Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Camping Cook Kit on a Budget: A $50 Ultralight Bikepacking Stove Kit
Ultralight bikepacking and backpacking cook setups have come a long way, but do you need to break the bank to get a reliable one? Neil explores one of the cheapest lightweight stove kits available in our latest video, offering a mini-review of each item and sharing weights and prices. Find his $50 budget camping cook kit here…
When it comes to car camping, you can find affordable stove setups that use larger Coleman propane bottles, but when bikepacking or backpacking, keeping weight to a minimum is vital. While budget-friendly options like handmade alcohol stoves are available, they come with significant drawbacks: low heat output, sensitivity to wind, and lack of flame control. On the other hand, canister stoves—though not without their flaws—are generally faster at boiling water, and the fuel canisters are relatively easy to find in the U.S. I understand that canister stoves might not be as popular or accessible outside the U.S., so this video might not resonate as much with some international viewers. However, it’s the ideal camping cook kit setup I’ve relied on for nearly all my trips over the past few years.
When bikepacking, I usually keep things simple. For an overnight trip, I’ll either bring a pre-made meal or a dehydrated one. On longer journeys, I cook easy meals like ramen, instant potatoes, or whatever I can pick up at small stores along the way. In the mornings, it’s all about coffee and oatmeal. So, my stove kit really just needs to boil water efficiently. In this piece, I put together some details about the budget camping cook kit I’ve been using for a while, which happens to be a low-cost setup that can be purchased for just about 50 bucks and weighs under 200 grams in total. Watch below and scroll down to read the written version alongside photos and links.
BRS Outdoor BRS-3000T
29 grams / Made in China / $16.90 at AMZN
When I started searching for budget-friendly, lightweight stoves, the BRS 3000T quickly topped my list. Weighing only 26 grams—29 grams with its carrying case—it’s about the size of a small lighter, yet it delivers impressive performance. It takes up virtually no space in your pack and even includes a small pouch to store a lighter alongside it. Honestly, there’s little to complain about with the BRS stove. It does exactly what it’s supposed to and has held up well in the few months I’ve been testing it. The stove features three fold-out legs that create a compact platform for your pot. While this platform is smaller than others, like the MSR Pocket Rocket 2, making it a bit challenging to balance larger pots, it’s perfect for a personal 600 or 750ml mug.
Joe Cruz introduced me to the BRS. He’s spent a lot of time with this tiny stove, and he even bought a replacement after losing one because it’s so affordable. Sure, it sometimes feels a bit too light, and durability might be a concern, but neither Joe nor I have had any issues so far. In a side-by-side test with the Pocket Rocket 2, the BRS stove was only about 10 seconds slower to boil 500ml of cold tap water, taking just under 5 minutes with both stoves on full blast.
I did notice that the BRS is more affected by light wind compared to the Pocket Rocket 2, but considering it costs less than half the price—just $16.90 compared to nearly $50—I’ll take that trade-off. While it’s not ideal for simmering, you can control the flame enough for a quick meal. However, its primary purpose is boiling water, and it excels at that. The BRS 3000T offers an incredible value for the price, making it a standout choice for budget-conscious adventurers.
LIXADA Titanium Pot
126 grams / Made in China / $26.99 at AMZN
Next in my budget camping cook kit lineup is the Lixada 650ml mug/pot, a versatile piece of gear I’ve used for a few years. It’s lightweight, easy to pack, and doubles as a drinking vessel for coffee or tea, making it a perfect multi-use item. I opted for the 650ml size for a couple of reasons: first, it’s ideal for boiling 500ml of water, with some extra space to reduce the risk of spills. But the main reason was the measurement markers on the inside and outside of the pot—something the 550ml version lacks, making it harder to gauge how much water you’ve added.
The pot comes with a lid, two foldable handles, and a carrying bag, making it extremely packable and lightweight. It weighs just 126 grams with the case and 113 grams without. The pot is spacious enough to fit most of my cook kit, including the BRS stove, a 4oz fuel canister (which typically lasts up to five days for one person), and a small pot gripper. The gripper keeps everything from rattling around and is a handy tool for holding the mug when it’s hot.
The Lixada pot disperses heat evenly and cools down fairly quickly. The lid fits well and is easy to remove—you can even grip the small triangle handle on top while boiling if it’s positioned upright. However, the handles get quite hot right after boiling, which is where the pot gripper comes in handy. The 650ml size is convenient; I’ve used it to boil water for dehydrated meals and even for making ramen. While it might not be the largest option if you plan to cook a more elaborate meal, it’s perfect for simple tasks.
At $26.99, the Lixada 650ml pot is one of the lightest and most affordable options I could find. I’ve used heavier, more durable MSR pots and own a few Snowpeak mugs, but the Lixada feels comparable in quality to my Snowpeak at a fraction of the price. It’s an excellent choice for building a budget-friendly and lightweight camping cook kit.
TiTo Titanium Long Handle Spork
15 grams / Made in China / $7.99 at AMZN
Rounding out my cook kit is the often-overlooked but essential spork. I’ve long relied on a standard REI spork—simple, reliable, and still going strong after a decade. But after seeing Joe and Miles using long sporks during a trip to Arizona in January, I decided to try one. Enter the Tito Ti long spork, weighing just 15 grams and measuring nearly 22cm (about 8.5 inches) long.
The extra length is great for keeping your hands clean when eating from larger dehydrated meal containers or mugs. However, it does take up more space and can be a bit awkward to pack in a kitchen kit or top tube bag, plus it’s prone to bending more easily. That can be a minor inconvenience, but overall, it still does the job well. Tito Ti offers sporks in various colors, and you can choose between a spoon or spork version if you’re not a fan of sporks—there are plenty of you out there, I’m sure.
At $7.99, the Tito Ti long spork was the most affordable option I could find. While it’s not significantly lighter or cheaper than other sporks on the market, at least it’s durable and not made of plastic.
Fuel Transfer Device
Made in China / $35 at AMZN
Lastly, it’s worth highlighting that if you’re looking to save even more money, reusing fuel canisters with a fuel transfer device is a great option. I’ve saved quite a bit by doing this. I personally use a FlipFuel, but there are plenty of affordable options online that work just as well for transferring fuel from one canister to another, like this highly-reviewed option for $17. This is especially useful for consolidating leftover fuel or transferring bulk fuel to a smaller, more convenient canister—a method I’ve found myself using more frequently. Find a full video tutorial on how to do this here.
Final Thoughts
So, let’s sum up the complete camping cook kit I’ve mentioned (excluding fuel). We have a 29-gram stove with its carrying case, a 126-gram pot with its carrying case, a 15-gram spork, and 21 grams for a lighter and pack towel, which doubles as a pot gripper. That brings the total weight to 191 grams and the cost to $51.88 (excluding the pack towel and lighter). Not bad at all! For comparison, the MSR PocketRocket Stove kit, which includes a few more features, costs just under $105 and weighs 251 grams. So, this setup is not only half the price but also lighter than the MSR PocketRocket kit.
The main downside is that most of these items aren’t available at your local gear store and can only be purchased on Amazon, which will turn a lot of people off. But it also helps keep the cost down for folks who have a tight budget or no other option.
Overall, this kit has served me well, and I’ll continue using it until something better comes along.
What do you think of this budget camping cook kit? Do you have something similar? Share your thoughts in the conversation below!
Further Reading
Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...
Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.
We're independent
and member-supported.
Join the Bikepacking Collective to make our work possible:
