Over the past couple of years, I've migrated to my canteen kit, an old plastic thermos cup and a titanium spork for my individual mess kit. It's a mainstay in my dayhike and minimal over night kit.

When I ramp up to feed the family, it totally depends on who's coming for dinner. (The bacpacboy is pretty good with anything, as long as the food's tasty, and bacpacnotsuchababyanymore still prefers her fingers to a fork or spoon.) I add more pots when the cooking gets more complicated that boiling water, and plates and cutlery come to the party if we're camping for more than a simple overnighter.

When I go to a Scout camp, where there's a group kitchen, my mess kit consists of my Grandmother's ancient aluminum pie plate, an old enamel mug and a basic nesting(?) cutlery set with fork, spoon and knife.