Sunday 1 May 2016

My Tramping Gear: A look at my cooking gear

Tramping cooking gear...what I use

I thought I would do a post about the cooking gear I'm currently using. I could be an total outdoor tech head and call this a "cooking system" except "system" implies some planning while this gear simply coalesced over time.


Having a brew at Davies Shelter on the Queen Charlotte Track 2016


How your tramping style impacts on your gear

It is a waste of time talking about cook gear without a brief discussion of tramping styles.


Not lite weight....a more traditional set of gear for tramping


 Obviously, the style of tramping you follow is going to dictate the type of cooking equipment you are carrying. We can break these down into two main styles: traditionalist and lightweight

If you are a traditionalist you may carry some real food, a white spirit stove, larger pot(s) and possibly even a skillet. If you are an ultra lighter you will have a meths stove, one spoon/spork and a small titanium pot (if that, many have started to cold cook i.e. NO hot meals or hot drinks when on trail!)

East Hawdon Hut, 2015...my old cook pot and aluminium cup in use


Obviously, you should only carry what is absolutely essential to get the job done, nothing more. 

My style is constantly evolving, at present I am half way towards ultralight, gradually changing kit as I go. I'm also pragmatic about this, sometimes adding a small amount of extra weight makes cooking easier or more pleasant. I'm not one of  the "cut off the handles just to save weight" types.

I don't carry a plate or bowl, instead I eat from my cook pot or straight from the bag. 

Me tucking into a BCC Tomato Chicken Alfredo straight from the bag!

I still occasionally cook in my pot but the majority of my cooking is heating water to add to dehydrated and freeze dried meals. That and copious amounts of tea of course....

A look at my cooking gear


Because of my tramping style I need very little cooking gear. Here is a list of my cook equipment including everything needed to prepare my typical menu items:


Cook pot, hard anodised aluminium      1     120gms
Cook pot cup/lid                                     1       80gms
or: Toaks Ti 1300ml pot with lid            1       90gms
Kovea Hiker stove, steel + bag               1     140gms
or: Firemaple FMS-116 Ti                      1     48gms/76gms with case
MSR 300gm gas canister                        1     227gms
Titanium Fork                                         1      18gms
Titanium spoon                                       1       21gms
Victoronix knife (including the 'biner)   1       89gms
Bic lighter                                               1       30gms
Chux cloth                                              1       12gms
Nylon stuff sack                                     1       75gms
Total weight                                                  822gms or 620gms


If you take away the fuel canister that is around 600/420gms which is pretty good weight wise.

I have all my cooking kit together in a nylon stow bag, if I stop and want to brew up I have everything readily available in the one place. This includes my tea bags and sugar substitute (more on that later), it is so much easier looking for the one blue bag than searching for gear in 2-3 different places. 


My tramping cook gear packed for my next tramp...a nice neat package!

Tramping cook equipment laid out for viewing

I use the Chux cloth as a tea towel to dry my pot etc., I have one with the cook kit and add another to every second days worth of food. This system works well and allows me to leave cleaning cloths at huts if they need them.

I usually have a 2x2cm square of scrubbing pad in a small plastic bag inside the kit for cleaning my cook gear. My bio degradable soap is carried separately in an outside pocket of my pack.

Cook gear: A Chux cloth and lighter but no pot scrubber!

Some nylon non scratch pot scrubbers...
Sea to Summit super wash: biodegradable camp soap


I carry a spoon, knife and fork; many people make due with just a spoon or a spork (spoon and fork combined) but over time I have found it is more practical to carry light titanium versions of all three. My pen knife (classic Victorinox camper) is the only knife I carry because the only thing I ever need to cut is salami, cheese and vegetables.

There is a small carabiner to keep them clipped together. 

If I need a huge knife for carving a club, hut or rescue vessel then something has gone seriously wrong and its too late already!


Cook gear: knife, fork and spoon (KFS)

One of my cook stoves is a Kovea Backpacker model which I mainly hold onto out of sentimental attachment. It is heavy at 140gms (including the bag) but I brought it in 1993 and have been using it ever since with no problems. Rest assured, I'm not that much of a sentimentalist: if it didn't perform I would replace it, as I have done with a lot of my tramping kit.


