Best Bang for Your Buck

Price: $119.95

Weight: 3.69 lbs (1.67 kg)

Components: 3L pot; 2L pot; 2 lids; 9” frypan; 4 7.5″ plates; 4 14 fl. oz. bowls; 4 14 fl. oz. mugs w/ sip-it lids; folding pot gripper; welded sink/storage sack

Materials: Aluminum, polypropylene, nylon

Cooking Surface: Nonstick Teflon Classic coating

Packed Size: 9.1″ x 9.1″ x 5.8″

Boil Time: 3:55

Best Use: Camping

What We Like: Tons of components, Budget alternative to Pinnacle Camper, Highly packable

What We Don’t: Scratch-prone Teflon coating, Heavy

If you’re looking for a camp cookware set that can do it all, look no further than the GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Camper, winner of our Best Bang for Your Buck award. This 20-piece camping mess kit is jam-packed with a wide range of essentials: it includes a 3L and 2L pot; two lids; a 9” frypan; four 7.5″ plates; four 14 fl. oz. bowls; four 14 fl. oz. mugs with sip-it lids; and a folding pot gripper, which all fit together in a storage sack that doubles as a camp sink. At $119.95, the Bugaboo Camper isn’t exactly a budget purchase, but it’s well suited for family camp cookouts, and its Teflon coating makes cooking and cleaning easy-peasy.

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See Our Best Camp Cookware Review HERE!

Cooking & Cleaning

The Bugaboo’s pots and pan are made from high-temp aluminum that delivers an impressive cooking performance. Food is cooked evenly and we encountered no hot spots, so there’s little risk of burning your food. The only issue you may encounter is keeping your food over the burner; the 9” pan is rather large by camping standards and its center is somewhat raised, so food like eggs may shift to the edges. Boil time in the pots was roughly 3 minutes 55 seconds, which is average amongst the pots in our review.

The Teflon Classic coating keeps food from sticking to the pan and makes cleanup a breeze. However, it’s rather important that you avoid using metal cooking utensils, as this coating is rather scratch-prone, and any damage to the Teflon coating will immediately start to hinder its nonstick properties. On top of that, flakes of Teflon will soon become an undesired ingredient in your future camp meals, with no way to reverse this process.

Weight & Packability

The GSI Bugaboo Camper’s substantial weight of 3.69 lbs (1.67 kg) means that it’s not particularly well-suited for lightweight camping; this is very much a car camping set that’s designed to be durable. All packed away in its versatile camp sink, the packed size for the Bugaboo is 9.1″ x 9.1″ x 5.8″. There’s not very much spare space inside the packed set due to its many components, but you might be able to fit some foldable utensils or sponges inside the sip cups. You can also generate a bit of extra space (as well as cut weight) by leaving a few of these items behind if your party consists of less than four people.

Durability

GSI makes a fairly durable camp cookware set. While not as strong as stainless steel or hard-anodized aluminum, the aluminum pots and pan in the Bugaboo should be resistant to warping under high heat. The only durability concern to keep in mind is the aforementioned Teflon coating. Not only should you be cautious to avoid scratching the Teflon while cooking, but also during transport. When packed away properly, there should be no risk of any metal items making improper contact with the cooking surface of the pots and pans; the metal handle folds up and fits inside one of the cups.

Features

You won’t find many camp cookware sets as versatile as the Bugaboo. The removable pot and pan handle is foldable, has a simple-to-use locking mechanism, and should not get too warm while being used for cooking. The storage sack makes an excellent camp sink/wash basin, and the sip-it lids on the triangular 14 oz. mugs make it easy to gesture while enjoying your beverage. The propylene plates are sturdy but a bit flat for any meals that may have a slightly soupy consistency. We also felt that GSI was a bit ambitious with their use of the word “bowl” for the 14 oz. containers that have the same dimensions as the mugs; this does, however, help them to nest quite well together. Although we would have liked to have found some cutlery included in this set, we did appreciate that all of the plates, bowls, and cups are color coded to prevent any mixups.

The Bottom Line

Although there are less expensive camp cookware sets on the market, few can match the performance you’ll get from the GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Camper. We were impressed with its cooking ability and packability, and while it’s not light enough to function well as a backpacking set, it’s well suited for car camping. If price isn’t an important factor and you’re interested in upgrading your set, the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper utilizes upgraded aluminum and Teflon, along with a slightly lower weight, for an additional $30.

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