My New Solo Lightweight Cookset - 2016 

You are right Joe, there is a big difference between dehydrated previously cooked pasta and raw uncooked pasta. Already cooked dehydrated pasta will require far less water and BTU energy to prepare than if you boil dry uncooked pasta. It's already cooked, and you are just rehydrating it (no brainer). If you have to In an emergency, you can always just add water to the dehydrated stuff and force it down your neck cold, can't do that with raw uncooked pasta. Well done on dehydrating your own meals, healthier, tastier, and you know what you're getting. Great videos.

I also like having the lid as an extra plate/bowl. It holds just over a cup (say if you are measuring the amount of water for a packaged product) when filling up to the rim. If you are being fancier with your meal, you can flip it over and use it double boiler style to warm up something else on top (like bread or maybe eggs) while you are boiling water. People hate how the lid is not secure, but I love how multi-functional it is. Thanks for the video.

Great video. Some advice: if you rub dish soap on the bottom of your pot before burning, it will help that black stuff wipe off much better. If you already got some soot on your pot and can't get it off, hand sanitizer works too. However, if you leave the soot alone, after the third or fourth burn it starts to stick and won't wipe off on any of your stuff.

I can honestly say i love your videos bro , everyday i come home i spend time with the family and when the kids are off to bed i sit on my couch and watch your videos everyday. No joke lol ive switched from watching regular cable tv to watching you and scout i enjoy every video you post and to be honest ive never been camping but after watching you i can honestly say you have inspired me and motivated me to do this hopefully soon , even if its just trying it out in my backyard. Keep it up bro i hope you keep growing, and please keep posting awesome vids! Your #1 Fan✌ all the way from Dallas,Tx!!!

Joe, it's real easy to place the pot stand part on the stove if you run a twig through the holes on the sides to hold it while you put it in place, that way you don't have to sort of drop it in place. It is amazing that the whole thing weighs less that the Zebra pot alone. Amazing piece of kit!

Joe and Scout , I loved to see the two of you out in adventures these are some of the deep roots of what connected everyone to you Joe. It wasn't alone or anything like that I feel but getting to know you and your faithful companion. I'm so glad you made it to where you are and where your going and will miss Scout but he did give us all great enjoyment he was the bomb when it comes to bushcraft dogs 👍👍❤

I have the similar solo stove that I use just about every time I am in the woods. You don't have to start with tinder in the stove. Load it up with good chunks of wood and sticks and then start the tinder on the top. It works better that way. You will soon learn that this stove has an appetite and you have to feed it almost constantly but it beats carrying fuel bottles.

As always thanks for taking us along Joe! Good stuff.

I will probably be forever stunned at how people can't understand why you precook your Pasta, before dehydrating it. Yes, you can cook it out in the woods, but, like you said, it takes longer and you have to drain it after it is cooked to get rid of the starch that is actually just the Wheat in the pasta. When you precook the pasta then dehydrate it, you have dinner sooner, with less mess. Another great Video Joe, thanks.

I use an emberlit titanium and a titanium canteen Kit by heavy cover for my backpacking cook kit. Love the light weight durability.

Great vid as always, keep up the good work! Bush buddy stove = 5.5 oz and takes up some packvolume. Emberlit fireant titanium = 2.8 oz and packs flat (1/8th of an inch). And as a bonus it comes with a tray insert that turns it into an esbit stove. You should check it out, I've had mine for a year or so now and couldn't be happier.

I have and used this exact setup for a few years and I have used is literally hundreds of meals. If not for canoeing and hiking, I would use for cooking my lunch at work at work as a carpenter in the winter. Nice to have a hot lunch then a cold. As with everything it takes time and use to use it as efficiently as possible. I wouldn't worry about having to take a backup on your trip, that combo will serve you well!

Just tried my new Wildstoves Woodstove for last nights overnighter. Super impressed!

Glad you got that cool piece of kit.

