There's nothing quite like a hot brew at sunrise on a ridgeline, or a proper feed at the end of a 25km day. The good news: lightweight cooking gear has come a long way. You don't need to choose between packing light and eating well anymore — you just need to know what to take, and what to leave at home.

This guide is for hikers and ultralight campers building a kit from scratch (or upgrading from a 1990s billy and a Trangia). Here's what actually goes in the pack.

Photo by Alex Moliski on Unsplash

The first decision is whether you actually cook on the trail or just rehydrate things. They're different stoves.

Boil-only (the "rehydrate everything" school):

• Jetboil Flash, MSR Reactor, BRS-3000T (cheap and tiny)
• Boils 500ml–1L in 2–4 minutes flat
• Integrated pot/cup so you eat out of the same vessel
• Perfect for Backcountry packet meals, oats, freeze-dried, instant noodles
• Fuel-efficient because they're optimised for one job

Simmer-capable (you actually cook):

• Jetboil MightyMo, MSR PocketRocket Deluxe, Soto WindMaster
• Detachable from the pot — works with any cookware
• Real flame control: from full roar down to gentle simmer
• Fry, sauté, simmer a sauce, make pancakes

Our take: if you're new to hiking, the boil-only is hard to beat for simplicity. If you cook at home and want to keep doing it on the trail, spend the extra and get a simmer-capable head with a separate light pot.

For 95% of Australian hiking, isobutane gas canisters (the threaded ones, EN417 fitting) are the right call. Light, clean, no priming, available at every BCF, Anaconda or specialist shop.

• 110g canister: 2-3 days for a couple of brews + dinners
• 230g canister: ~1 week of normal cooking
• 450g canister: extended trips or group cooking

One thing that catches people: you cannot fly with gas canisters in checked OR carry-on luggage on Australian domestic or international flights. Plan to buy at your destination — anywhere with an outdoor shop will have them. Pre-call ahead if you're flying into a regional airport with limited shopping.

For multi-week or extreme cold trips, look at multi-fuel stoves (MSR Whisperlite, MSR XGK) that run on shellite/petrol — but they're overkill for weekend trips.

Photo: WeSideTrip / Unsplash

Cookware is one of those things where the cheap option costs you twice. The materials matter:

• Titanium — lightest, most expensive, doesn't corrode. Worth it if you're counting grams
• Aluminium — light, cheap, conducts heat evenly. The sweet spot for most hikers
• Hard-anodised aluminium — the upgrade tier; tougher, easier to clean
• Stainless steel — heavy, durable, fine for car camping but skip for hiking

For solo or pair hiking, a single 1L pot does almost everything. If you actually cook, add a small fry pan. Sea to Summit, MSR, GSI and Trangia all make solid sets that nest together to save space.

Cutlery is where you save weight without trying. The Sea to Summit Spork (titanium or polycarbonate) is genuinely the only utensil most hikers need — spoon, fork, mini serrated edge for bananas and salami.

If you're eating out of a packet meal, you don't need a plate. If you're cooking proper food, a single bowl/mug combo (Sea to Summit X-Bowl, GSI Infinity) packs flat and does double duty for cereal, pasta, brews.

One non-obvious essential: a small sharp knife. Pocket-knife or a fixed blade in a sheath. You'll cut cheese, slice salami, open sachets, do small repairs. A multitool works too if you're already carrying one.

Photo: Lukas W. / Unsplash

Three approaches and they're all valid:

Packet meals (Backcountry, Radix, Strive):

• Just add boiling water; eat out of the bag
• 800–1200 kcal per pouch — proper hiking calories
• 3-5 year shelf life, weighs 130–180g per meal
• Roast lamb, butter chicken, beef pho, even desserts
• Spend an extra dollar on the better brands — the cheap ones taste like the bag

Real food (DIY):

• Pasta + olive oil + parmesan + a small chorizo = restaurant-quality
• Couscous cooks in 5 minutes, packs flat, soaks up flavour
• Wraps + tuna + hot sauce = no-cook lunches

Hot tip on flavour: always pack a small ziplock of spices. Chilli flakes, a Nando's Peri-Peri sachet from home, a little parmesan, freeze-dried herbs. Adds zero weight, transforms even a packet meal.

If you're a coffee person at home, you're a coffee person on the trail. Three options worth carrying:

• AeroPress Go — packs into its own mug, makes a proper cup. Heaviest of the three but best result
• GSI Java Drip / pour-over filter — paper filters + ground coffee, near-zero weight
• Sachets (Wandering Bear, Vittoria, Allpress) — premium instant has come a long way; not a compromise anymore

Skip the cheap supermarket instant and skip the coffee bags — both are sad in the bush.

Gas stoves usually have piezo igniters built in, but they fail at altitude, in cold, when wet, or just randomly. Always carry a backup.

• Stormproof matches in a sealed container (BCF, MSR)
• A mini Bic lighter — cheap, light, reliable
• Ferro rod if you're going properly remote — works wet

Three sources of ignition is one rule worth not breaking. They weigh 30g combined.

For most Aussie weekend hiking, a Jetboil-style boiler + a 230g gas canister + a spork + decent packet meals + good coffee covers 90% of trips. Add a fry pan and a real stove if you're a foodie. The weight penalty for proper cooking gear is small — the morale boost from a hot meal at the end of a hard day is huge.

Pack what you'll actually use, not what looks good on Instagram, and you'll be eating well in the bush every weekend.