A new, wider Fire Maple Petrel pot - first look and first use.

 

The pot in use 

Fire Maple has launched a new pot in the Petrel series, the Ramen 800ml. It's the biggest Petrel pot so far, just, but more significantly for those of us who cook in our pots and don't just boil water it's also the widest. Thanks to Mark Perry (@markperry222) in a comment on my video (see below) for the information that in China ramen noodles come in a wide flat disc that is dropped into the pot, something you couldn't do with the narrower Petrel pot. Fire Maple is of course a Chinese company.

The Petrel Ramen 800ml

Back in January I wrote a post about the then new Petrel G2 pot which is wider than the original Petrel pot, now designated the G3. The Petrel 800ml is wider than the G2. 145mm wide and 70mm deep compared to 100mm wide and 120mm deep. It weighs slightly more - 193g compared to 187g (with lids) - and holds slightly more. The G2 has a max fill line of 0.75l marked inside. The 800ml has markings for 500ml and 900 ml. There isn't one for 800ml despite the name.

From the left - the 800ml, G2 and G3 Petrel pots.

All the Petrel pots have heat exchangers on the base that increase stove efficiency in terms of fuel usage and boil times and slots for fitting onto the pot supports of a stove, which improves efficiency even more and adds stability. A difference with the 800ml is that has slots for stoves with three and four supports. The other two pots only have slots for stoves with three supports. This means that the 800ml will fit the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex stove. The slots for three and four supports are marked on the 800ml pot heat exchanger.

Markings for three and four pot supports

Another difference with the other Petrel pots is the lid. Instead of plastic it's made of aluminium like the rest of the pot. There's a soft rubberised tab for lifting it off the pot. Inside there's a clip for hanging it on the side of the pot. I'm not sure if I'll ever use this. 

There's one visible drain hole on the lid and three more on the lip that fits inside the pot. These only work when aligned with the pour spout. There is a mark on the lid for doing this. As with the other pots the long insulated handle clips over the lid to hold it in place for packing.

Because the 800ml is shallow a 230g canister won't fit inside with the lid on. A 100g canister will fit and leave plenty of room for a stove.

I tried the pot with several stoves and found that it was a bit fiddly with the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex and the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe but the Pocket Rocket 2 fitted easily. The Soto Windmaster Triflex fits too but isn't very stable as the supports are so short they only just fit in the slots. I wouldn't use the pot with this. With the other stoves stability is excellent and the pot can tilted almost horizontally without falling off as I show in this little video I made.

I had thought that the difficulty with some stoves might be due to manufacturing tolerances with the pot. I now think it's due to stove pot supports become slightly bent and so not fitting exactly. This is easy to see with a four pot support stove. Looking at the Windmaster 4-Flex I can see that the supports don't form a perfect cross. Slightly bending a support made fitting it easily. All my stoves are well-used so it's not surprising 

I've used the 800ml pot on one overnight trip so far and found it excellent. I took noodles that needed simmering and then a sauce stirred in and it was easy to do this in such a wide pot. The width also made it easy to use as a bowl. Boil time was fast even when it was just 2C in the morning. I suspect it may be faster than with the other Petrel pots. I'll do a test to check at some point. I think this is going to be my most-used pot. 

The Pleasures of Camp Cooking

Outdoor cooking on the TGO Challenge

Some thoughts on camp cooking - first published in The Great Outdoors several years ago. I haven't changed my approach!

 

The cold rain lashes down. Fingers fumble with guylines and thrashing wet nylon. The sky is darkening as night approaches. Finally the tent is up and you can slip inside, out of the storm. The stove is set up in the porch. A click of a lighter, the hiss of gas and surprising heat rises from the little ring of flames. A pan of water is placed on the stove. While it heats big spoonfuls of chocolate drink powder are heaped into a mug. The anticipation of the warming drink to come is great but nothing like the reality when the sweet hot liquid slides down your throat and sends warmth surging through you. At last you can relax and start to enjoy the camp, the shelter from the rain and wind and the pleasure of just lying there listening to the spattering on the flysheet. While sipping the hot chocolate you look through the food bag. Soup first or straight to the main meal? Soup for more warmth and liquids, you decide. Mushroom or tomato? The first tonight. Then the main meal. Pasta again, with broccoli and cheese this time. Again just thinking of the food is enjoyable. After eating you know you will feel tired and soon fall asleep, warm and comfortable, which is also a pleasant thought.