I've heard from a lot of people that the Bushbuddy works best by filling it with wood and sticks and then lighting a fire on top. It's more fuel efficient and burns for longer. Starting with a small fire and then continually adding more is a bit of a pain. But I just saw this vid was from 2016 so you've probably figured that out by now!

That's a respectable system for canoe tripping. I might need to copy that one lol cheers, John

Beauty logo/sticker you got there, that was funny. I love watching you get new stuff and being able to give your opinion on stuff. Yes, another JR video I saved until my food was warmed up to enjoy and watch. TY Joe.

Respect to you for going for the original and best and not the Solo Stove rip-off one. The BB Ultra is the viable 'little bit of titanium' that you want in your pack. This guy knows, Hendrik knows and so do I. That's why we bought one. Go grab your BB Ultra today folks, it knocks spots off other impersonators and will last a lifetime. It's a well made piece of engineering.

I have the same titanium snow peak 900 pot and I use 2 rubber/elastic bands to keep the lid on the pot tightly when transporting. It makes a huge difference.

Hi Joe - For your pasta, try Barilla Pronto pasta. It is designed to cook while boiling and absorb the water. When the water is about gone, add your sauce and there you go. I use it quite a bit at home and on the trail. Cheers!

I have the same kit... The top DOES suck. But it's still amazing at what it does. Used it to melt tons of snow and ice during a trip to the UP in Michigan last winter.

Good point oh the starchy noodles Joe. Its best to cook noodles in as much water as possible. I watched the cooking channel once and learned that. My wife used to us way too little water and it was just yuk. Now its Yum!

Really interesting about the dehydrating the noodles. Thanks for the info/demonstration!

I agree wholeheartedly on the dehydrating vs raw pasta. Makes the most sense. Plus you can cook a larger variety of foods at home easier, dehydrate, and reheat on the trail without losing that home cooked flavor.

Thanks Joe !

I love my bushbuddy! I'm in Oregon so I had problems with wet wood until I figured out that the ash pan can hold alcohol. Game changer! A half ounce of alcohol and this thing boils faster than my trangia AND I can add wood at the end of the alcohol for a nice simmer. I carry a small plastic Coke bottle of denatured and a piece of aluminum foil for a windscreen with my bushbuddy and feel like this is the lightest, most convenient backpacking cook setups imaginable. Peace and happy travels!

Welcome to it. I bought a solo in 2013, and it's still going after 2 years on the road and a winter living in the woods. I use a MSI Ti pot, and I have cooked many meals on nothing but roadside trash. 61,786 of you wouldn't and couldn't lol... See you on the highground.

Been using the same setup for sometime now. Try filling the stove with finger/thumb thick sticks stood on end and burn as a top down fire. I get a boil most times with little or no extra wood added. Make yourself a cosy for the pot makes a big difference when eating. Have a good trip.

Interesting to see how this new set up fairs up on your trip, great stuff JR ~Peace~

Typically, another good one Joe, thanks for the info bloke. I hope you and you're family are all going great, and i'll sit tight till you're next vid, cheers mate, take it easy 'eh.

Hi Joe - I know this vid is from a long time ago but I have to comment. I have a Solo stove . In the time that I've had it, it continues to surprise me that most people are misguided on how to use it. Some folks are lighting it incorrectly and are forced to put way too much effort into tending the fire in it. Solo stoves work best (and are made for) top down fires. They are much less work if you build the top down fires in them. 2 or 3 layers of larger twigs on bottom, few pencil size layers on top of that and small fire starting tinder on top. It burns down. This is the only way you can start this type of stove, put on your pot and walk away. As always - thanks.

