Innovations have made many outdoor gears light and efficient than they were years ago, but one thing that hasn’t change much is cookware. No wait. Actually, there are collapsible cookware designed to lighten your burden when you are out in the wild, but none of them is as nearly as impressive as the Bear Bowl Pocket Cook Pot by Washington-based Bear Minimum. Bear Bowl is goes beyond collapsible; it is foldable (think origami), made possible by a flexible, food-grade, flame-resistant material (PTFE-coated fiberglass, to be exact) and a 4-inch square aluminum base. When folded, Bear Bowl measures 4.5 x 4.5 x 1 inches, which is a tad bigger than a typical wallet and at 178g (6.3 ounces), it weighs not much more than a smartphone.
It unfolds in seconds to a cube-like, leakproof container capable of holding up to 0.95L (32 Fluid Ounce) of water. The 4-inch square aluminum base allows Bear Bowl to be used with a variety of controlled flame camping stoves, like alcohol, solid fuel cubes and ISO propane. And thanks to the PTFE coating, it is super easy to clean – all you have to do is open is up, wipe it clean, and it is ready to be stowaway. I’d be lying to say I am not impressed and I also be lying if I am wary of ‘fiberglass’ in the mix, but hey, maybe that’s just me. Also, I can’t deny that I am totally sold by the idea of a super lightweight and super space-saving cook pot. At least, my shoulder would have welcome it and I am sure may campers’ shoulder would too.
If you are suitably impressed, you may want to consider joining the 400 backers on Kickstarter in pre-ordering this novel cook pot for $23 a pop. It comes with a paracord handle that measures 12 feet when unwound which can come in handy for outdoor survival.
Images: Bear Minimum.