My Kovea backpacker model camp stove and carry case


I also like the wide burner head (a lot of the newer lightweight stoves have very small burners) and long pot support arms it has. It seems a lot more stable than some of the super lightweight stoves I have seen in use.

This is "olde school styles" i.e. no piezo starter, you have to use a match or lighter to fire it up, this is no disadvantage in my opinion. This stove has seen some real use, still works like new!

Kovea is solid gear, at least the old stuff is.




A Kovea Backpacker stove in operation...

In early 2018 I brought myself a new lighter titanium stove, it is a Chinese brand called Fire Maple, the code for it is the FMS-116T. It has survived a couple of outings now and I am impressed...it works really well. It only weighs 48gms (76 gms in the supplied carry case). It is super efficient and has a wide burner head and cost me $50 from the online retailer Gearshop.

This is my main stove now.

My new Firemaple FMS-116Ti stove


In the photo below, my cook pot has the MSR gas canister inside, as well as my brew kit of tea bags, lighter and Splenda sugar replacement. Not shown are the supply of water purification tablets I carry in the kit so I can make potable water without needing to hunt through my pack.


My cooking pot and ancillary gear packed ready for the carry bag
The pot above is a Element brand1 liter hard anodized aluminium one with folding handles, the lid/cup is made of the same material. I have recently brought a Toaks Titanium cook pot as I continue to lighten my gear. This is a 1.3 liter pot and weighs a mere 90gms including the lid. The Toaks pot is much lighter and given I mostly just boil water it fills its role well.

My newer Toaks Ti 1.3 liter cook pot and carry bag
I tend not to carry the supplied bag as it just adds to the weight, instead I wrap the pot in an old bread bag as these are light, waterproof, disposable (as a trash bag) and easily replaced.


Close up view of the Toaks 1300ml Ti pot



My Toaks Ti cook pot in use on the Abel Tasman Inland Track, March 2018


Both of these pots have a measuring scale up the side in cups and 200ml graduations.

The bread bag is what I use for rubbish collection, I usually hang it from one of my rear facing pack straps while I am walking. One bag will usually last me for a 3 day tramp.

I also carry 3-4 small freezer bags for storage purposes; like keeping my KFS off the grotty hut benches etc.


Cook pot and the gear held inside it
The cup/lid/frypan/plate of this kit will hold about 450ml of liquid, it fills all four stated roles as required.

Ancillary Gear

Flame-less Ration Heaters

The other heating method I sometimes use is one of the Back Country flame-less ration heaters, these produce heat through thermo-chemical action to warm your food.


Originally these heaters were developed for the US military in the late 1980's to heat their MRE meals. An MRE is a single meal with an entrée in a therm-stabilised retort pouch, a Flameless Ration Heater (FRH), various snacks and an accessory pack.

A US military grade Meals Ready to Eat (MRE)



Contents of a US MRE pack: Chicken, vegetables and noodles MRE


The FRH's are excellent for the defence services as they do away with the need for fires, cookers or other obvious cooking methods.


The salts in a FRH are activated by water, you chuck your retort pouch in with them and viola... one heated meal. No mess, no fuss but horribly disastrous to the environment.

These are good with anything in a metallised or thick plastic retort pouch, such as the Back Country range, Kaweka meals and the MTR Indian curries.

Some of the MTR Indian mains I sometimes carry...Panner Butter Masala and Jeeri Rice


Just handle the pouch carefully when heated as they are goddamn hot!

Esbit cubes


Esbit produce solid fuel tablets made from hexamide, I usually carry a couple as an emergency heating options or as a fire lighter. These burn long and at a medium heat so they are best used for heating water for dehydrated meals.  Two tabs weigh a minuscule 30 gms!

Esbit brand solid fuel tablets



You can also buy special stoves to use these tablets on but I usually just find two flat rocks, light the tab and perch my cook pot over the flame. Works a real treat!

