I have very little to add to my experiences with the
Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit since the Field Report. My opinions
about the kit have remained the same throughout the Long Term Test period,
during which I used it on a couple of backpacking trips in the Sierra
Nevada, including an overnight in Emigrant Wilderness, an overnight in
Desolation Wilderness, and an overnight in Tahoe National Forest.
Each of these three trips were relatively easy and when packing, I focused
very little on my packweight - I knew that the hikes weren't hard enough
that it would bother me if my pack was a few pounds heavier than
normal. Because of this the Outdoor Meal Kit was tossed in without a
second thought.
However, I took two other trips where
packweight was important. The first trip was eight days along the
John Muir Trail, and the other trip was three days at altitude, including
summitting one of California's 14ers. For these two trips, my gear
was carefully planned and weighed so that I was carrying no more weight
than necessary. This meant the Outdoor Meal Kit stayed at
home. Although a convenient little kit, I could get similar function
from much lighter weight options from my gear closet. The
spork-like gadget from the kit was part of this lighter weight package of
kitchen gear - of all the pieces to the Outdoor Meal Kit, this was the
most useful and my favorite in terms of lightweight
backpacking.
As I said in my Field Report, I am a bit
conflicted in my feelings about the Outdoor Meal Kit. It is a fun to
use and flexible piece of kitchen gear, but it is far more equipment and
weight than I need for backpacking. My backcountry cooking style is
simple and lightweight, using freezer bags and a Jetboil to rehydrate and
heat my food. The only other equipment that is usually needed is a
bowl or cup to stabilize the freezer bag, and a spoon for eating out of
the bag. However, on short weekend trips sometimes I splurge
and make some fancier food. This usually happens on the trips
where I don't care much about my packweight, so I carry the Outdoor Meal
Kit as a useful accessory for this 'gourmet' backcountry cooking - it is
nice to have all the pieces when sharing food!
The Outdoor Meal Kit is also incredibly
useful for primitive car camping. When I pack for camping, I am
usually in a backpacking frame of mind, and I tend to forget most luxuries
that can be allowed when car camping. Most of these things are in
the realm of kitchen supplies. With the Outdoor Meal Kit, most bases
are covered (bowls, plates, cutting board, and strainer), so all I
have to do is toss it in the car and not worry about anything
else. The pieces are a bit small for this use if having a
normal sized meal in camp, but for only two of us it is a manageable
size.
Overall, this has been a fun and interesting
little kit to use. I would recommend it for backpacking if it were
lighter, or if it was available in a metal material such as titanium so
that the pieces could be used on a camp stove. I will continue to
enjoy using the kit for mostly non-backpacking use, although it will
likely be thrown in my pack for any simple trip where fancier food is
taken along. Thanks to Light My Fire USA for testing this unique
piece of kitchen gear with us!
