Review: Sea to Summit Frontier Ultralight Pan

I can appreciate the value of dehydrated food for certain adventures. But whenever I can afford to spend the time and energy on it, I'll always prefer making an actual meal at camp. Nothing beats making eating actual food with real ingredients after a big day. But the biggest thing typically dissuading me from cooking on the trail is the cleanup, partially because it's just not something I want to deal with, but mainly because its tough to do in a way that truly leaves no trace. Food scraps are a pain to pack out, you need to be real careful with soapy water, and inevitably stuff gets left behind. 

 

Sea to Summit's Frontier UL Pan does a good job of mitigating some of that stress, simply by being extremely anti-stick. I've cooked rice, Spam, even eggs in it without them getting stuck to the surface, thanks to the ceramic coating, which means less food gets left behind for cleanup, and more gets into your belly. The 8-inch pan is the perfect size for small groups sharing backcountry meals, weighs just 13 ounces, and packs down easily (though the easiest way to pack the handle is by removing it, rather than just reversing it like Sea to Summit recommends). My only complaint: The high, vertical walls, while great for cooking larger amounts of food, making it harder to flip what you're cooking. But outside of that, the Frontier is a good option if you dread scraping burnt eggs off your pan and into your trash.