Purcell Trench Voyageurs Grill

The largest of the Purcell Trench line, yet still easy to carry. This grill works well as a pot support or for direct cooking and can be used with most any stove as well as open fire. Well made of sturdy materials for real world use.

Purcell Trench has been making pack grills of various sizes and shapes since 1993. Originally they were sold via retailers, but now they do their business directly with consumers via mail or electronic order. They have grills that range from simple rectangles designed to hold a pot to models with large, flat metal slats intended to prevent food from falling through.

The version that I chose and will be reviewing is the Voyageurs Grill, their largest model that employs four additional tubes, but no slats.

Specs:

• 7" x 18" full rectangle with 4 additional tubes
• Grill weight 8.2oz/233g
• Bag weight 2.2oz/61g

Construction & Durability:

Made of 1/4" thin wall stainless steel tubing with tungsten inert gas welds the Voyageurs Grill seemed almost a work of modern art when I first unpacked it. The welds were uniformly done leaving no excess material to snag when packing.

The steel tubes of the grill need to be tempered a bit before exposing it to high heat. Once that process has been repeated a few times there is no deformation during use. After two years you can see that the tubes hold their shape.

The pack bag that is included is made from coated nylon and nicely stitched. It has a velcro closure and a hang strap on the outside. While it does add some weight it lets you slip the grill inside once it has cooled allowing you to jam the whole thing in your pack without worrying about getting things dirty.

Testing Conditions:

I have owned the Purcell Trench Voyageurs Grill for just over two years now. It has come with me on most every trip I've taken in that time with a few exceptions where the chance of fish was nil and weight was a concern. Besides using it for grilling fish, which was the main reason I bought this grill, I use it as part of my baking system. In that picture at the top of this review we were making muffins with fresh blueberries we picked near our camp.

Conclusions:

Being a bit miserly when it comes to gear shopping I was hesitant to spend this much money on a piece of gear that wasn't really going to be used that much. My research, especially some comments posted here on Trailspace, seemed to reflect happy customers so I gave it a shot. As you can tell from my five-star rating I have joined the ranks of happy Purcell Trench customers. If you have use for such a tool in your backpack or paddlebag I highly recommend taking a look at the entire line of grills to see which might fit your style best.

For me, the Voyageurs Grill provided ample room to lay a couple of trout over a fire. It also made a good support for pot or kettle. Cleanup was limited to letting it cool and brushing it off. Using it in cold weather I can melt snow over fire and cooking trout is more relaxing when I'm not worrying about them falling off the stick into the fire.

Others may prefer one of the smaller grills or the added surface of the slatted models, but Purcell Trench seems to produce high quality product I feel comfortable recommending to those in the market for a grill.