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Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > GSI Outdoors 5 Piece Cookset > Becki Stacy > Long Term Report
Age: 32 Gender: Female Height: 5' 3" (1.6 m) Weight: 150 lb (70 kg) Email address: becki_s_19 at hotmail dot com Location: Royal Oak, Michigan, USA Background: I got bitten by the backpacking bug in 1994 when I was a volunteer at the Grand Canyon. My first backpacking trip was the same week I arrived, with gear borrowed from trail crew supplies. My husband and I enjoy car camping and backpacking (we use a double-wall tent), mostly in Michigan. We've pared down our pack weight a little (a necessity for a 12-night trip with no resupply), and we are continually re-working our gear list to cut weight without giving up the luxury items we enjoy (such as food that involves more than boiling water). Cooking Style: I am the designated camp cook. I won't let my husband touch the stove- he has reign over the grill at home, and I have to claim my territory somewhere! We have been dubbed `gourmet backpackers' by others on the trail. For shorter hikes we enjoy bringing fresh vegetables to add to meals. After a recent 12-night trip, we've sworn off any food that requires only boiling water that's not a drink, oatmeal, soup, mashed potatoes, or dessert. Lipton side dishes and various angel-hair pasta dishes make up the bulk of our dinners. I frequently cook up pancakes and fry bread (a bread that is cooked similar to pancakes), and heat up pre-cooked bacon on the stove. I typically cook or at least boil water for all of our dinners, and about 90% of our breakfasts and lunches. With a few exceptions, the only time I won't break out the stove is if it's pouring rain at breakfast or lunchtime.
 Manufacturer: GSI Website: http://gsioutdoors.com/ Product: Hard Anodized Extreme Cookset MSRP: $59.95 Year Manufactured: 2005 Listed weight: 1 lb 9.1 oz (711 g) Weight as delivered: 1 lb 10.2 oz (744 g) WEIGHT BREAKDOWN: Mesh bag: 1.3 oz (38 g) Elastic strap: .14 oz (4 g) DiamondBack Gripper: 2.4 oz (68 g) 1 quart (0.95 L) pot: 5.6 oz (160 g) 1 quart (0.95 L) lid: 3.8 oz (108 g) 1.5 quart (1.42 L) pot: 7.8 oz (220 g) 1.5 quart (1.42 L) lid: 5.1 oz (144 g) The GSI Hard Anodized Extreme Cookset consists of a quart (0.95 L) pot with frypan lid, a 1.5 quart (1.42 L) pot with fry pan lid, a DiamondBack Gripper, an elastic strap, and mesh storage bag. The elastic strap is used to secure the lid to the large pot, with a hook on each end of the strap that latches onto the brackets on the large pot. The DiamondBack Gripper is used as a pot/pan handle, when inserted into a bracket on the pot or pan. The measured dimensions of the pots and pans are listed below:
*Max Volume indicates the amount of water the cookware holds when filled to the brim.
