Messing around with cooking

Ex-army backpacking equipment has an air of reliability about it – if an army depended on it it must be reliable.

This attitude conveniently ignores the fact that armies are sometimes defeated, whether they have reliable equipment or not.
I mean, who would want to go backpacking with the type of mess tin that was issued to Napoleon’s army in Russia? It would be asking for trouble, the expedition would be doomed from th

Bizarre backpacking equipment

It also ignores the fact that ex-army backpacking equipment isn’t always exactly lightweight backpacking equipment.
This mess tin, which as far as I recall is ex Dutch army, is rock solid, so solid that it would probably double as body armor. But it isn’t lightweight, it adds several extra ounces in weight to the backpack.
A few extra ounces isn’t worth worrying about. At least that’s how it seems. In reality, when you’re tired at the end of a day’s backpacking those few ounces can make quite a difference.
So why, oh why, do I insist on carrying this totally impractical combined mess tin\piece of budget body armor around with me?
It’s because I like it. It has sentimental value. It reminds me of all the times that I’ve messed around with cooking, all the bad meals that I’ve cooked on it, and surprisingly – even managed to eat.
In photo: my idea of how backpacking equipment could be used as body armor – don’t rely on it.