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Review: Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset

Sea to summit X-Set 32 Cookset

A lightweight, collapsible and highly packable camping cookset with a kettle, pot and frying pan.

Collapsible to only 5cm high, the Sea to Summit X-Set 32 is the ideal cookset for car campers, backpacking groups and gourmet camp chefs. Saute or fry in the aluminium pan, and get the bulk of your meals cooked in the food grade silicone and aluminium pot and kettle. This three piece set has everything you need to cook up a storm in the outdoors.

Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset: The stats

Included in set:Pot, kettle and frying pan
Pot capacity:2.8 litres
Kettle capacity:1.3 litres
Frying pan size:21.5cm (8.5in) diameter
Total weight:756g (1.66lb)
Packed size:23 x 5cm (9 x 2in)
Materials:Silicone, aluminium, nylon

Design features of the Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset

Pot

Pouring water from potThe 2.8 litre pot holds loads of food – I’ve cooked one-pot meals for four hungry hikers in it, and could have fed one more mouths. Two more at a push. I really like the lid design – it has two silicone handles that fold over and clip onto the lid to secure it down. This makes draining boiling water through the strainer holes so much more safe and easy than through regular lids that you have to keep in place with a cloth. The lid is BPA-free and also has a little silicone handle on the top to lift it. The seal where the collapsible silicone wall joins the aluminium base (which is about 1cm deep), is bomb-proof. But because of potential damage to the silicone, the pot can only be used to cook food that is liquid based. So no frying or sautéing.

Kettle

Kettle on stoveThe BPA-free lid fits snuggly into the mouth of the kettle leaving a small lip open for very smooth pouring. Like the pot, there is a little silicone handle on the top of the lid, and the two plastic D-shaped handles can be folded down to the sides when not in use, or when adding water to the kettle. There are also some very useful measurements on the side of the kettle to indicate that all important number of cups to boil (up to four).

Frying pan

Frying panThe frying pan is made from the same mid weight aluminium as the bases of the pot and kettle. There is a handle on each side of the pan with silicone grips that are really secure when you are holding both of them. They fold down to the sides of the pan when not in use. The frying pan is 4cm deep and 21.5cm in diameter making it ideal for frying up four eggs, or a couple of fish fillets.

Pack size

Cooking potsThe handles of the kettle fold to the sides and there is a little elastic band that keeps the lid and handles in place when collapsed. The kettle fits perfectly inside the collapsed pot. Put the pot lid on and secured it down over the kettle and the whole lot fits snuggly into the frying pan. With its handles tucked in it makes a very tidy little package of only 5cm high x 23cm in diameter.


Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset review

The X-Set 32 is absolutely perfect when cooking for four people in the backcountry, or two people when car camping.

Backpacking

For one or two people cooking on a canister stove in the backcountry, the X-Set 32 is overkill. You can’t fit your stove and gas canister inside it (like other lightweight setups), and you only really need the pot if you are cooking lightweight meals. This makes the kettle and frying pan a little redundant. That said, at 756g this is not a particularly heavy set (although there are certainly lighter options out there). And if you err on the side of gourmet with your backcountry grub, then its extra weight is probably worth carrying.

Pots on stove

The X-Set 32 really comes into its own when cooking for 3 or 4 people on overnight backpacking and paddling trips. That extra weight disappears when your whole cooking setup (fuel, stove, bowls etc) is split between 4 of you. The weight is totally manageable and worth every extra gram for the ability to cook something a little more inviting than yet another bowl of couscous and dried peas!

It’s also really nice to have a separate kettle so that camp coffee can be enjoyed (almost) at the same time as breakfast, for a change!

Car camping

If you are car camping and only catering for two people, this is a luxury cook set that allows you to get really gourmet with your camp cooking, especially if you have a double burner camp stove. And if you are cooking for four whilst car camping, the capacity of the pots are plenty big enough if you keep the meals relatively simple.

What I love the most about the Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset

The packability of the collapsible pans is genius. Sea to Summit have done a great job at combining the aluminium with the silicone to create a very streamlined and lightweight setup that is surprisingly stable. The aluminium bottoms provide really solid bases for the collapsible silicone. And even though the pot and frying pan are both over 20cm wide, they are super stable, even on my tiny Pocket Rocket stove.

Packed cookset

What I don’t love so much about the Sea to Summit X-Set 32 Cookset

The handles on the frying pan are highly grippy and solid when holding both of them at the same time. However, they don’t click into place making it impossible to lift the pan using only one handle – the pan just folds away from the handle spilling its contents all over the floor! This is most noticeable when moving food around in the pan. You can just about hold the pan steady with one handle to stir food gently with the pother hand. But as soon as you need to tip the pan slightly or apply a bit more force to get your spatula underneath something, you need both hands on the handles. This then leaves you handless to continue cooking! Locking handles would solve this problem and make the frying pan much more usable.


Verdict

From a versatility point of view, the X-Set 32 doesn’t offer as much as more traditional cooksets – you can’t saute in the pot or use the set on campfires. But the collapsible and lightweight nature of this set makes is super appealing to gourmet backcountry chefs, backpacking groups and car campers alike. And for campervan life the X-Set 32 is a mega space saver.

Find the latest price on:
Sea to Summit | Amazon | Backcountry

Disclaimer: Cool of the Wild received this product free in return for an honest review. We only recommend gear that we love from companies we trust and we are under no obligation to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are that of the reviewer and we are in no way influenced by the brand or company.

About Joey

Woman wearing wooly hat

Joey is based in Cornwall, UK, and runs Cool of the Wild. She can’t get enough of being outdoors – whether that’s lounging around the campfire cooking up a feast, hitting the trail in her running shoes, or attempting to conquer the waves on her surfboard – she lives for it. Camping is what she loves to do the most, but has also spent many many hours clinging to the side of a rock face, cycling about the place, cruising the ski-slopes on her snowboard and hiking small mountains and big hills.

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