GSI Lexan Deep Plate
Tester Biography:
- Name: Rebecca (Becki) Stacy
- Age: 31
- Height: 5' 3" (1.6 m)
- Weight: 150 lbs (68 kg)
- Email address:beckistacy at
comcast dot net
- City, State, Country: Royal
Oak, MI USA
- Date: March 2, 2005
Backpacking 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.
Every year since 1998 my husband and I have usually spent at least a long
weekend car camping, mostly in Michigan. Our longest trip was 6 nights
hiking the Pictured Rocks. When hiking the Pictured Rocks we took
everything but the kitchen sink. We are re-working our gear list to pare
down our weight a little without giving up the luxury items we enjoy.
Product Information:
- Manufacturer: GSI
- Year of Manufacture: 2003
- URL: http://www.gsioutdoors.com/
- Listed weight: 4.8oz (136 g)
- Weight as delivered: 4.8 oz
(136 g)
- Diameter: 9.75" (24.8 cm)
- Depth: 1.25" (3.2 cm)
- MSRP: US$ 5.25
Other specifics:
The plate is available in transparent
blue or emerald green.
Product Description:
The Lexan Plate comes unpackaged,
with the product information printed on a circular insert glued to the
plate itself.
Function:
The Lexan plate serves to contain
food before and during consumption.
Locations Tested:
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
(a 42+ mile / 68+ km segment of the NCT), Michigan. The terrain is flat to
steep hills we had to climb with the help of railroad tie `stairs'. Weather
conditions varied from lows in the 50s F (around 10 C) at night to low 80s
F (around 25 C) in the days. The weather varied from sunny to
thunderstorms. The conditions are well within the designed use parameters
of just about any food equipment.
I also used the plates on an
overnight backpacking trip with my younger brother on the NCT/Manistee
River Loop in the Manistee National Forest, Michigan. The plates performed
exactly the same on this trip as on the Pictured Rocks hike.
Cooking Style On Trip:
On our trip another group dubbed
us as `gourmet' backpackers. Though we didn't cook up anything truly fancy,
we need a good, flavorful meal (`comfort food') to look forward to at the
end of the day. Pancakes and oatmeal were common breakfasts, and dinner ran
from tacos to chili mack to a couple of freeze-dried backpacking meals.
My husband and I used the plates
(and also the GSI Lexan cereal bowls) during our entire trip along the
Pictured Rocks. Overall, they performed their designated function properly,
faithfully keeping our food contained while eating. The depth of the plate
was nice for keeping items from slipping off the edge. It held up to the
normal use of such an item during backpacking.
We kept the plates in a mesh bag
with our cookset, which created some dead space since the plates were
significantly larger than our pot. Over the period of the trip, we figured
out the plates were quite a bit larger than what we really needed. The only
time the size of the plates came in handy was when we had soft tacos, and
the tortillas were about the size of the bottom of the plate. Other than
that, we could have gotten away with using just the bowls. One thing we
found out during the trip is that dirt and dust apparently gravitate to
this material. I think the Lexan might have a static charge that causes
this. Less dirt clung to the outside of the pot than to the bottom of the
plate (and bowls). Using LNT principles and minimum campsuds, the Lexan
dining ware was difficult to keep clean, both of the clinging dirt and from
food.
Summary:
The GSI Lexan plate is durable and
lightweight, but a bit on the large side for our practical use. This might
be a nice item for the car-camper who occasionally backpacks, and wants
something large enough for a hotdog and ear of corn that can do double duty
in the backwoods. Since we're cutting down on weight and only need bowls
for our backpacking trips, these plates have been reassigned to car-camping
ventures only. Because of the problems we've had cleaning the Lexan we are
currently looking at other options for bowls.
What I liked:
- Deep-dish style that kept food
on the plate under less than optimal dining situations (set on lap).
- Light-weight, compared to
enameled items of similar size.
What I didn't like:
- Larger than what we really
need.
- Difficult to keep clean.
