My Preferred Cooksets and Stove System

I’m on about the 4th Caldera cone cooking system, and maybe the 10th stove I’ve used overall, so I thought I’d share what is the best of all the stoves I’ve used in 45+ years of backpacking.  The Fusion Sidewinder Ti-Tri split cone stove system, made by Trail Designs, the maker of Caldera Cone stove systems. The Ti-Tri refers to the wind screen being made of TItanium, and the stove having the capability to use three different fuels: alcohol, esbit, and wood.

The photo above shows the two stoves I have used for at least 2 years.  The smaller one is a 900 ml Snowpeak pot that I use for solo backpacks.   The larger one is a 1.9 Evernew pot perfect for use with two adults.  Both can fry a fish, boil water, and simmer to cook pasta, scalloped potatoes, couscous, or rice dishes.  Both windscreens pack into the pot, and shown is the stove itself, the simmer ring, a tiny bottle of dish soap, a lighter, a little of scrubber pad, and a small salt and pepper shaker.  That, plus a cup, bowl, and spoon make up my kitchen setup.

The smaller pot weighs 9 oz, with pot, windscreen, container strap, and simmer ring.  The larger pot weighs 14.2 oz with the same components.

Shown below are the two pot sets all packed up.  Inside is plenty of room for coffee, sugar, tea, cocoa, etc. Notice the straps that hold them together.  Those are pieces of bike inner tube sewn into bands that hold the handles in, and hold the lid securely on the pot.

The other Caldera Cone stoves I have used have been the aluminum windscreen version, in a plastic tube, and the Titanium one in the plastic tube.  I highly recommend any of them but my faves are the two above.