REASONS TO BUY
Light
Simple
Just the right set of features
REASONS TO AVOID
Not suitable for sophisticated cooking
Silicone ring is a fire hazard
MSR Trail Mini Duo Review
A simple pot and basic accessories for ultralight backpacking
MSR Trail Mini Duo
Credit: MSR
RELATED: Best Camping Cookware Sets of 2024
Our Verdict
The MSR Trail Mini Duo is a cook set that is best utilized for ultralight backpacking, especially when paired with an ultralight canister-top stove. Camp cookware, as a category, holds a wide range of products, and this one represents one extreme end of the spectrum. It is essentially just a simple, lightweight, packable pot, offering limited accessories and only sufficient performance. The largest drawback to the design is the silicone ring that wraps around the pot, which slipped down the pot and lit on fire during our boiling water test. This is a serious concern, not only for personal safety, but is also a hazard when cooking in sensitive locations like wilderness and national forests. Despite our experience, if you're simply looking to heat water for backpacking meals and beverages, the Trail Mini Duo could still be a good companion for your next ultralight backpacking adventure. Check out our comprehensive review of the best camping cookware to see how it fares against the competition.
Editor's Note: We recently retested the Trail Mini Duo, and updated this review on December 31, 2023, with our latest findings.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
MSR Trail Mini Duo | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Value for Car Camping |  Best Cookware for Foodies | Best Value for Solo Backpackers | ||
| Price | $47.97 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $90 List $90.00 at Amazon | $57.89 at Amazon Compare at 2 sellers | $25 List $24.95 at REI | $39.95 at REI Compare at 2 sellers |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This minimalist cookware set is well-suited for ultralight backpacking, but has some serious design flaws | A wonderful stainless-steel set for the value-oriented car camper | Heavy-duty cast iron prioritizes cooking performance, offering a gourmet cooking experience whether at home or on the road | A high value stainless steel solo cook set intended for the backpacker | A stainless steel set ready for the hearty solo backpacker |
| Rating Categories | MSR Trail Mini Duo | Stanley Adventure B... | Lodge 3.2 Quart Cas... | GSI Outdoors Glacie... | Snow Peak Personal... |
| Cooking Performance (35%) | |||||
| Features (15%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (15%) | |||||
| Durability (15%) | |||||
| Packability (10%) | |||||
| Weight (10%) | |||||
| Specs | MSR Trail Mini Duo | Stanley Adventure B... | Lodge 3.2 Quart Cas... | GSI Outdoors Glacie... | Snow Peak Personal... |
| Measured Weight | 0.70 lbs | 4.8 lbs | 12.3 lbs | 1.0 lbs | 1.3 lbs |
| Material | Hard-anodized aluminum | Stainless steel (pot and pan bottoms have additional layers) | Cast iron | Stainless steel | Stainless steel |
| Components | 1.2L pot, 28 oz bowl, lid, pot lifter, stuff sack | 3.5 L pot, vented lid, 7" 3-Ply frying pan, cutting board, ¹ spatula with extending handle, ¹ serving spoon with extending handle, ⁴ 6 in plates, ⁴ 22 oz bowls, ⁴ sporks, dish drying rack, heat resistant trivet, locking bungee | 3.2 qt Dutch oven, 10" frypan/lid | 1 L pot, ¹ folding handle frying pan, ¹ bowl, ¹ cup, stuff sack | ² pots, ¹ lid, ¹ plate, ¹ bowl, ¹ pan |
| Avg Boil Time (seconds) | 241 | 252 | 270 | 236 | 183 |
| 3 L Pot? (>2.4L) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 L Pot? (1.5-2.4L) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 L Pot? (0.5-1.4L) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Frying Pan? | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Frying Pan Lid? | N/A | No | Yes | No | No |
| Packed Size | 5 x 5.5 in | 11 x 6 x 11 in | 16.5 x 10.38 x 4.63 in | 6.7 x 6.6 x 3.5 in | 5.9 x 3.2 in |
| Weight of Pot Closest to 1.5 L (With Lid and Handle) | 0.5lbs | 1.9 lbs | 5.9 lbs | 0.74 lbs | 0.5 lbs |
| Cooking Surfaces | Hard anodized | Stainless steel | Cast iron | 18/8 stainless steel | Stainless steel |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The Duo is nothing more than a single tiny pot with just the right set of accessories for ultralight backpacking. This cookware set, plus a stove, spoon, and wide-mouth water bottle, completes a fast and light kitchen. In the context of lightweight backpacking, simple “just add water” meals are the easiest and lightest. While the Trail Mini Duo excels in packability, simplicity, and weight, it certainly suffers when cooking performance and overall versatility are considered. Our testing team was caught off guard during our boiling water tests when the silicone ring – an integrated heat grip – slipped to the bottom of the pot and caught fire on our stove. We can't help but warn users of this potential hazard, especially when considering the delicate landscapes one could be traveling through.
