If you're camping or backpacking, weight is an important consideration — you don't exactly want to bring everything in your pantry and cupboards just in case. Any way to save a little weight can take strain off your back, make packing easier, and make the hike to your campsite more enjoyable. However, it's also nice to be able to cook up a hearty meal over the fire. Bacon, eggs, and a hot cup of coffee is a meal that's guaranteed to start your day of adventuring on a high note.

We had a great time at the 3MR event last weekend. Jon (green shirt, bottom right) taught us a new breakfast trick.

You might assume that oil and a frying pan are necessary for cooking bacon and eggs, but we recently learned another way at the Mountain Man Rendezvous (3MR) survival training event. Jonathan Heffron, one of the founders of 3MR and the man behind the Wingman115 YouTube channel, taught us how to cook these breakfast staples in a paper bag. You don't need a pan, oil, or utensils — just 10 or 15 minutes over some smoldering coals.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. An ordinary paper bag can serve as your cooking vessel.

The process starts by greasing one side of a paper bag with the natural oils from a strip of bacon. More strips of bacon are then carefully layered across this portion of the bag, using an overlapping pattern similar to roof shingles. An egg is cracked and poured gently into the bag atop the bacon.

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The bag is rolled up, and carefully skewered with a sharpened stick, suspending the portion with the bacon and egg at its base. The skewer is then held over a low-burning bed of hot coals, allowing the residual heat to slowly cook the bacon. This heat and oil will continue to rise through the bag, cooking the egg as well.

Be careful not to hold the bag too low, as its grease-soaked lower surface could ignite. Bacon and eggs flambé is substantially less tasty.

A slit in the bag allowed us to check the doneness of the egg as it cooked. After about 15 minutes, the egg was fluffy and the bacon was sufficiently crisp. Just take a look at the deliciousness in the photo below. Time to dig in!

For a more thorough walkthrough of this method, check out Jon's video from the Wingman115 channel below:

Written by Patrick McCarthy