come up with. The aluminium one on the left is a plate which came in a cookset I bought back in the early 1960’s and which I rescued from one of my hunting camps recently (See: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/07/30/the-seventieth-birthday-platypus/) It weighs 27 grams. I doubt you will find one. The second best was the one in the centre which weighs 25 grams purchased from a local supermarket. The one on the right is a beauty. It only weighs 15 grams and comes free with a box of eg Woolworths Brand Tuna and Rice – try ‘Green Curry’ which is delish! I had been using them for hiking dog bowls for a while but they are now Della or Steve bowls as well!
So the (Della) addition to my cook set now weighs 8 grams for the spoon/spork, 25 grams for the Wildo cup and 15 grams for the bowl. My pack weight is up 48 grams but hers is down around a quarter of a kilo.
I should mention that I have also started to carry an ultralight titanium pot lid (13 grams) to use as a stable base for my burner. It is much better (and safer) than a spilled meal, and handy for doing some food preparation on too if you need to. It is from Trail Designs, the Evernew Multi Dish 0.5oz/13 grams Diameter: 4 1/8″ / 10.5cm, also useful as a pot lid for small pots which don’t have one such as Vargo’s wonderful mug I have talked about before. (US$11.66 October 2019)
See Also:
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/01/26/cookset-woes/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/22/the-egg-ring-ultralight-wood-burner-stove/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/06/03/ultralight-cutlery/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/10/20/ultralight-folding-coffee-cup/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2016/05/23/bathtime-on-the-trail-the-one-gram-platypus-shower/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2019/08/17/the-apc-and-the-sponge-bath/
https://www.theultralighthiker.com/2015/11/20/ultralight-personal-hygiene/
