For a lightweight pot to cook in, we’ve used a plain ol’ WalMart grease pot. I can hear you now, “lightweight, functional camping gear at WalMart?? Surely you jest!!” We kid you not. If you look in the kitchen section of WalMart, you’ll find a black pot with no handle, a tight fitting lid, and a strainer that has “GREASE” stamped into the side. They’re cheap, buy one and try it. Throw out the strainer (it just lifts out) and you’re left with a super lightweight, approximately 4 cup pot (when filled to the brim) with a decent lid. Now, you will have to carry some sort of pot holder (sold at most outdoor shops--for about $13 you can get the MSR lite lifter, which only weighs an ounce), but with a pot weighing in at 4.2oz, including lid, you can handle it.

Some people carry pot stands, and truth be told, we intended to also. But before we could buy or make a stand, we took a long road trip where we stopped to cook ourselves dinner. We ended up using three tent stakes driven into the ground an equal distance as a stand, and never did get around to buying one. We’ve found it works just fine to use three of our tent stakes every evening and morning to cook our meals (and doesn’t add extra weight).

UPDATE: Gwen recently learned from the wonderful ladies at the WomenHikers list that a pot is available that is basically the same as the Wal-Mart grease pot, only the lip is turned outward instead of inward (this prevents food from getting stuck under the lip and growing interesting things). It's sold at www.antigravitygear.com We've also heard rave reviews about their pot cozies, but haven't personally tried them.