I’ve used the solo lite stove. Looks almost exactly like it. The stick stoves burn very hot and very fast. You have to babysit them constantly to feed them. They go out quickly if you don’t. Put wood in before it goes down. Grass and paper tend to choke them out. They do stay warm a while and there is almost no unburnt stuff just a tiny amount of ash. Great buy great thing to carry in a pinch

If you put the water and macaroni mix together first for a few minutes they can hydrate for a couple of minutes while you are getting the stove up and running. It saves you time when getting your camp setup. Pre-cooking the pasta is one solution but changing your approach to prepping the food and packing the sauce separately accomplishes the same thing. My kit is similar but I use a homemade alcohol stove /w 2 oz of fuel as my backup. The homemade alcohol stove is less than an oz an fits inside the stove along with fuel, tinder, mini-Bic lighter and collapsible spork. 2 oz of alcohol will boil 4 cups of water or 2x2 cups of water in good conditions. I typically boil 3 cups of water for a meal - I pour off part of the water for my tea in a separate container, then hydrate/cook my food in the main pot.

Hi Joe nice set up I have a solo pot and stove set up use it most of the time as wood is easy to find take it out even on day hikes for making lunch and coffee. Have a great summer and keep the videos coming

Thanks for vid! Like always, your videos are kindling for some great ideas! Looks like I'll be re-designing my hobo stove based on the apparent efficiency of this setup.

You can cook pasta along with your sauce, meat and veggies. Pasta only takes about 8 minutes to cook. Add the dry noodles and other ingredients together and add a little more water than normal. Bring to a boil. Simmer with lid on for 8-10 minutes or until done. Using the path finder skillet with lid I can cook most of my pasta meals in one container. Works fine with any container and lid. Practice makes perfect.

Try out Rotini noodles. They're spiral shaped. Not sharp, and hold sauce really well. Can be eaten with a spoon, or a fork.

great no nonsense video!

Good vid Joe . I have similar setup (solo stove) . I really like it but as good as it is for boiling , it takes a lot of practise to fry anything . It just burns so hot . Bannock in these light frying pans is very difficult .

You can cook macaroni in spaghetti sauce just the same as in boiling water. In fact..you can put it all in the pot at the same time and just keep cooking until it all heats up and your macaroni becomes tender. It makes a nice thickened sauce.

Great video Joe. I like the stove a lot. I was thinking the same thing about the lid, not wanting to stay on the pot. Looks like a great combo. I hope you enjoy your canoe trip. I want to do a canoe/back pack trip someday. Thanks for sharing.

thanks again Joe I'll be heading out to pick up the stick stove

Joe, you can use finger to thumb size wood once the stove gets going. You can use alcohol as well. Check out the videos on the Bush Buddy. Good choice.

Awesome video bud ! Real jealous about that set-up haha ! Looking forward to all your new videos keep it up !

going back and looking at these earlier ones - I'm sure plenty of people have pointed out to load the bush buddy differently. these gasifiers work by packing the container pretty tightly with fuel up to the internal holes, then lighting the top, and it burns downwards. Should get about 30 mins or more of steady flame without having to add more fuel. no muss no fuss.

If you like elbows, you would LOVE Radiatore. I'm very passionate about my mac and cheese, but don't get out camping and hiking too often, and you'll probably love this shape for some of the same features I do. 1) lots of surface area. This allows for a lot of cheese sauce to stick to a small amount of pasta for maximum cheesiness... It also means it will cook or rehydrate very quickly. This also makes it more forgiving with the sauce/liquid to pasta/solid ratio. If there is too much sauce, it will grip it... if not enough, you can stir a lot to evenly disperse what is there. 2) Structural integrity. Everyone knows about Rotini, which has a lot of surface area... but you try cooking that stovetop with a thick sauce, and it falls apart during vigorous stirring. I can stir the heck out of radiatore and it will remain in tact. This benefits a backpacker because it is so hard to overcook it. With a natural flame and small volume, and also dehydrating a sauce, it is hard to not overcook a pasta. Even with some overcooking, Radiatore is structural enough to not turn into shreds and/or a mush. Due to the large surface area, you also don't have to worry much about undercooking it. 3) No sharp edges: This doesn't matter for Mac & Cheese, but radiatrore is even more bag friendly when hard than elbows. no sharp edges facing out.

