User Review: GSI Ultralight Soloist Cook System

GSI Ultralight Soloist Cook System
Above: The current Ultralight Soloist Cook System, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed September 21, 2009 by Cardigan

Rating:
Price Paid: $30

The spoon is very flimsy and far too short to eat out of a freezedry bag, It is also impossible to clean the open/close slide mechanism. I recycled it. I will continue to carry my long REI titanium spoon.

The plastic cup is fine, but the flimsy foam band which insulates it is likewise impossible to clean thoroughly. Stuff gets under the band, and when water is short, there is too much surface to clean, the band itself floppy and unscrubbable. I threw out both cup and band. I will continue to carry my 30-yr-old sierra cup, which in pinch can be cleaned with sand or duff.

The waterproof bag, being - to continue the theme - utterly uncleanable is useless as a "wash basin." Good grief. I wonder whether a breathable bag in which things could dry out might not make more sense.

The stove bag doesn't seem to offer much protection. I threw it out. Better to wrap the stove in a bandanna, which actually serves potential additional purposes. I suspect alas that only SOME stoves will fit in the pot anyway.

The pot itself seems fine, though I have only used it a few times so far. The rest is overthought frivolity.

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