Review on G4Free 13-Piece Camping Cookware Mess Kit: Non Stick Pot, Knife & Spoon Set For Hiking And Backpacking Picnics by Jose Muenzen

This set was not at all what I was expecting. I did a lot of review look up to find something for my backpacking trips. I got these based on many different site reviews stating it was a great kit. revain had many good reviews as well. I've taken this out one multiple trips now.Before I got this, I purchased the Stanley Adventure Camp Cook Set 24oz Stainless Steel cook-set I'd like to compare these two. First and most obvious thing is the G4Free set comes with 4 cooking pieces, the Stanley you get only one cooking piece. The second things is the price, this one is not very expensive at all, but the Stanley comes in under 12 dollars. The Stanley set is lighter as a whole than this set, and smaller over all as well. I don't like caring rocket stoves (I'm sure in the future it'll be something I do more) so I put what I'm cooking on an open fire normally. In this situation the Stanley beats the G4Free by leaps and bounds. I can put the stainless steel Stanley right in the fire with no real concern about what will happen to it, and it does well at finding spots to sit against, only down side is make sure you grab the handle with your hand covered. The G4Free feels as though it is built more for rocket stoves or portable stoves. The silicone handles covers melted my first trip out very disappointed in that. The handles do not lock in place when pulled from the sides of the pot meaning they move all over and sometimes swing back closed. With the Stanley the handle locks when it's put down. The Stanley comes with 2 cups as well which was nice (I removed one) they came in handy many times, especially for coffee in the morning. I am able to fit one of the Stanley cups, a cleaning scour, my mess kit, and coffee in the G4Free. One down side to the Stanley is I can't fit all the things inside of it that I can fit inside of the G4free only just by less than an inch of height my mess kit does not fit in my Stanley, I'm sure that could be changed with a different mess kit. The G4Free set does not have a true LID to cover any of these pots to prevent ash and debris out, or heat in. The smaller pots fit over the deeper pots in a way that COULD be used as a lid, but it requires that you keep the handles tucked to the side of the pots or else the smaller pot just tilts off the top of the taller pot (of course you could just set a rock or something heavy on top of it to prevent it from falling). The Stanley comes with a vented lid that could double as a strainer. The mesh bag the G4Free comes with is great and all, but if you chose NOT to use it, your cooking set would not stay together, the smaller pots and taller pots don't really fit snugly on top of each other and could separate in you bag and jumble, or spill the contents on the side with out the bag. Also, the kit is a little annoying to get in the bag. The G4Free's larger pot holds about twice the liquid (over 1000ml) as the Stanley (around 700ml) and the smaller tall pot still holds more than the Stanley, but the G4Free are both obviously larger in dimensions as well.The fact that the Stanley is stainless steel has it's pros and cons over G4Free kit. Stainless steel is more robust than the none-stick surface of this kit. To me backpacking is situation you would find your self needing something that would last and take a beating, the G4Free kit does not seem like that, where as the Stanley I'd trust it as a weapon to bludgeon someone. You wont have to worry about what cooking utensils you use inside of the Stanley. The G4Free's none-stick surface means you can't use hard materials if you choose to cook inside of the pot, anything harder than cooking grade plastic utensils may scratch the sides of the aluminum/Teflon surface of the G4Free. This kit is in general more likely to bend, or break do to it's material, which would be a plus side IF it meant it was lighter, but it's not. Normally you sacrifice weight for durability and visa versa, in this situation that's not the case. Even removing half of this kit does not make much of a weight difference as far as I can tell, how ever I don't have a scale to tell how many oz the difference is. Checking the information in the details of the product information, the G4Free is 1lbs 2oz, and the Stanley (w/o the cups) is 7.5oz. However the none-stick aluminum/Teflon surface, if well cared for is MUCH easier to clean, and actually heats up faster and more evenly than the stainless steel (I mostly boil water so the even cooking means really nothing to me).Pros 1. More cooking surfaces 2. Space inside to store things 3. Reasonable price 4. Good for multi-person camping 5. Easier to clean (than Stainless Steel)Cons 1. Takes up too much space inside pack 2. Could be build better. Especially the handles 3. Not good for direct camp fire cooking. 4. Silicone handle covers melt 5. Extra pieces drive up price. 6. Not Robust, needs care when handling 7. No Lid.Conclusion: I would not recommend this to a person who is backpacking alone or carrying everything for only one person. I also would not recommend it for lightweight or ultra-lightweight backpacking due to it's size and weight. If you are packing in 4 cooking pots for multiple people so they have more room in their packs for other things, I could see this being a reasonable option.