The thing about the billy pot is the versatility. You can cook noodles or rice bellow and steam or rehydrate stuff on top. at night I do most of my cooking but i also stop midday for a quicker meal, and it really does save time. The weight is not an issue for me since on a bicycle half a kg is nothing, especially considering that sometimes I carry a whole pannier of food, which can reach 10kg XD

Nice set up Joe!!

Eventually the handle will wear out from overuse. Nothing like frying up some food, lifting the pan by the handle, and watching it collapse...dumping your food in the dirt at your feet. Just keep a good squeeze on the handle and you'll be fine. The nice thing about the titanium is that it cools quickly.

Looked like a good meal. Nice stove and pot setup. thanks for sharing atb john

I've had exactly the same cooking rig since about 2007 and it's excellent. The only addition i made was a small meths burner which i used when cooking in mountain huts (bothies) on my North to the Cape trek in Scotland. Hope yours performed well.

Joe, will you be taking your camp axe with you? If you do, I have found that wood-gas stoves work better with "chipped" pieces rather than twigs. Chip small pieces with your axe, it takes about 3 minutes from one branch. Then pack the wood chips tightly into the gasifier. Light the fire on top. Once the stove is gasifying, then it should cook your food, burning for 15 minutes, without re-fueling the fire.

That has been my setup for years now. Hammock, solo stove, and snow peak 900 set. The only difference, is I went with the Four Dog version with the titanium lid and bail handle added.

Nice work as always Joe!

I've got the snow peak trek 700 coupled with with a pocket rocket knockoff and I love them both. Titanium is awesome lol

Awesome video! 😊 can't wait to see more 😊👍

A guy on alone said he originally thought you were a moron for losing your fire steel. Then he made his own. What a guy!

Great video Joe.

Another great video. Thanks.

Super!

Hi joe, good review for a great stove!

Nice man I would love one of them.

Fine system. And for the pasta, I dehydrate them just like you do for the same good reasons.

just bought my real bush buddy stove. Can't wait.

Looks like a great set up. Also I am super jealous of your 9 day trip.

Nice vid! Good luck with the fishing. That looks like a Solo stove. Great piece of kit!

Joe, great video i like the info you give and places u go keep up the great videos my friend

Spot On Joe!!

This looks like a Solo Stove to me in every respect. It should serve you well. Thanks for taking a walk to demonstrate it out in the woods area. Scout has such a great temperament. Quiet, not needy and when you were breaking the wood from the tree I was sure he was going to grab a stick and be off with it. The spaghetti seemed to hit the spot! I hope your trip goes well.

I have the same problem with my titanium cook set....the lid/fry pan just SUCKS at staying on. One other thing, if you do end up with a bit much water, just leave the lid off so it doesn't keep creating the steam/water inside. BUT be careful not to burn it, lol.

Looks great, but no matter what I want to use I haven't gotten away from bringing a backup pocket rocket and can of fuel either. I do have one recommendation: Sprongs. They're a combination fork, spoon, and tongs from the guy who made the emberlit stove. I've been using them for a couple months and really like them. Very functional and super lightweight. :-)

crazy I didnt know this was the original. Just bought a solo stove titan and there is nothing "knock off" about the quality. its top notch and from what I can see they are identical. I love the bigger size of the titan you get more cooking ability and it is still only a pound.

Nice! Thanks for the review

Nice build Mon.

MY 900 BUSH POT IS WAITING FOR MY BUSH BUDDY, I WILL BE GETTING MY HANDS ON THE BUSH BUDDY THIS WEEKEND. THANKS FOR THE VIDEO IT HELPED ME LIGHTEN MY LOAD

I love watching bio stove videos! I wouldn't mind seeing some more on this channel.

I am loving your videos can't wait for the next one

Awesome cook set, great videos as always.

Try loading the stove vertically. I've made dozens of this type stove using soup cans paint cans etc. For the most efficient long burn, I expect nearly an hour from one that size, load it with straight grained hardwood cut to length so that when standing on end in the stove it will come to just below the burner holes near the top. You can pack it real tight for a longer slower burn or loosely for a more vigorous burn. Put your starter material on top and light. It'll burn very clean, minus wind, once it starts gasification.