An Esbit solid fuel cooker...this is the famous Tommy Cooker

Water Bottles

I have long ago given up on using heavy metal or rigid plastic bottles for carrying water in. Instead I use empty juice or water bottles which I refill, and then discard after a couple of months or when they start to degrade.


I no longer carry heavy Nalgene style water bottles


It is well worth considering this alternate:  recycled bottles are cheaper, lighter, easier to replace and the recycling is good for the environment.

My criteria for potential bottle sources are:

Must be less than 100gms empty
Easy to replace
Wide mouth on bottle, 1+ litre capacity
Made of a food grade or non BPA plastic
Easy to remove any labels for ease of cleaning

What I have been using for the last three years are Fresh Up juice bottles, these tick all my boxes and I even like the juice they contain when new. These weigh 70gms empty compared to 175 for a medium sized Nalgene bottle.

Fresh-Up Juice bottle = instant water bottle

Set up for use is easy, strip off the label, wash them and fill them with water. Simple!

Juice bottle re-purposed and ready for the field

My Brew Kit

When I am out tramping I drink tea for a hot drink. I prefer Dilmah Earl Grey but anything is acceptable if I am running short of supplies. I usually have a brew with breakfast, occasionally one at lunch and 1-2 at the end of the day.

Delicious Dilmah Tea: and its ethically grown as well...

Teabags of course...too much hassle to use leaf tea, lots of mess, cleaning problems etc. With a teabag you chuck it in your cup, add sugar and water and Bob's your Uncle...

Tucking into a brew at East Hawdon Hut, 2014

I used to carry sugar for tea but it is very heavy, so I switched to a sugar substitute. Splenda is the tastiest sugar substitute I have found, it doesn't have that bitter after-taste others have.There are 200 tablets per pack, the total weight is a minuscule 12 gms! 

One tablet = 1 teaspoon of sugar

I am aware of the controversy about these sugar substitutes but given that I only use it for 20-30 days a year or less I figure I'm probably o.k.


Splenda sugar replacement..it tastes o.k.

I have also used sweetened condensed milk as a tea sweetener...it makes for a really sweet, milky but moorish brew. Buy it in the shelf stable plastic tube as they are lighter and can be securely closed after use.


Delicious Nestles condensed milk....yum!

I will also occasionally take Latte coffee sachets from Jarrah/Nescafe and also hot chocolate sachets when the weather is cooler.

Isobutane Canisters


I regularly both the small and medium sized isobutane gas canisters, a small one (110gms) will last for 1-2 nights depending on use while the medium version (227gms) will see me for 3-5 days. I only carry the larger canisters (450gms) on extended week long trips.

I usually boil water 3-4 times per day for tea, drinks and meals.

Three sizes of MSR gas canister


My favourite gas brand is Kovea, but the MSR version is also good and far more widespread. All of my gas stoves will accept screw on type gas canisters. 


227ml MSR Isobutane gas bottle
Most of the loose cook kit fits inside the cook pot; this is good as it is a smaller packed space as well as protecting it from knocks. The stove in its pouch goes into the bottom of the bag with the chux cloth, KFS and scrub pad, then the pot ensemble goes on top. A nice neat package.

The cook pot with gear stored inside: gas canister, lighter and brew kit

Stove Wind-shields


One thing which I occasionally carry is a wind-shield to protect my cooker flame from wind gusts.  A wind gust can extinguish your cooker or at a minimum make it much less efficient.

I have two different wind-shields, the first is a commercially produced version made by Macpac. This is a fold out screen with connectors so that it can be shaped into a circle. The main problem with this is the weight (110gms) so has been relegated to base camp cooking duty.
Macpac brand cooker wind-shield

My other wind shield is home made from an heavy foil roasting tray. This version weighs hardly anything (37gms) and if damaged can be easily and cheaply replaced. There are a set of instructions on Lotsafreshair's website about how to make one of these at home. 


A foil wind shield from http://lotsafreshair.com
 If I'm in a hut or camping in thick bush I don't usually bother with a wind shield or I will make an expedient one from rocks or chunks of wood. I would carry a wind shield if camping out on tops or a ridge as wind is more of a problem there. 