Warm and dry in the shelter on a rainy day

 

On cold wet nights like that hot food and drink, prepared under cover, is one of the great joys of wild camping. I love the way energy and warmth are restored by the simple food I have carried and cooked. There’s nothing more deeply pleasurable than taking the first mouthfuls of hot soup after a long day in the wilds as a storm batters the tent. I have spent many nights relishing the rituals of setting up the stove, arranging my few kitchen items and sorting through my supplies. Watching the stove flame flicker and hearing the bubbling of the water as it comes to a boil is always a welcome activity. As well as the immediate pleasure of eating and drinking I know that the energy from the hot food and liquid will help keep me warm during the cold night to come. Of course cold food could provide the same energy but there’s not the same immediate warming or the positive psychological effect of a hot meal.

Camp cooking is such an important part of backpacking for me that even when the weather is warm and sunny I still make hot drinks and prepare hot meals. It wouldn’t feel like a real camp without them. There isn’t the same urgent desire for hot sustenance that occurs in the cold and wet but the enjoyment is still there.

Perhaps the most pleasurable outdoor meal is breakfast, that reviving repast that helps you wake and which is eaten with the exciting thoughts of a day in the wilds ahead. This is especially so when the weather is dry and the sky clear. Waking on a frosty morning fills me with joy as I look out on the crisp white ground and the brightening sky. Rather than dash off into the new day I like to welcome the dawn slowly, over a hot mug of coffee and a bowl of muesli porridge. Lying in my sleeping bag while I eat breakfast and watch the sun slowly creep down the hillsides towards my camp is a truly luxurious experience.

Everything needed for dinner

 

Whilst the practice of setting up the kitchen, boiling water and preparing meals and drinks is central to camping for me this doesn’t mean complicated recipes or meals that take ages to cook. Far from it. The opposite is in fact true. I like simple meals that are quick to prepare. Dehydrated and freeze-dried foods make up the bulk of my outdoor diet and my food bag is full of foil packets and plastic bags full of dusty dry powders. On a scale running from gourmet foodie to survival eater I am close to the latter. This doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the food though. A mug of instant soup with a few herbs and spices and a sprinkle of cheese added tastes delicious in the wilds, as does cheese and macaroni out of a packet or a curry made from couscous, dried vegetables, soya mince and curry powder. At home I would find such fare rather unappetising but I learnt long ago that trying backpacking meals at home, as if often advised, was a waste of time. They have to be tried in the field after a day on the hill to be really appreciated. I can go long periods on dried food without becoming fed up of it though I must admit that sometimes when the prospect of fresh food approaches it can suddenly seem unattractive. The longest I’ve subsisted on dried rations is 23 days, which I’ve done twice, and on both occasions the last few days were spent drooling over the thought of eggs, orange juice, pizza and freshly baked bread. This was particularly so on the Pacific Crest Trail when the going through the snow-bound High Sierra was very tough, my energy output great and the calorie content of my food inadequate. I lost a couple of stone during those three weeks that even five or six restaurant meals in two days didn’t replace. Yet now it is the meals cooked over my little petrol stove at spectacular camps high in the mountains that I remember rather than the undoubtedly more sumptuous restaurant dinners.

View from the tent at a camp in the High Sierra on the Pacific Crest Trail

 

I think much of the delight in camp cooking is a primitive enjoyment of being comfortable and warm outdoors with just the aid of thin shelter and a small stove. Being able to make hot food and drink is a way of knowing that you can cope and live in the wilds - even when you have brought everything with you. This sense is enhanced if you’ve ever spent much time in the wilds with dwindling supplies, as I did during my walk the length of the Canadian Rockies when I became somewhat unsure of where I was for over a week during which I had much arduous cross country walking in dense forest and deep canyons. For several days I subsisted on a few crackers, instant cup-a-soups, half cups of coffee and a few bits of dried fruit. When I eventually came out of the wilderness and reached a roadside campground the fizzy cola drink other campers gave me tasted like nectar. Sitting in the tent with a full belly I often remember those days and vow never to repeat them.

Dinner!