TrailMaster Adventure Gear TrailSide Grill Reviews

 

“You don’t know how glad I am not to have to have another boil-in-bag meal tonight!” - Erik Harren

 

That pretty much nails it when it comes to this new TrailSide Grill from TrailMaster Adventure Gear (linked to website).  Erik Harren had just come off 5 days on the trail with Good-ADV’s Navajo Nation adventure and joined us for dinner recently at Overland Expo West in Mormon Lake, AZ.  He was very happy to get the chance to have real food for a change!

 

I saw this grill featured on the new New Mexico BDR video as well.  Watching them cook real food on the trail was truly mouth-watering and sure beats my standard fare of pub grub, fast food or Mountain House meals.  Not every big bike rider is going to want to carry this; it's really for those who understand the value of real food cooked over a fire vs the boil in bag freeze dried meals.

 

Rob Watt from TrailMaster provided me this grill to review back at the BDR fundraiser in Death Valley and since then I’ve used it four times.  We’ve cooked burgers, chicken, steak, corn on the cob and even a lemon garlic pork loin!

 

 

 

The grill comes neatly stowed in a Cordura canvas bag.  The grill box consists of four 22 gauge stainless steel panels and is put together with eight aluminum side blocks.  A small allen wrench is provided to secure them tight.  Two stainless steel grills go inside; one to grill on and the other to hold the charcoal (or other wood).

 

 

Easy to setup and use? You bet.  The instructions come on a laminated card and are very thorough.

 

Charcoal is an easy to find commodity product and easy to strap on your top bag and ride a mile or two to camp each night.  Some may get the Match Light type of charcoal but with the vents on either side, normal charcoal worked fine for me with a few pieces of crumpled up newspaper to get it going.  It works just like those cylindrical charcoal starters where you put the newspaper in the bottom!  I found it doesn't take much charcoal either; even just a single layer of coals will do the trick.  Of course one could always use wood that's readily available around most wild camping areas.  Foil at the base isn't a bad idea either as it makes cleanup a snap.

 

The grill is a bit on the heavy side at 6 lbs but you and your group will most likely find that weight worth it once you see it in action.  There are other similar backpacking stoves out there that are lighter but they're also much smaller and barely suitable for anything other than boiling a small pot of water.  We were able to grill three ribeyes at once