Miscellaneous Gear

 The other thing I carry is a support for my stove gas canister. These cooker over gas canister stoves are notoriously unstable, mainly due to the small diameter of the gas bottle at its base. What a pot support does is increase the diameter on the ground, making it much more stable. 

Gas bottle support, Macpac brand


My version is from Macpac, it will accept all three sizes of canister & weighs 20gms, again it is carried if I expect to be camping out.

Other cook gear I use...


My previous cook set in use Lake Christabel Hut 2014
I used to carry a lightweight stainless steel pot and a separate metal cup but exchanged these for my current set up last year. Stainless is great for clean up but it is a lot heavier.The stainless pot weighs in at 227gms (no lid), the cup weighs 90gms so that is 317gms as opposed to my current 210 gms.

I also have a fry pan made from the same material (they were a set) which weighs only 97gms. 

I still use both if part of a larger tramping group or for base camping as you need your own cup etc. and the pot (at 1.2 litres in volume) is much better for cooking real food in.


Brewing up on the bed of the Blue Grey River 2014
Just one other item I'd like to mention, if you use isobutane gas canisters then like me you will end up with a lot of hard to dispose of empties. Normally these cannot be recycled due to the chance of residual gas causing an explosion so you need to get one of these:


The Jetboil Crunchit

This is a Jetboil Crunchit!

A Crunchit is basically a big can opener,...you use it to pierce empty gas canisters. The canister can then be placed in your usual metal recycling bin. They cost $16 NZD and will be one of the most useful pieces of gear you will ever buy. Mine stays at home so that after a trip I can recycle the metal responsibly. 

Find them online, at any Macpac/Kathmandu/Bivouac Outdoor/Hunting and Fishing store in New Zealand and at most other good outdoor retailers.

 The cook gear in use...


Here are some assorted photos of the current cook kit in action....

Brewing up at Rod Donald Hut, March 2016

Cooker and cook pot in use, Packhorse Hut 2016
Cook gear boiling water at Mid Robinson Hut, 2015

So there you have it, a short introduction to my cooking gear!

Monday 25 April 2016

Purau Saddle to Pt. 913 via Monument Track: April 25 2016

Walking the Monument Track...more tramping fun on Banks Peninsula

I thought I would get out for a tramp over the ANZAC weekend, so after a bit of thought decided to walk up Monument Track. This track on the far side of Lyttleton Harbour follows a paper road from Purau Saddle to the summit of Mt Herbert. I have previously walked the track but it is a nice walk so warranted another visit

Lyttleton Harbour from the Pt 913 repeater Station


When I was thinking about trip ideas I realised that I have been to the top of Mt Herbert six times but had never climbed Pt. 913 just east of it. Pt. 913 is only 6 meters lower than Mt Herbert making it the second highest point on Banks Peninsula....that became my destination for the day.

 At the start of the track you pass the historic Monument Hut (1957) it is a couple of hundred meters to the South West of Purau Saddle.


Entrance to historic Monument Hut (1957)
Please note that the course of the Summit Walkway has been altered since the topo map below was published. The Summit Walkway now runs to the SW of point 913 (marked in red), the old route joining with Monument Track is now a secondary feeder track and not the main route.

It is shorter but much steeper following this course.

Map:  Monument Track, Purau Saddle to Pt. 913/Mt Herbert

Monument Track: Purau Saddle to Mt Herbert

The track starts over a stile next to the parking area on Purau Saddle, it is not marked (there are no DOC information panels) so you just have to trust that there is a track. It's marked with DOC style poles about every 20 meters for its entire length so you are not going to get lost...


The start of the Monument Track on Purau Saddle

The Purau Saddle car park, Monument Track
The track heads up over a small slope before joining the main track near Monument Hut. Both the track and the hut are named after the rock feature in the photo below, the Monument or Te Pōhue.
I have been forwarded some information (see comments below) about the name/meaning of the Monument to the local Iwi. Thanks Janey!


Monument Track: the track marker poles heading South West

The Monument, the track sidles this side of the peak
The trail follows old farming tracks for much of its length, this would make it easy to follow, even if it didn't have a blindingly obvious DOC track pole every 20 meters!

