What size pot and why?

[trumanxc]

Looking at pots for my '06 thru-hike and cant decide on what size to get. Also curious as to what type (titanium, aluminum, etc.) you recommend.

[ffstenger]

I have an aluminum pot with teflon coating (for easy cleanup) it's about 5" Dia.
It's the smallest of a set of three, but it't the only one I use from the set.
after 13+ years of use it' still going strong !! Got it from LL Bean:cool:
I don't use the lid that came with it either, I just cover it with a piece of foil.
Showme

[TakeABreak]

I use an evernew 1.3 liter titanium, cleans up with ease, hits up quickly and cools down quickly too, so you heat it, eat it and clean it without delay. for one person this is plenty, most couples use a 2 liter pot. I used it the whole trip, I highly recommend it. It is also very light weight. You need to not only consider the cost of item you buy, but it's weight, every ounce you can shave off, will make your hike that much easier and more enjoyable.

You may email me directly for other reccommendations, you have plenty of time to get ready, I would suggest you do what you are doing here(and i applaude that) talk to those who have done it and get many points of view before making a decision.

[hikerjohnd]

I enjoy cooking when I go camping... I am gearing up for my thru this year and have reduced my meals to "just add water" stuff, but I plan to start with 3 pots - 1.5L, 1L, and a tea kettle. All MSR. All are titanium and weigh less than the single 1.5L aluminium pot from my old cookset.

Having said that - I am fairly certain the 1L pot will find its way home at some point, but in prepping meals at home, I use it constantly, so maybe I will learn how to do without it on the trail.

I have read several articles that discuss the advantages of both titanium and aluminium. Titanium offers significant weight savings, while aluminium offers more efficient heat distribution and therefore more efficient cooking. In the just boil water and serve world of thru-hiking, I have considered titanium an investment for its weight savings (I can't beleive I carried 2 lbs of cooking pots in the past - even on short hikes!)

Everyone here will share their own experience - I'm sure that mine will change over the course of 2000 miles. But for me, titanium is the only way to go based on weight alone. :cool:

[Todd Kirkendol]

be sure to check the hard annonized pot and cozy selection at www.antigravitygear.com (http://www.antigravitygear.com) the owner is a great guy and has been treating hikers right for a long time. His products are a good value (compared to outfitter brands) and are really light.

[flyfisher]

be sure to check the hard annonized pot and cozy selection at www.antigravitygear.com (http://www.antigravitygear.com) the owner is a great guy and has been treating hikers right for a long time. His products are a good value (compared to outfitter brands) and are really light.

Dittos here.

I bought the $40 titanium pot everyone recommended.

But, I USE the 3 cup Antigravity Gear pot which is just as light. It came with a great cozy too. It seems to be the right shape for using an alcohol stove efficiently and is already black so I don't have to worry about the outside when I do twig fire stove experiments.

Plus, it is way less expensive than the other pot which sits in my gear closet.

[Jaybird]

on my first section hike (2002) i carried a 3 piece MSR lite-weight steel (Teflon-coated) weight: approx: 2lbs

my 2nd section-hike (2003) i carried the largest MSR pot (in the above set) 1.5 litre

before last year's (2004) section hike...i purchased a Snow Peak 700 (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&catalogId=40000008000&storeId=8000&partNumber=708071&memberId=-2000&link=1&cm_ven=ad_Froogle&cm_ite=datafeed&source=9081&cm_pla=na&cm_cat=datafeed) (Ti mug/pot) which doubles as my cook pot & coffee mug :D

[jlb2012]

Looking at pots for my '06 thru-hike and cant decide on what size to get. Also curious as to what type (titanium, aluminum, etc.) you recommend.

Link to a prior thread / poll about pot size : link (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=372)

Currently I am using a chopped off 24 ounce beer can (0.9 ounce) to boil water for a zip lock cooking system.

[SGT Rock]

I switched from my original 2qt steel (too heavy and two big) to a .72L Snow Peak Ti pot. When I firstopened the box I thought I got ripped off because the darn thing was too small, but that was because I was used to a pot three times that size. I have been using that pot for 4 years now with great success, it will cook a 2 serving Liptons with room for extra goodies and more room to spare, so I would say the absolute minimum you need is about a 700ml.