You have probably already been told this, but you'll find the Bushbuddy even better using a top down burn. I appreciate the comments about buying the original and such, but I actually own both a BB and a Solo Lite, and both have their strengths. Yes, BB is the original... but the steel is thinner and more prone to damage. The Solo is heavier but more rugged. Both work great and add to my backpacking trips when I take them.

That setup make a lot of sense for your use. Thanks for the review :) - Martin

Nice bam. And im thinking of getting this aswell for a weeklong hiking fishing trip

really cool cook set may look into one

I always bring a twig stove (mine is an Emberlit and takes up no space and hardly any weight) to accompany my pocket rocket. Having both really doesnt add much weight or take up much room but it allows a HUGE amount of versatility as far as the time it takes to cook, the conservation of fuel, and allows more efficient use depending on what you're cooking. If I am just getting a morning cup of coffee, no need to get the whole twig stove and fire going for that... pop on the Optimus propane stove for 3 minutes and I have coffee. But when I have extra time to spend I can use my twig stove and save propane. I can also use the propane stove much more safely under the overhang of my tent's rainfly if I need to cook while it is pouring rain. Plus one is always a great backup to the other. Edit: Twig stoves also allow you to cook at less vigorous temperatures as well. At least compared to my Optimus, it seems to only run on medium, high, or BLOWTORCH!

awesome video, cant wait till you post the canoe trip!

I like shell and spiral noodles and I don't mind the starch in my sauce so I usually just cook the noodles, drain once and add sauce....BUT I think I will try your method!

I have had the same set up for years. The fry pan is conducts heat fast and has a tendency to burn food real fast. Happy to see the bushbuddy and not the ripped off version from the states!

Hey Joe, for the record you can cook pasta in the sauce. it's a cool change of pace from regular pasta... But! It is absolutely foolish to do it in your situation, but for general cooking at home it does create more of stew like spaghetti type sauce. I do it all the time and I mainly use tortellini, it's definitely something worth trying in the home kitchen. But like I said, it makes no sense to do it in the field you'd need a whole lot more water to get it to not be sticky and messy in that tiny pot. Have fun on your trip! ATB Michael

Been looking for a mess kit similar to this Snow Peak one, thanks for doing reviews like this Joe.

Good review Joe! I've been looking for some good cooking kit. That frying pan application is so cool lol. Cheers!

Sweet dude

Just a lil FYI which you may know already that there is a Solo Stove as well as the Bush Buddy cook stoves. Two different stoves doing the same thing. I actually thought that you were previewing the "My Solo Stove". Enjoy the video's that you share with us all. Thank you for your time and energy!

I dehydrated my sauce too and used ramen noodles, because they don't take anytime at all to rehydrate. I liked to dehydrate Newman's Own Sockaroonie. I also fried and dehydrated hamburger meat all broken up. After I fried the burger I rinsed it with hot water before I dehydrated it. This got rid of alot of the fat so it wouldn't go rancid.

Nice setup. I use the Bushbox Ultralight Outdoor Pocket Stove as my back up. It weighs in at less than 2.25 oz.! It rocks to for a twig stove and I can use large or small cook pots on it. Great idea on the dehydrating and your shameless plug was funny too! Thanks.

Nice lightweight set

I have a similar stove made of stainless steel, works great!

Great vid! It's hard to drive around to find a place to camp where I live, so I watch your vids and I feel instantly transported to the wild. haha

Great stuff joe, been using wood burning stoves for years they are great,

Great video. I watch so much of your videos that my cable provider sent me a warning that I was about to exceed my streaming limits..hehehe Keep them coming joe.

I ordered a aftermarket lid for my 900. Four dog stoves makes a titanium lid that actually works. The frying pan lid is just a hassle as I'm sure you have noticed. I think it was 16 dollars free shipping to the US. Not sure about out of the states. Works great for me so far. Only one I have found that makes the lid from titanium. Cheers 🍻