 NB: The track may be easy to follow but it is STEEP, at least for the first hour or so...

Monument Track: starting the step climb to the Summit Walkway
There are some awesome views almost right away as Purau Saddle sits at 450 metres ASL so you have good views of Lyttleton, the Port Hills and Pegasus Bay for most of the trip. 


Looking back towards the Purau Saddle from the Monument Track

Monument Track: a multitude of farm tracks up here...
About halfway to the ridge top you strike a series of switchbacks in the track, above these the track levels out considerably making for much easier & quicker travel. 


Starting up the switchback on Monument Track

Purau Bay and Lyttleton from near the Monument, Banks Peninsula

Purau and the Port Hills from Monument Track

Topping the switchback section on the Monument Track
The next section (about a kilometre) is a fairly gentle stroll ascending and descending a series of small hills and ridges.


Pt. 913 to left and Mt Herbert to right...

Pt. 806 is to your left as you climb this section of the track.

View of Pt. 913 from the Monument Track under Pt 806

View back along Monument Track

Pt 913 the destination for today, Monument Track, Banks Peninsula
On the saddle between pt. 806 and 913 you can see the old route of the Summit Walkway heading south along a fence.  This is now a connector track as the new route climbs the SW side of pt. 913. The walkway passes close to the summit of 913 and then descends & crosses the saddle between pt 913 and the SE side of Mt Herbert.

I have noted this on the topographic map at the begining of this post...
The side track to the Summit Walkway....
The last part of Monument Track is a short uphill section sidling around to another saddle between pt. 913 and Mt Herbert. You could just walk straight up the side of 913 but I wanted to see where the track went so I stayed on it.


Monument Track heading off to right, note the bluffs on Pt. 913

Jon at the saddle between Mt Herbert and Pt. 913
The track eventually arrives at the saddle between Pt. 913 and Mt Herbert, you turn left and follow Te Ara Pataka , AKA the Summit Walkway for a couple of hundred meters to the summit of Pt. 913. 


Mt Herbert to West from the saddle

Birdlings Flat from near Pt. 913
You can just make out Mt Herbert Shelter in the middle of the photo below, it is the green roof just above the bush-line, with Mt Bradley directly behind it. 


Mt Herbert shelter and Mt Bradley in the distance
As I said the last stretch of the climb is following the Summit Walkway for a couple of hundred meters. When I came through here in early April, it was so cloudy that I didn't even see that this was a high point let alone spot the repeater station. The summit is about 10 meters uphill from the walkway at its closest point.....

It was QUITE windy/foggy/wet/ bloody miserable on the day!

Climbing the Summit Walkway to the repeater station on Pt. 913

Radio repeater station on Pt. 913

View to South towards Birdlings Flat from atop Pt. 913
From the top of 913 you have clear views of the rest of the Summit Walkway heading towards Port Levy Saddle and points beyond.

The track follows the top of the ridges heading out to the left in the photo below...


View to SE along Te Ara Pataka from Pt. 913

Lyttleton and Port Levy from Pt. 913, Banks Peninsula
Pt 913 is a high outlier peak to Mt Herbert (919 meters). At 913 meters above sea level it is only 6 meters lower than Mt Herbert, making it the second highest point on Banks Peninsula.

Surprisingly it has never been named!

As you can see in the photo below we are more or less on the same contour line as Mt Herbert out to the North West. Awesome views of Canterbury from up here even with the high cloud that obscured the distant Southern Alps. 

Mt Herbert from atop Pt. 913

View to SW towards Mt Bradley from pt. 913
There is an emergency services repeater station located just off the summit, it is fully automated so does not have any road access. I would imagine that maintenance is done using a helicopter to transport gear and personal as required. 


Jon on Pt. 913, Banks Peninsula


The distance from Pt. 913 to Mt Herbert would be about 1-1.2 kilometres or about 20-30 minutes walking distance.While I was on 913 having lunch a person walked down off Mt Herbert and passed heading in the direction of Port Levy, it took her 20 minutes to get to me.


Mt Herbert from lunch spot next to Pt. 913 repeater station

Close-up of Mt Herbert, people near the trig point on the extreme left....
I spent about 20 minutes on or around the repeater station and then set off back to the car park as it was getting cold and windy on the summit.


