What is your choice of mess kit? I am looking at a german M31 mess kit right now. It will free me of the need for a metal cup and give me a container for boiling water/rice/tea and cooking. It seems the most functional to me, although it doesn't have a lid. I am aware you can put the lower part on top of the upper one and use it as a lid, but it must be clean for this so you don't get dirt in whatever you are cooking. A friend of mine has advised me to get a british mess kit, but he is a gluttonous bastard that equates camping to cooking when going /out/, so I am not sure if his choice will be the right choice for me.