The Ozark Mess Kit offers one of the most Swiss Army knife-like approaches to cooking for campers.
I purchased the kit for around $9?about $2 more than what others paid in past reviews. Inflation, perhaps?
Today, May 31, 2025, I finally gave it a try. After sitting unopened in its packaging for a week, a sunny day gave me the perfect excuse to put it to use.
The kit performed as advertised, just like in the YouTube reviews. It unfolds from a compact unit into several practical stainless steel utensils plus one plastic measuring bowl:
- Frying pan
- Metal bowl
- Boiling pot
- Lid for the pan/bowl
- Plastic measuring cup
I also fired up my $30 Coleman Butane Stove and headed to a city park. Backed into a parking space with my tailgate down, I prepped for a simple cookout.
Keeping costs low, I grabbed some essentials from Walmart: spray oil, bottled oil, fish seasoning, salt and pepper, bread, mustard, ketchup, and a cylinder of hamburger. For meat, I cooked the cheapest hotdogs I could find?a $1 pack.
Additional supplies like plates, foil, ziplock bags, and cutlery came from Dollar General for about $12.
Ozark clearly knows its audience. I picked up a 3-piece utensil set (spatula, tongs, and ladle) for $9.99 and a Swiss Army-style fork-knife-spoon combo for $5. This last item nearly made my earlier cutlery purchase redundant?but at only $2, it wasn't a big deal.
Despite the no-frills hotdogs, the experience of cooking them on my truck?s tailgate with affordable, functional gear turned a spontaneous afternoon into a great memory. Ozark gets a thumbs-up from me.