I love tradition, I appreciate aesthetics and in deference to these important principles I carried traditional cooking and eating gear for years. Thankfully we actually do evolve. Authenticity is one thing, eating hot food in a modicum of comfort is another.
Crappy aluminum mess kits are the bane of campers everywhere. We foist them on the young as some sentimental talisman of an authentic wilderness experience. The garden variety clam-shell mess kit is a sentimental throwback to the days when World War one soldiers needed to cook and eat in the trenches. We are not soldiers.
These traditions are so strong that you can still buy a mess kit at any Walmart. The idea persists that we should carry special 'camping' gear into the woods no matter how impractical, impeding or flimsy it is.
Here's a condemnation of the lousy traditional mess kit and recommendations for the practical modern mess kit assembled from components free from the kitchen or for a few bucks at a discount store.
Utensils
The ubiquitous, cutesy 'vittle kit' is an interlocking knife, fork, spoon. Lugs on the spoon collect crud and the bowl is shallow and small. The fork is a utilitarian masterpiece compared to the dull, flimsy, useless knife (calling it a knife shames knives everywhere). Why carry a fork AND a spoon when a spoon will do?
I like lexan utensils; indestructible, sanitary, light and well designed. The hopelessly cheap can get a pretty good plastic spoon for free at Wendy's.
Plate
The thermodynamic qualities of the plate half of the mess kit should be studied by engineers who design heat dissipating equipment
. Hot food placed in it begins to ice up as the heat is sucked from the food and transferred to your burning hands. A sturdy plastic bowl is better but a Frisbee makes a dandy deep plate, doubles as a throwing disk and triples as a fan to inspire an otherwise lackluster campfire. Using a Frisbee as a plate first evokes blank stares, then knowing laughs and burning envy.
The 'Frying' Pan
Try frying something in a mess kit 'frying pan' without it sticking and burning; go ahead, try. Never mind the Chinese puzzle of a handle with nuts and bolts that inevitably disappears into a pile of leaves. Who really needs to fry something in the woods anyway? If you have to fry carry a real frying pan, or heat a flat (dry) rock.
Pot
The Barbie-sized mess kit pot is fine if, for some reason, you need to fill an eye cup with boiling water. If you want enough hot water for a meal be prepared to fill the pot several times. The world is full of inexpensive one quart saucepans; there's probably one lurking at the back of your kitchen cabinets. Cut off the handle to save weight and use your Leatherman pliers (you do have a Leatherman, don't you?) to move it when it is hot.
Cup
The temperature of liquid put in the flimsy mess kit cup soon reaches that of the cup. A minimal, flimsy handle and the cup itself is frustratingly unstable. Insulated plastic mugs are so ubiquitous these days there are probably several kicking around your kitchen fraternizing with old one quart saucepans and lidless Tupperware. Give them a second chance; take one camping.
Canteen
Canteens are small mouthed, leaky, difficult to fill, ungainly and hard to clean. Anyone who has ever used an aluminum canteen recalls the distasteful metallic tang imparted to the contents along with the ghost of last year's Kool-aid. Is there anything more uncomfortable on a hike than a canteen slapping against your hips at every step? Nearly any empty diposable plastic beverage bottle does a better job (their tops can be leaky)
The capacious two quart Nalgene Bottle now rules the day. A generous, easy-to clean mouth, inert materials and a secure cap make for a perfect camping container - and the colors!
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