Performance Comparison
Light and fast travel requires light and fast food and kitchen supplies. The Trail Mini Duo is just what the doctor ordered. Here our lead test editor Jediah Porter bulks up his ultralight kitchen with a frying pan for night one steak time. Otherwise, his kit is uber light with the Trail Mini Duo.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Cooking Performance
The Trail Mini Duo is not a cookware set that provides optimal cooking performance. This is a lightweight, minimalist design best selected for heating water for your morning brew or dehydrated backpacking meals. The tall, narrow shape is better optimized for packing than it is for cooking. It heats water and boils pasta just fine, but try to simmer rice or fry an egg in there, and you are asking for trouble. The issue is that the narrow bottom and tall sides simultaneously focus all the heat on the bottom of the pot and hinder any stirring or scraping of the bottom. The good news is that someone who might choose this sort of specialized equipment typically leans away from extensive cooking and towards simpler “just add water” meals. For these simpler meals, the Trail Mini is still a solid choice.
The tall, narrow profile of the Trail Mini Duo is well suited to packing, but means the heat of your burner is further concentrated.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Features
This cook set includes a very basic set of features for backpacking food preparation. The set is built around a 1-liter pot (filled to the brim, it holds 1.5 L; effectively, the capacity is 1 L) with a thick, plastic lid. The lid features a cut-out for pliers to grip and a set of holes that are perfect for straining pasta water. A 600 ml Lexan plastic bowl nests around the bottom, so you don't have to eat right out of the pot. The pot can be moved, even when quite hot, with either the silicone ring around the pot rim or by using the ridiculously light pot gripping pliers. This silicone ring is removable for ultralight use or to mitigate any potential fire hazard. The whole kit conveniently slides into a mesh stuff sack. For more sophisticated camping, whether backpacking or car camping, you will want more features. However, the Trail Mini Duo has enough features to handle the basics.
The Trail Mini Duo, packed up with stove and fuel inside, all inside its lightweight stuff sack. Note the plastic “bowl” nested around the bottom of the pot and inside the bag.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Ease of Use
The Trail Mini Duo features a limited-use design that is just right for preparing food for two on an ultralight backpacking mission. When considering backpacking supplies, we immediately weigh every component to investigate how we can lighten our load. It is a testament to the ease of use of this MSR kit that we would leave little to nothing behind, even for the rowdiest of ultralight missions. While it is easy to use, this kit is far from versatile. If you want to prepare more than dehydrated meals or hot drinks, we recommend investigating other ultralight options.
That textured rubber ring allows you to, at least briefly, hold the Trail Mini Duo even when full of hot water. Here, of course, the contents are not yet hot.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Durability
The anodized aluminum design found in the Trail Mini Duo isn't necessarily the most durable construction. However, when you consider cooking performance and weight reduction, the durability compromise of aluminum might be worth it. The pot can only be dented with great force, and the anodizing will only scratch off after significant use – unless, of course, you use metal utensils, which will scratch off the coating immediately. We also recommend padding your fuel canister with a cloth before nesting it inside of the pot, which will help prolong the life of the internal coating. But for optimal durability, we recommend other cookware sets that feature a titanium construction, which is built to last without adding a ton of weight.
The ring around the MSR Trail Mini Duo can slip to the bottom of the pot when exposed to heat, and is a potential fire hazard to be carefully monitored.
Credit: Trish Matheny
Packability
The Trail Mini Duo certainly excels when considering overall packability. The dimensions are perfect for serving a party of two during a fast and light backpacking trip, while the interior is sized to fit an eight-ounce fuel canister and a small, single-burner backpacking stove. In this configuration, your entire kitchen only requires the space of a one-liter pot and a few dehydrated meals. If all you need is a single pot for heating water, this could be a great option to consider.
MSR gives thought to overall packability. Their Pocket Rocket 2 stove and an eight ounce fuel canister fit right inside the Trail Mini Duo pot, along with the pot gripper and maybe a couple of oatmeal packets.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Weight
The Trail Mini Duo is one of the lightest backpacking cookware sets we tested. The functional components included in this minimal kit help provide enough performance without adding a ton of weight or requiring a ton of extra space in your backpack. This set can be stripped down to just under a half-pound, though in its full configuration, it weighs around 0.7 pounds. This is definitely a consideration for those looking to shed weight in their pack, especially if you only need to heat water for drinks and freeze-dried meals.
A mid-route bivouac high on Wyoming's Mount Moran. In this context, an ultralight cooking set up is paramount.
Credit: Jediah Porter
Should You Buy the MSR Trail Mini Duo?
The MSR Trail Mini Duo is definitely a consideration for those who are after a superlight, compact pot and bowl for ultralight backpacking. There is not much else to the set other than a lid, a handle, and a sack. If you decide to go with this set, be sure you're okay with your cookware being limited to boiling water and preparing the simplest of meals. And once again, be mindful of the fire hazard that the silicone ring presents if not properly monitored.
The MSR Trail Mini Duo is at home on backpacking trips like these in Iceland.
Credit: Amber King
What Other Camping Cookware Should You Consider?
If you're looking for a one-person backpacking set that's very budget-friendly, the GSI Outdoors Glacier 1-Person includes a single pot, bowl, frying pan, and mug. And if you're willing to invest in a sleek, durable solo-cookware set, check out our favorite, the Snow Peak Ti-Mini Solo Combo 2.0. If you want top-tier cooking performance and more functionality from a backpacking cookware set, we can't say enough good things about the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Dualist HS, which is perfectly designed to cook for two.
—
Amber King, Jediah Porter, and Trish Matheny
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