Please see my Initial Report for a detailed description of the cookset and my Field Report for my first two months of abuse. Since my Field Report, I've used the GSI Outdoors 5 Piece Cookset on an overnighter at a state park, on dayhikes where I stuffed it into my backpack to simulate trail use (and to enjoy a nice hot lunch when I took a break from wandering around), and at home in the backyard and in the kitchen. My use so far has been typical for my backpack cooking style, from boiling water for tea and oatmeal, to cooking up Lipton side dishes, to making pancakes and heating precooked bacon, or warming up chicken from a foil pouch. I've reconstituted dehydrated taco meat, boiled hotdogs, fried eggs, and cooked rice with this cookset. Under normal use conditions, and even when I burnt (on purpose) items I normally cook when backpacking I haven't encountered a mess that I couldn't clean up easily enough with a paper towel. The only thing that I have found that sticks to the coating is burnt sugar. When frying up an egg in the frypan recently I happened to spy a package of Peeps, a sugar-covered marshmallow in the approximate shape of a chick. I remembered reading a trip report somewhere about people toasting these innocent treats up over a campfire, and decided to sacrifice a small sugary chicken in the name of science. It was actually amusing, how the Peep melted down into a pile of burnt goo. Well, at least it was amusing until I tried scraping the goo off with a plastic spatula. Burnt sugar sticks to the coating, and I think the problem I encountered with barbecue sauce in my Field Report was due to the sugar in the sauce. I needed to soak the pan in hot soapy water to loosen the goo off from the pan. Since I usually don't cook up anything that includes lots of sugar, I think it's safe to say I don't think I'll have any problems with burnt gunk sticking to the pot in the backcountry. In the center of the bottom on the small pot, the spiral turning created a "dot" that is slightly higher than the surrounding ridges. This dot had scratched a ring into the coating of the large pot even before I took it out in the backcountry, and has gotten slightly worse over the last four months, when I only placed a single layer of facial tissue to buffer the two pots since I had absentmindedly used the paper towel I use to buffer the cookset to wipe out the pot.  The coating has also worn off the rivets a little, though I haven't noticed any serious breakdown of the integrity of the non-stick coating. I just have to be cautious how I store the cookset, so I don't damage the coating. Overall I really like this set and it will be replacing my old cookset. It would be nice to see the 1.5 quart (1.42 L) pot with frypan lid sold separately, since I hardly ever use the smaller pot/pan. I'm usually cooking for two people so the capacity of the larger pot and pan works best. I can also store my coffee can twig stove inside the large pot, a backup stove I take along on longer trips in case I run out of fuel for my canister stove.
Below are the questions from my initial report of the GSI Hard Anodized Extreme Cookset, with the answers I have obtained: 1. How well does the non-stick surface perform? How much abuse will it take before it starts to see signs of wear? How easy is it to clean the inside of the pot, with either the gooey remains of a Lipton side dish or something burned on? The non-stick surface has proven to be so, within normal backpacking use. The only signs of wear I have seen so far are mainly from forgetting to place a paper towel to protect the pots from each other or from my bowls. The pots and pans are easy to clean with a facial tissue or a paper towel, regardless of the gooeyness or burntness of the food, with the only exception being burnt barbecue sauce. 2. How evenly will the pots and pans cook? Will I be able to quickly adapt to the new cook set without scorching my pancakes or fry bread? The pots and pans heat fairly evenly. I had no problems adapting to cooking with the cookset, since my previous set was also a non-stick aluminum set. 3.How well can I handle the pots and pans with the pot gripper? Will a pot full of hot water be awkward to handle? The gripper is easy to use, and I feel safe moving even the large pot full of water with the DiamondBack Gripper. The gripper feels heavier than it needs to be, though I don't know how much the weight can really be pared down. 4. How sturdy are the pots? How well will they survive being stuffed in a backpack? Will they survive minor knocking around without getting dented or scratched? So far, they have survived a two-night trip, an overnighter, several sessions of being bounced around for several miles/kilometers in a backpack, and several meals at home. The exteriors and overall structure of the cookset is still in excellent condition. 5. How easy is it to clean the outside of the pots/pans? Will the black coating prevent me from noticing a sooty spot, and will I end up getting other gear dirty as a result? The soot produced by a wood fire came off with a plastic-type scrubbing pad and plenty of rubbing. The soot is easy enough to identify, and a wipe-down with a damp paper towel removed enough soot buildup to prevent clothes and other gear getting dirty from casual contact.
1. I like the balance between even heating and relatively low weight that this cookset offers. 2. Since I make pancakes and actually cook inside the pots, a non-stick surface is definitely a plus. 3. The pots are a good size for me, and I can stash my stove and other gear inside the pots.
1. The non-stick coating appears to scratch easily, and I'll have to use a paper towel to protect the pots from anything metal I store inside them. 2. The set doesn't have pour-spout features, which makes pouring water a little difficult. I would like to thank GSI and BackpackGearTest for the opportunity to test the Hard Anodized Extreme Cookset. Read more reviews of GSI Outdoors gear Read more gear reviews by Rebecca Stacy Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > GSI Outdoors 5 Piece Cookset > Becki Stacy > Long Term Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||