GSI Outdoors delivers on a diverse and compact cooking and serving solution with the Glacier Stainless Camper. Like its predecessor, The Pinnacle Camper, the Glacier Stainless Camper fits an incredible amount of cookware and serving ware in the belly of a 3-liter pot. The greatest difference being that they are using stainless steel for the cookware (I‘ve owned the Pinnacle Camper for a long time and I‘ve written a comparison between the two below). If you are unfamiliar with the Pinnacle Camper and the new Glacier Stainless Camper, read on.
Features
GSI Outdoors has practically packed everything you‘ll need to set up a kitchen for a group of four people in this small package. To start things off I‘ll list the cookware. They have a 3-liter pot, a 2-liter pot, and one of my new favorite cooking tools, an 8” frying pan. The 3-liter pot is plenty big to cook a big stew or soup and have lots of share with your camping neighbors. Most of the time, when I cooked, it was with the 2-liter pot. It was more than enough for a family of four. The pots warmed up quickly and got the job done.
The Glacier Stainless Camper includes a stainless lid that fits both pots and the frying pan. It has a super convenient strainer designed into the lid which is fantastic for keeping things clean not to mention helps with a “one pot to cook the whole meal” thing. I sometimes bring a steamer tray to steam veggies and the lid is great to vent steam too. It also has a single hole on one side that I use to hang it while it is hot. On that note, the lid does get mighty toasty when using it to cook, be sure to use the handle.
I love to cook and we have pretty nice cookware at home. Typically, we rough it when we cook on our outdoor adventure. When I pulled the pan out of the kit, I was actually shocked by its heft. It has a super solid base that is thick and rivals some home cookware. It cooks incredibly even.
All three of these cookware pieces share the same quick release handle, which requires more thought when cooking with more than one at a time. I typically start my slower cooking in one of the pots and then switch the handle to the frying pan to work on my more active cooking. Then switch it back to the pot afterward. A simple push of my thumb, I can pop it off and on.
Now with the cookware out of the way, I‘ll describe the serving ware. The Glacier Stainless Camper includes a serving set for four people, each made of a different color (a lifesaver if you have kids!). There are four 8” plastic plates to start. Then there are four mugs and four bowls. They look very similar and both hold around 16 ounces. The bowls have measuring marks on them both in ounces and milliliters. Each mug is wrapped with an insulator. The insulator can be slid off when cleaning. The mugs also have lids that are vented and can be used to sip from like a coffee cup lid.
Finally, the carry pouch is actually a wash basin. It features waterproof, welded seams so it can hold water. I‘ve used it to carry water from a stream to my campsite as well. It really is a cool set.
Pinnacle Camper and Glacier Stainless Camper
The main difference in the material. The Glacier Stainless Camper set‘s cookware is all stainless and the Pinnacle Camper set is not. The thickness and even cooking of the frying pan is a big difference to me. The Pinnacle Camper cooks great. Those of you who are familiar with stainless already know that stainless just has the ability to braise and brown so much better than other cooking materials.
On the downside, stainless is harder to clean and it takes some time to get used to using stainless over typically coated cookware.
Not quite everything but the kitchen sink
While GSI Outdoors does indeed include the “sink” as mentioned above, the biggest oversight is that it doesn‘t come with any eating utensils. Which is a bummer because GSI Outdoors makes a really cool one called “foon.” It‘s a telescoping spork and it fits perfectly inside the mugs when being stored. So with that in mind be sure to pick up either a set of foons or your own preferred eating implement before you venture out unless you want to go primal and use your fingers.
Final thoughts
The entire Glacier Stainless kit is nice and compact. It weighs in around 3 -1/2 pounds so not for the ultralight camper. However at only 9 inches in diameter and about 5 inches tall, it is great for pretty much every other application and adventure.
The stainless is not only nice to look at, it really brings the feel of home cookware to the basecamp.
For more information on the Glacier Stainless Camper, please visit: GSI Outdoors at: http://www.gsioutdoors.com/
MSRP: $89.95
-Andy
A big thank you to GSI for sending this out to demo.