Snow Peak Trek 700 vs Vargo Titanium Mug vs No Lid Ti Mug

[snarbles]

I'm trying to get away from the big pot (evernew Ti) and move into just boil in a bag cooking with a Mug. Looking to get a new UL mug and was wondering which of these two might fit the bill best. I'm leaning towards the Vargo since it has a plastic handle to make lifting it easier without burning.

My other concern is, how useful is a lid really and does it even help in the boiling process to even justify it's weight?

If yes then one of these mugs would be a good system.

If a lid is not worth it's weight, then maybe just a foil lid would suffice or none at all.

Thoughts?

[MacGyver2005]

You'll definitely want a lid. It makes a big difference in getting stuff hot.

Regards,
-MacGyver
GA-->ME

[cbert]

weighs almost nothing and works fine

[jasonklass]

weighs almost nothing and works fine

I seond that. The Trek 700 is a great pot but that lid is stell and WAY to heavy to justify. Use foil or make one from a can or flashing or something.

[Rainman]

I use the Trek 700 and would keep the lid it comes with. The lid has a great little tab you can hold with your thumb while pouring the boiling water. It boils about a minute faster with the lid than without. (That is an anecdotal observation, not a reproducible laboratory analysis). It has a handy pouring hole that Snow Peak calls a "pasta strainer," but whatever they call it, it works great for pouring into your glad freezer bag. I still carry a small plastic funnel for pouring into my freezer bag. After pouring boiling water on my left thumb once to often, the weight seemed worth it. I use an Anti Gravity Gear pouch cozy and the funnel helps hold the bag and cozy open while you pour.

[snarbles]

Anybody have any experience with the Vargo?

[swede]

I have a vargo 24 oz mug with lid. the lid has strainer holes and a tab that stays cool. It has swivel handles on th pot that stays cool even with the windscreen around the bottom. Keep the lid, keeps stuff out as you cook whatever inside. With this size i can nest the windscreen and cup and alcohol stove inside. dimentions 4.25"hx4.125" diam. Weight? Hell, feels about the same as my bottle of hand sanitizer.

[Tinker]

A lid is next to worthless if it doesn't fit tightly. It can't keep the air above the water close to the boiling point, and allows the hot air to escape to the outside, rather than contributing to the heating process. I have a 1.3 liter Evernew ti pot that has a large surface area on the bottom to better collect and distribute heat to the contents of the pot. I'm not likely to get one of those skinny tall pots soon. With a gas stove, they may be ok, but with an alcohol stove, they allow too much flame spillage around the sides resulting in longer boil times and more fuel consumption (alcohol stoves). I've found, however, that Esbit tabs, with their concentrated flame, heat small pots and cups better than alcohol stoves (especially side burners).

[sliderule]

Anybody have any experience with the Vargo?

I have one. It is sized to allow a 32 oz Nalgene bottle to fit into it, if that is any advantage to you. I choose the Vargo over the Snowpeak 700 because the Vargo lid did not have the sharp tabs like the Snowpeak.

I did have a problem with another Vargo item (manufacturing defect). I emailed Mr. Vargo (whom I had met at Trail Days last year) about the problem. I had a replacement in my mail box three days later. Customer service does not get much better than that.

[snarbles]

Good stuff. I guess I can always order the Vargo and not use the lid if I so choose.

Does anybody know the weight of the vargo mug w/o the lid?

[sliderule]

My scale says 3.9 oz. 4.8 oz with the lid.

[grrickar]

I use a Snow Peak Trek 1400. Why? Well because I can boil a larger amount of water, dump half into a ziploc meal, then drop tea bags or cocoa into the remaining water for a hot drink when it is cold. I can also immerse those boil in bag rice meals like those from Zatarain. Those are heat and eat, no water required in the pouch. Any size canister and a Optimus (Brunton) Cruz stove that weighs in at 3.1oz and all of it nests inside the 1400 with room to spare. If my water filter fails me, I don't have to boil 100 -10oz cups of water to drink, I can boil much more in less time.
I looked into the Jetboil, but I don't think that it would be useful for anything but boiling water due to the narrow width and height of the cup that attaches. I admit I mostly just do boil and eat meals, but it is nice to be able to use different cookware and actually cook food every now and then, especially when hiking as a group. The new Jetboil pots have potential, but of the 5 Jetboil stoves in out group this last hike, 4 had defective piezo igniters. That to me is a quality issue. Those stoves are awkward to light when the piezo goes bad...

[Aramis]

I'm using a Snowpeak 450 with the handle and handle mounting plate torn off. Lids? Pouring? I know not of what you speak :)