Budget Chains For Outdoor Cooking

By Sean Fagan

**My 1 litre kettle suspended from an overhead branch with a strong brass chain (Photo: Sean Fagan)**

Why Bringing a Chain is a Good Idea for the Outdoors

When preparing for a camping trip, I always bring a 1 metre length of thin but strong chain for suspending my pot or kettle over my campfire.

The chain is light, compact and can easily be carried in my backpack.

Find out what lightweight chains I use, where to get them and how to use them for outdoor cooking...

Camping Chains I Use:

The lightweight chain I use for wild camping is a 10 mm oval link chain and can be sourced in many hardware shops. The material of my chains is either stainless steel or slightly heavier brass . Both brass and stainless steel don't rust (an important consideration for the outdoors).

I also include two S hooks with my chains (also commonly available in hardware stores).

**My simple but effective pot suspension system I carry in my backpack - a 1 metre length of chain with two S hooks (Photo: Sean Fagan).**

With a lightweight chain, I can easily suspend a lightweight pot or kettle over my campfire from an overhead branch or from a tripod made from sturdy branches.

**My favourite way of pot suspension with my chains - from a tripod (Photo: Sean Fagan).**

Always accompanying my chain are two 'S' hooks. The hooks are cheap & light and are made from galvanized steel. With two hooks I can easily change the height of my pot and therefore adjust the cooking temperature (I explain this point later).

**Two cheap S hooks I bought in a hardware store (Photo: Sean Fagan).**

You can buy a chain (and metal hooks) from most good hardware stores - just ask to have it cut to a length of about 1 metre (or more, according to your preference. I wouldn't go less than 1 meter though).

Alternatively, you can buy the chains and hooks online.

How I use my Chains and Hooks

**I use one of my S hooks for attaching my chain to the pot handle - as in above photo (Photo: Sean Fagan).**

**The other S hook is attached along the chain and can be raised or lowered, by placing on a higher or lower chain link. By doing this I can adjust the cooking temperature (Photo: Sean Fagan).**

Conclusion

Occasionally, when camping - I won’t use my chains for pot suspension but I always bring one. That way I have options - and options are good when wild-camping.

A word of caution - my 10 mm oval link chains are great for suspending pots up to a 1 litre capacity (1 kg).

Much heavier outdoor pots (like a Dutch oven which can weigh up to 7 kg or more) require considerably thicker, stronger chains to safely suspend them.

You really don't want to risk a chain breaking while cooking. Scalding (the burning of human skin from hot liquids or steam) is a serious, often overlooked outdoor hazard. It's very much best avoided when cooking food or boiling water outdoors.

So make sure the chain you use for suspending your pot or kettle is robust and up to the task.

Finally, after using these lightweight chains for a number of years I can strongly vouch for their usefulness. They make my wild camping experiences much more convenient and efficient - when preforming the regular but essential task of cooking food & boiling water outdoors.