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Open Country Scout Mess Kit

$18.95

(7)

Item # 401057

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This lightweight nesting aluminum cookset is ideal for solitary backpackers or kids' camp-outs.

Contains 7" fry pan; 7" dish; 3/4 quart pot with lid; 8-oz. plastic cup and a fry pan handle that locks the entire kit together for compact carrying
Plastic cup features graduated marks inside for easy measuring
Pot measures 5.25" diameter x 2.5" high

Made in USA.

Item 401057

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Open Country Scout Mess Kit Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

Open Country Scout Mess Kit

3.9

(based on 7 reviews)

86%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Compact (4)
Lightweight (4)
Stable (4)
Durable (3)

Cons

Difficult to clean (4)

Best Uses

Backpacking (4)
Car camping (4)
Hiking (4)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Avid adventurer (3)
- What Is Your Gear Style:
- Survivalist / minimalist (4)

REVIEWS

Reviewed by 7 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-7

Jul

2008

(12 of 12 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Good for appropriate use.

By pack leader

from Oakton, VA

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Lightweight

Cons

Difficult to Clean

Best Uses

Backpacking
Boy Scout camping
Car Camping
Hiking

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

You have to be realistic about he uses of mess kits. This is a sound and safe basic mess kit for camping. It is also one of the few kinds that you'd want to actually cook on a camp fire with. You need to avoid using teflon coating cooking on campfires because the teflon breaks down into a dangerous chemical (just google "teflon overheat"). If you're just trying to cook a basic meal, nothing fancy, this will get the job done. Does food stick? yes. use lots of oil or butter. If food does get stuck, use natures abrasive -- sand -- available in any river or stream. Just swish it around it it will work great.

Feb

2009

(10 of 10 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

hate to love them

By tonsoffun86

from Spokane Wa

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Lightweight
Stable

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Hiking

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

i am a hunter/backpacker in washington state.. i have been using this set since i was about 13 and have never had much of a issue...yea food sticks in them a little. but the pay off of how light and handy they are makes me pack my set every time.. theses are well worth picking up for 20 bucks and under

Oct

2007

(5 of 15 customers found this review helpful)

2.0

Very basic cookware

By Eric Mad-town

from Madison, WI

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Inexpensive
Lightweight

Cons

Difficult to Clean

Best Uses

Car Camping

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

Wouldn't recommend these. They are basic and if you have a sink/soap handy, they'd be fine. But if you're on the trail and can't use soap, then you'll have to deal with scraping off the burnt on food. Buy something that's non-stick

Jul

2011

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Good item for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts

By EBasil

from San Diego

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Can be used to make a kit
Classic like Dad had
Durable
Easy To Clean
Excellent Cup
Lightweight
Stable

Cons

Bulky
Difficult to Clean
Too big for backpacking

Best Uses

Car Camping
Hiking
Scouting

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

This is the classic, "Scout style mess kit" and it's pretty much exactly like my 35 year old version. It's excellent for CUB Scouts learning to camp "Boy Scout Style" and it's great for BOY Scouts for car-based camping.

The strengths of this product are the simple design, the excellent little plastic cup with measurement marks inside it (even though many car campers despise this cup, it's a secret gem for later), the high-sided plate/fry pan with handle and the small pot that can be used either to heat food or as an eating bowl. The aluminum is soft and easy to engrave -- and you should, since they all look the same. It's excellent to introduce the concepts of cleanings one's own gear and of using a mess kit in general.

This kit is sometimes compared to similar kits made from stainless steel and some even with a "copper clad" appearance on the bottom of the outer shells. Here's my take on that: the steel kits look much prettier and their shells are more useful as a plate than this kit's are, when car-camping. The fry-pan side of the steel kits suffers from a very flimsy handle and isn't as useful as the aluminum version. The plastic cups are the same, but the cooking pot/bowls are not-- the steel pot/bowl is much more shallow and is not adequate for significant cooking. It's okay as a shallow bowl, but not as good as the deeper bowl/pot in this kit. The aluminum is indeed made from evil aluminum (depending who you believe) but the interior pot is much, much better than the steel ones. If you want your mess kit to grow or last with a youth, I think the aluminum kit is a better buy, albeit not nearly as good looking.

The weaknesses of this aluminum Scouter mess kit are that it includes things you really don't need for backpacking...such as the fry pan/plates, and it's bulky because of it. (In a group, you don't need a fry pan and another plate for each person.) The fry pan is also pretty much the opposite of non-stick, perhaps an "all-stick" if you cook with the fry pan. Finally, as noted, it is untreated, not-anodized, raw, soft aluminum. It scratches, it dings and it might impart a metallic flavor (like with tomato sauce for sure) to things. It is also very not-trendy or cool: it's not hard-anodized like the neat GSI stuff, nor equipped with all the cool innovations some of the really neat mess kits now have. It has old-school cred, but isn't new or cool looking, at all.

The pot does black up nicely (a blackened pot heats more quickly)and will hold the neat little cup inside it with the lid on. Repeated boiling in the pot also tempers and hardens the interior surface, just like other old aluminum water pots you've seen.

Now here's how this mess kit can grow and have utility for actual backpackers: that little pot/bowl and the ultralight measuring cup that fits within it. Those two items make for the core of an excellent mini mess kit that can enable each Scout or camper to boil water or even cook food in the amount needed for individual meals, drink from a cup that doesn't burn your hand when it's full of steaming cocoa/coffee and, if you want to, be combined with a home made "cozy" insulator for high-country cooking or holding hot food in cold weather after it's been cooked in the larger "main pot".

Add a "Light My Fire" spork-thingy and this kit is an excellent starting point for any Scout or camper and it can be used for many years without further investment.

I use the pot and cup from my 35-year old version of this, along with a "reflectix" cozy and a spork as the core of my ultralight/prepared cookset for high country backpacking. I only use the pan/plates at car camps. Our Scout-aged son has done the same from 8 years-old and up.

Jun

2009

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Great long term investment

By DenLeader

from Enumclaw, WA

About Me Casual Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Durable
Stable

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

I still have this exact set from when I was in scouts (about 25 years ago) and still used them every time I'm out backpacking. They're a bit scruffed up, got some melted plastic on the pans, lost the lid to the pot, replaced the cup, but they definitely do the job. I was pleasantly surprised to find them still being offered as I was looking for a set for my own two 7yo boys. Needless to say, I'll be picking up two sets this weekend in preparation of taking them on their 1st backpacking trip in two weeks. A very good value for the money.

Jan

2010

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

open countru mess kit

By eat sleep hike

from Malibu CA

About Me Outdoor Professional

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact

Cons

Difficult to Clean

Best Uses

Backpacking
Hiking

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

i first got this because i started getting sick of cole freeze dried meals and cold drinks in the morning. so far its been great! its compact, light weight and perfect for things from heating up water to cooking egs on the campfire. my only concern is that it needs a coating of soap on the bottem to stop it from piting and its not easy carying a thing of dish soap when your a minimalist. but overal, for the price its great!

Aug

2010

(0 of 3 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Perfect for Boy Scouts

By theflyingrabbit

from Santa Fe, NM

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Compact
Durable
Easy To Clean
Stable

Cons

Bulky
Heavy

Best Uses

Boy Scouts
Car Camping

Comments about Open Country Scout Mess Kit:

This personally does not work for high adventure backpacking, climbing, and canoeing. However on Scouting campouts, this is perfect. The handle has many uses, with a bowl and two plates (one is a pan) and a small cup for liquids. This works for 2-3 days for car or concentrated cabin camping, but it is too heavy and bulky for anything above that.