The more involved I get with this forum the more I realize just how wide a range of styles and beliefs there are. One thing I'm curious about is your varying opinions on emergency cooking? Do any of you carry cooking gear as part of a BOB or emergency kit or is the ability to make fire considered sufficient?

I've been watching a lot of Man vs. Wild and Survivorman lately and I always find it interesting that Bear Grylls eats so many things raw but Les Stroud cooks/boils damn near everything first.

Kit warning!

Personally I carry a small bag with a small alcohol stove (Vargo Titanium Triad), a folding solid fuel stove containing 4 fuel packs (similar to the Esbit pocket stove), and a mini Bic. A little while ago I added to it so it could double as a 'food and water' kit when I go lightweight hiking. I didn't add much just some collapsible chop sticks, salt and pepper packets, water purifications tabs, a disposible fork and spoon, my Gerber LST knife, a Wet Ones towelette, a couple of alchohol swabs, a small container of sea salt crystals (for food or to refill my MSR MIOX pen), a 1/8 oz. bottle of Tobasco and a 1/4 oz. bottle of 'special' hot sauce just for me (Blair's Megadeath). When I'm camping I carry a bottle of alcohol fuel of course but for emergency scenarios I keep it around because it's so easy to get fuel from a drug store or gas station. The re-usable solid fuel packs make dandy fire starters and the pocket stove can act as a wind guard for the alcohol stove.

I keep a stainless mug (A prison replica) tethered to my 1L Nalgene bottle that I use as a one person cooking vessel.

Overkill for survival no doubt but the extra stuff adds next to no weight and all fit in the same container (a pencil case) just fine. If nothing else it adds a lot of peace of mind knowing that I can cook/boil/purify no matter what should the need arise.

Thinking about how over prepared I am on this angle, I'm curious to know how many of you even bother...or for those who do, what your pack?

I'm not all that fond of cooking, even at home, and I'd rather have someone else BBQ lunch or dinner for me. But if someone isn't with me that will catch, kill, gut, age and cook the errant chicken or cow for me, I keep it rather simple.

So, I am more into carrying some water, an oven roasting bag, a leg of pantyhose, a tiny stove & alcohol, a metal cup, a spoon, firemaking implements, teabags & sugar, a few of those little thin packets of soup mix that come with Ramen-type soups (I use the cheap noodles for other meals, so I have a crock full of packets), maybe some cocoa packets, maybe a couple of instant oatmeat packets, and some granola bars.

And if I stagger back into the campground and someone is BBQing, they WILL share!

(Interesting historical note from the Overland wagon train pioneers: death from cholera was very common, as they didn't know the bacteria in human waste was contaminating the water sources they used for drinking and eating. Much of the water tasted bad, so many of them drank a lot of coffee, and cooked a lot of porridge, thus killing the bacteria. The ones who drank the water "raw" were often the ones who died.)

Sue

I don't carry cooking kit per se but a small metal cup that nests over a Nalgene bottle is a recent thoughtful addition.

Need some means to boil water or melt snow to truly make use of firemaking supplies.

If suffering thru a cold night by an expedient fire the activity of heating and consuming the hot water will help pass the night better than just tending the fire.

I take an MSR stow away pot and I use it like a psk. I keep the contents packed inside and keep this pot at the bottom of my maxpedition fat boy. It works for me. This way I always have something to drink and cook out of.

I love sitting around and cooking over a fire. As a scout I once had to spend a night on a frozen lake with limited supplies...including no wood. I'll never again have to stuff food into my pants just to thaw it enough to chew!

The irony was we had been out there to catch fish but couldn't cook any of them!

I carry a cup that nests over a Nalgene bottle and a coleman Peak 1 butane stove. I also carry a cheap cafeteria style steel teaspoon. Mostly, I make hot chocolate for a pick me up, but I also carry Campbell's instant soup packets and salt. I don't think there are too many things I'll catch that I can't chop up and make some sort stew out of.

I'm also considering adding a Squishy bowl to my army kit, since the move to camelbaks instead of canteens means no more steel canteen cup. The Squishy bowl can't do everything that a metal cup can. But its super light and will squish into a tiny space in my camelbak. So I at least have some option for cooking or boiling water.

"...The ones who drank the water "raw" were often the ones who died..."

Makes sense to me. Do you know what fish DO in water? I figure that God made water, for me to use to make coffee, iced tea, etc...

Depends on the kit.

For the most minimal, there isn't room for anything to cook with. *shrugs* Chlorine tabs for water.

My ditch kit in it's current configuration has the outer pieces of a French mess kit, and a small Esbit stove. I have a small vial each of salt and chili powder, a couple of ramen seasoning packs and a small spoon. Brew kit has lemon crystals.

My BOB/camping bag has this . I carry two pint bottles of denatured to fuel the trangia, along with a small platform so it can use Esbit or triox tabs and candles, and I carry spare Esbit tabs in my pack. It will also burn small wood or other solid fuels. To cook in, I've got a 1.7L storage canister that has been drafted to serve as a cook pot (works very well, and much more robust than the grease pot it replaces) and two Nalgene cups. Lexan spoon and fork, and a big vial of salt, small vials each of black pepper, chili, garlic and curry powders, and eight assorted ramen seasoning packs. Brew kit has both lemon and lime crystals.

In my daypack I've usually got my .7L titanium cup, a couple of tea bags, a pack of sugar, some candy and a granola bar. I might add a Thai Kitchen pack of rice noodles (weighs nothing). I figure if I'm stuck out unexpectedly I can heat up a cup of my favorite tea and plan my next move. Unecessary? Probably. But it gives me comfort, a plan, and reminds me to STOP (Stop Think Observe Plan) should the situation arise.

In my BoB:

I carry a US Army messkit with: metal spoon, Triox tabs, kitchen matches, and SOS pads.

I carry Bic lighters, assorted dry foods that need hot water (instant grits, Raman noodles, etc). Salt, pepper, and sugar packets (always); Ketchup and taco sauce packets (most of the time), and 4 MRE's.

My EDC includes a Buck 110 knife.

I routinely carry 10 days of rations and enough water purification tablets for 24 quarts/water.