I've been shopping around for a lightweight, yet affordable, cook set for weekend backpacking. The Optimus Terra Solo seemed to fit the bill, and certainly was the most reasonably priced set out there.
My criteria were simple:
- Lightweight;
- Holds 1 to 2 small fuel canisters, plus stove;
- And costing less than 50 freakin' bucks!
The titanium pots out there look very nice, and come in at a low weight, but they're just too cost prohibitive for me right now. They also tend to be part of a much larger cook set than I was shopping for, or are no more than an oversized coffee mug that may (or may not!) include a lid.
The other compact, aluminum, 2-piece sets (GSI, REI) get closer, but come in costing at least $10 more. For that ten bucks, they toss-in something like a telescoping spork---- which I would quickly give to my girlfriend's 6-year old son. He might actually get a kick out of it.
Which brings us to the Optimus Terra Solo. It meets my criteria above, and at a price point of $22-25, depending on catching a sale or not.
While not as light as titanium, with this aluminum combo you're only gaining about 1.6 ounces over something like the Snow Peak 900, which costs $30-plus dollars more.
On my scale the Optimus Terra Solo, with its included mesh stuff sack, weighs-in at 7.6 ounces. (The above mentioned Snow Peak 900 weighs 6 ounces [including stuff sack] according to online specs.)
What you get is a pot that boils enough water for a 2-serving freeze dried meal, with room to spare. In other words, you don't have to fill your pot brimming full to boil enough water!
The top works nicely as a pot lid, and does double duty as a mug or bowl.
The fold out, wire handles have a nice feeling---- and surprisingly effective---- rubberized / silicone coating on them. The coating may rub-off or fail over time, but have been holding up perfectly well so far. If it doesn't, it won't have any impact on the performance of this set.
The handle for the top locks securely in place in the open position. Another detail here is that even though only one rivet attaches the handle bracket to the lid, the bracket's square top edge butts right up against the well rolled rim; even if this rivet loosened-up due to damage, the handle is prevented from swiveling. Nice touch! That said, the rivet does look securely set, and I wouldn't expect any problems.
The pot's wire handles, a bi-fold design, is held in place with three rivets. No doubt it will stay put.
While I haven't done any real sticky cooking in this, the anodized interior, while not technically non-stick like teflon, cleans easily.
The final detail is stamped graduations on the pot in both U.S. and metric, although the lowest marked level is 8 ounces. It would've been nicer if it included a 4 ounce mark for small meals like instant oatmeal, but this is a minor quibble. Just eye-ball it. Oatmeal ain't rocket science.
If you wanted to carry 2 fuel canisters, they will fit, but there won't be room for anything else. However, my pack stove, the unfortunately discontinued Primus Yellowstone TechnoTrail, does fit nicely in the stuff sack above/outside the cook set, so your kitchen can still stay together.
Speaking of stuff sacks, it may be a good idea to make or find a mini sack to hold the fuel canisters/stove inside of the pot (or at the very least, pack it with a paper towel,) since it may be possible for these things to damage the anodized interior. And you can't use the included sack, since you need it to hold the non-locking cook set together. (I made one from ripstop nylon.) This may not be an issue, but I don't want to find out the hard way. Your mileage may vary.
The upside of using a second bag is that it silences the metal on metal sound from inside of your backpack.
So far I've been very happy with this set. Happy enough to already be eyeballing the larger Terra Weekend set from Optimus for larger outings. The downsides are very minor, and really only included here in the spirit of full disclosure.
For the price it can't be beat... Unless you really gotta have that spork.
