No matter your camping style or budget, durable camping cookware is an absolute essential. Your choice will depend on how often and for how long you camp as well as which style works best for your camping habits and your lifestyle.

Car camping requires a set with large pot and frying pan, vented lids, collapsible cutting board, collapsible cutting board lid, cooking utensils, trivets and other necessities to create an efficient campsite.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel camp cookware is an ideal option for backcountry travelers and guides preparing meals for multiple people simultaneously, due to its extreme durability. Plus, stainless steel resists denting and scratches better than aluminum or titanium alternatives making it perfect for rough usage and open flames.

Set for car camping, this set consists of two pots (three-liter and five-liter capacity), a pan, frying pan, strainer lid and plastic cooking utensil as well as collapsible cutting board and folding pot gripper – all fit comfortably inside a stuff sack equipped with locking bungee for secure transport and storage.

The GSI Glacier Cook Set is ideal for solo backpackers seeking simplicity, reliability, and low prices. Boiling water quickly while packing down to the size of a basketball, it reflects REI’s commitment to eliminate these chemicals from outdoor products by 2025.

Titanium

Titanium camp cookware is lightweight, strong, durable and non-reactive – the perfect combination for backpackers on a tight budget! Titanium transmits heat quickly and efficiently so it takes less time and fuel to boil or cook your meal, saving time and fuel while being highly recyclable – plus one of earth’s most abundant elements!

Titanium cookware is often the go-to choice of through-hikers, alpine climbers and bikepackers alike due to its lightweight nature and compatibility with alcohol or multi-fuel stoves. Although more costly than stainless steel or aluminum pots, titanium pots offer superior lightweightness and durability.

Select titanium cookware that has been machine-welded for best results, to ensure even and long-term welds, free from hot spots that could discolor or weaken it over time. Choose a set which includes pot, lid, eating mug/bowl and can nest together to save space in your backpack; options such as Snow Peak Trek 700 Titanium and MSR Trail Mini Duo come with such kits.

Copper

Copper makes for an elegant addition to any camping cookware collection, thanks to its gorgeous shine and speedy heat transfer/cooling cycles, as well as its richer flavor than other metals that’s appreciated when making stews or other hearty meals.

However, pure copper cookware can react with acid and leach traces of metal into food, potentially leading to health issues if this happens frequently. As such, most copper pans come lined with nonreactive materials such as tin or stainless steel lining; Ruffoni Historia Hammered Copper 11-Piece Set with Olivewood Tools has an interior made up of nonreactive tin lining.

Williams Sonoma provides pure copper pots that will stand the test of time. Their selection includes stock pots for soup and stock, high-sided saucepans that offer splatter-free simmering and copper pans with flared edges that make them suitable for crepe making.

Aluminum

Camping cookware for backcountry adventures is an essential must for any serious outdoor explorer. When choosing the appropriate set, keep your cooking needs and the type of stove in mind to find one that best matches the site where you will be camping out.

Some sets feature extras designed to make camp life simpler, such as strainers or mugs that make lifting pots easy, as well as stuff sacks for storage and transport. We tested sets with nonstick coatings as well, but these should be used with caution as they wear down faster than other materials and may release harmful PFOA-type chemicals into food or drinking water when overheated; alternatively hard-anodized aluminum pots distribute heat evenly while resisting sticking.