Tbs salamander cook kit

[Mowmow]

Just treated myself to the tbs bottle cook kit with salamander stove.
As far as first impressions go im impressed. I'm yet to field test it, i'll give a proper review next year once i've been out n used n abused it a bit.
(Stainless is stainless steel btw, of course)

Included in the kit is:
Tbs stainless cup
Tbs stainless bottle
Stainless cup lid
Stainless bail handle for cup
Stainless salamander stove
Fish mouth spreader (bottle hanger)
Tbs firesteel (i own an earlier version of the one i recieved, brilliant.)
Tbs stainless spork.
Two mesh bags one for the stove and one for the cup.
A very nice heavy duty waxed canvas bag to store it all in.

The whole kit nests snugly but not tight, but is fairly compact and lightweight.
Doesn't weigh much more than my US GI canteen with cup and lid set.

Cup and bottle are of very nice quality as far as i can tell, bottle lid is removeable for use on the campfire and the lid for the cup fits well, the handles are just the right shape and size for my hands and the bail handle is sturdy (and removeable).
The steel for the stove though seems a bit thin, we will see how it holds up. Seems of good decent quality though and is very simple and quick to put together although the pot supports are a bit fiddly at first. It's a woodgas design but as of yet I can not comment on its performance.

I'll upload some photos of the whole kit so you get a general idea of what it is and how it looks. I'm looking forwards to getting out for a few days soon and giving it a run for the money. The firesteel in the pictures is an old tbs one, barely used.

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[Madriverrob]

Nice bit of kit .....
Do you know its total weight ....

 

[Mowmow]

Not exactly, the cup and stove is about 500g so id say with the bottle and extras very slightly over 1kg but it doesnt feel quite that heavy at all. Once ive had a chance to put it in the dirt i'll get back to you.

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[Mowmow]

I forgot to mention pot capacities.
The cup is 750ml capacity with stamped volume graduations in (if i remember correctly) 100ml increments up to 500ml.
The graduations are visible on the inside and outside of the cup.

The bottle is 1l capacity.

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[Billy-o]

Handsome rig that is

 

[Mowmow]

Handsome rig that is

Looks good, we'll see how it holds up after some moderate abuse.

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[Tony]

Hope it works well for you, I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts after using it for a bit

 

[baggins]

good looking set. i bought one of their mug cooksets last month, to use with a trangia burner. i have found it takes an age to boil, even with a decent windshield. Be interested to hear your views once you have it up and running.

 

[Juggernaut]

Looks very nice, I nearly picked it up myself at the bushcraft show, only thing that stopped me was I’ve already got half the pieces from the pathfinder range ‍

 

[DocG]

Looks very nice, I nearly picked it up myself at the bushcraft show, only thing that stopped me was I’ve already got half the pieces from the pathfinder range ‍

Yes, it does seem to be similar to the Pathfinder bottle and cup, etc.
I'll be interested to see how the stove works out.
Thanks for sharing the OP

 

[01rstraker]

How is the stove working out for you?
That’s my only sticking point, if it’s good I might go for that set instead of purchasing a bushbox XL for now just to have a day pack cook set.

 

[Mowmow]

I actually do really like it.
BUT
I only take it out with me as part of a brewkit if i'm going for a walk, or maybe doing a bit of backpacking, just for heating up water and dehydrated meals.
It's very stable, very efficient, it doesn't require much fuel at all, a good stick will boil ya water n cook your dinner. (I recommend careying a folding saw) and it is very quick and easy to set up and then get lit.
It doesnt weigh much or take up much space as it nests with with the bottle kit.

But it's either hot or very hot, even on embers haha, i think you'd struggle to do any proper cooking.
You also need to be careful where you use it as it can burn the ground as the embers only sit an inch or so above it.
And it's quite fussy about wind, even a very slight breeze.

It's ideal if youre on your own and not staying anywhere too long, make a coffee n heat up some meals. Quick n efficient, less impact or effort than a campfire.

But if i'm specifically just going camping in one spot for a couple of nights I pretty much always have a campfire so I leave it at home.

I'll be honest it's not had as much use as it should have due to mine and my friends preference for striking up a camp and campfire but despite that, it's probably my favourite stove and i've got a few:
The swedish trangia, bw esbit stove, sarma wood stove and a lot of my fellow camping pals use those "ultralight" gas style stoves quite a lot (they are very efficient) but despite using them a fair bit for sticking on the kettle swiftly, i've never been tempted to buy one.
I dont like relying on the fuel you take with you, then having to go into town and pay to replace it n it's just not "natural" haha.
The wood stove burns whatever I put into it.
It's a good little stove.

From the bottle cook kit though the cup and bottle are the real deal, the cup is just absolutely spot on.
While i'm not a spork fan, the spork has replaced my bw kfs set as its lighter weight and all I really need.

The canvas bag supplied feels quality, matches the rest of my camping gear nicely and makes a decent little oven glove haha.

The whole SS bottle with fish mouth spreader, SS cup with the multiple handles and lid. Spork. All very clever and compliment each other very nicely, the stainless steel is very nice and thick stuff, should last a very long time. Its kind of a minimalist but very flexible cookset.

If im planning on doing some "real" cooking i'll usually throw in a aluminium folding handle frying pan I found in our loft (unused as well, must have been from when we last went family camping as kids!). It really completes the set being able to do some frying, its a good work surface and it makes a nice plate. It doesn't weigh anything or take up too much space but its a decent size too.

I usually do all the cooking over a campfire and use my bushcraft knife or my SAK with the spork for food prep.


As many of you will probably know the included firesteels from TBS are really nice quality.

All in all i'm very happy with it.
I highly recommend the cup and bottle set most of all though. I really love the cup.
The stove is OK, but it has its drawbacks, I suppose its a personal preference thing, my friends are all happy with their gas stoves. But I've never been a fan.

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[01rstraker]

Thanks for the update, seems like a sound investment then!