A note of caution: if you decide to walk down the NE face of Pt. 913 to meet up with the Monument Track look out for the small bluffs about 40-50 meters downhill. They are only 3-5 meters high but that would be plenty of height to seriously mess you up if you fell off them.


View to East: Pt. 806, the Monument and Port Levy from Pt. 913

Pt. 806 is the rising ground heading off to the right in the middle distance of the photo below.

Monument Track from Pt. 913
The return trip was much quicker; as is to be expected when you are walking down hill. Monument Track is the shortest route to gain the summit of Mt Herbert (not really the easiest though...) which would account for the 14 people I passed who were walking uphill. 


Pt. 913 to left, Mt Herbert to right

Wind blowing the tussock on the Monument Track

Closing in on a misty Monument
From a point on the track just past the Monument you are able to see down onto Monument Hut and the Purau Saddle car park which was now full of cars. 

I saw a small group of rock climbers at work on one of the cliffs near the Monument, this area would be a climbers heaven with cliffs, bluffs, boulders and the Monument itself to explore. 


View down to Purau Saddle from the Monument Track

Monument Hut in lee of slope from Monument Track
I stopped by Monument Hut on the return journey to have a look at this historic hut. Monument Hut was built in the 50's as one of a series of YHA huts located on Banks Peninsula. There were also huts built near Port Levy Saddle and Montgomery Bush, both now long gone. They were built to stimulate outdoor recreation in the area by using the public transport system at a time when only the wealthy had cars.

I imagine the hut didn't see much use, by the time it was completed Banks Peninsula was not the focus of local tramping clubs any more. With the advent of the overnight train, Arthur's Pass became the Mecca of Canterbury climbers and trampers in the 60-70's.

It is a pity really as it took another 49 years before a new public hut (Rod Donald) was commissioned on Banks Peninsula.


Historic Monument Hut (1957)

Closer view of Monument Hut
The hut officially holds 4 (on damn uncomfortable looking straw and scrim bunks), but I'm sure you would have been able to squeeze four more on the floor under the bunks. They must have been short in those days because the bunks are about 5'6" long.

It is still largely as built as it hasn't seen the wear and tear of a well used hut.


Monument Hut interior: straw/scrim bunks
The hut is Spartan; corrugated iron cladding, no insulation, no heating and tiny: less than 4 meters by 2 meters. You can still stay in the hut even now but it would be a cold and grimy experience.

 No potable water source in the immediate area.

Monument Hut: Spartan interior fit out



View of Monument Hut and the Monument in the background

Jon outside Monument Hut
It is about 300 meters from Monument Hut to the car park, you climb up and over an intervening hill and then descend down to the track end. 

Over the hills to Purau Saddle car park...
I probably had the best of the day on my tramp as it grew progressively cooler and cloudier as the day wore on. When I got back to my car around 1 pm the cloud had started to mask pt 806. 

It took me about 2 hours to reach the summit of 913 and about 1.5 hours to get back to the car, add an extra 30-40 minutes to reach the summit of Mt Herbert. That's 4-5 hours of tramping for the full distance.

Cloud closing in on Pt.806

Purau Bay from the road to Diamond Harbour
Another nice day tramp completed I headed off home via Diamond Harbour and Dyers Pass.

As I have said previously, there is plenty of good tramping on Banks Peninsula, while its not Southern Alps style country it certainly has its own rich rewards. For one the amazing views you get from up here even in less than stellar weather. Another is its close proximity to Christchurch.

Consider a visit some time!

Access:The track starts at Purau Saddle about 20 minutes drive past Diamond Harbour, it climbs past the Monument to join Te Ara Pataka/ Summit Walkway.
Track Times:2 hours to Pt. 913, another 30 minutes to reach Mt Herbert, 1.5 hrs return to the Purau Saddle car park.
Hut details: Monument Hut: basic, 4 bunks, no water, no toilet, no heating.
Miscellaneous:The car park at Purau Saddle occasionally falls victim to vandals, do not park your car here overnight.