I just ordered a 0.9L Evernew Ultralight Ti pot because I wanted a little extra room inside the pot for storage. With the .72L I could get my stove, cozy, 9oz fuel bottle, and lighter, but it was a tight fit. I would like to change to a 10oz bottle because I like to cook and also have lots of hot water for coffee and tea, and a 10 ounce will allow me to have 2 hots and 1 extra boil per day for a week. I will also save about one ounce by switching pots :D

[Moose2001]

I used an Evernew 0.9L Ti pot for two years. It works well and I was OK with it. However, I just bought a 1.3 liter Ti pot for this year. While the 0.9L pot worked, I had two problems with it. One, it would hold a complete meal but it was VERY full. If I wanted to add a little extra something, there just wasn't room. I wanted some more space so I didn't have to worry about overflowing the pot. Second, and the real reason I changed, I use a Trangia Westwind. The flame from the stove would always come up the sides of the 0.9 L pot. This decreases the heating effectiveness of the stove. I decided to use a slightly larger pot to cut down on this problem.

[SGT Rock]

I have read several articles that discuss the advantages of both titanium and aluminium. Titanium offers significant weight savings, while aluminium offers more efficient heat distribution and therefore more efficient cooking.

You know, based on some observations of both style pots I wonder about this. Now I am not an expert, but Titanium is very heat neutral, is seems to allow heat to just go through it without being influenced by it, sort of like glass is to light. This is why Ti makes lousy alcohol stove bodies but aluminum, brass, and some steel make good ones because you want the heat from the stove to transfer back at itself.

But think about this: if you hear food to fast in titanium, you can end up with some burned food on the bottom - because the heat is going right to the food. My titanium pot stands can be sitting right in the middle of a hot fire, but you can still pick one up by the bottom of the feet because they don't transfer heat at all, the heat is going right to the pot.

Steel and aluminum transfer heat. I made some test stands from steel and they held up fine, but they acted as heat sinks, a lot of my heat was absorbed by the steel stands and wasn't transfered to the water, but the stand got very hot and held heat for a long time, if the stand were the pot, then it could have maintained a temp as long as it had good insulation around it. Anyway, I have the performance statistics to show this effect, and at first I thought something was wrong with the stove. When I switched materials to something else, the stoves worked just fine. So what I am wondering is if the heat transfer from aluminum is really such an advantage to transferring heat, or is it rather storing heat in the metal and distributing it. If it is the latter, then really, a Ti pot with a wide bottom like the 1.3L Evernew would be better than an aluminum pot for minimizing fuel consumption.

Any engineers out there have some input to this line of thought?

[lightning]

I have been using the Snowpeak Ti 900. Love the size, weight, oz/L measurements, and lid which doubles as a mini-frypan (love it!) or plate. my primus techno stove and canister fits perfectly inside. 30-40$.

[oldfivetango]

Ok People-
I am not getting anywhere near the efficiency that every one else does
out of their alcohol stoves.For instance-to do a Zatatarain meal in a two quart pot which required 2 cups of water,rice,some meat,and a 14oz can of tomatoes took me about 3 ozs.Ive got the screen about a half inch away from the 2L antigravity gear pot on top of a brasslite turbo 2d.At the rate im going im figuring about 4 oz fuel per day to cook and make a couple hot drinks per day.Sounds like way too much compared to others reports.
What am i doing wrong here? Im assuming you guys must be finishing off your cook times in the cozy apparatus that comes with the pot rather than just using it to keep it hot?How do you know how long to cozy it?
I really do love the brasslite stove and my tin man stove-apparently i just dont know how to use them.I have tried Heet (yellow bottle) and Ace Brand denatured alcohol but cant say i detect a significant difference though.Even made me a SGT ROCK meat can stove out of onion dip can
with a push pin and it works pretty good as a "blast furnace" for quick boils
but nothing simmers like the trusty old brasslite will.I bet i use an ounce to an ounce and a half just to boil water;so a meal and 2 cups of tea or cocoa
per day is going to get quite wasteful if i dont figure out whats wrong.
Any advice is appreciated.Good news is that i can and do eat my own cooking.Thanks.
Cheers to all,
Oldfivetango:bse

[MileMonster]

All I do is boil water. A 1L Ti works well for me - wide bottom for the Alki stove, plenty of water for the way I "cook."

[kncats]

Actually, as far as metals go, Titanium is a very good insulator. And this is NOT good when you're talking about trying to transfer heat from your stove to your water (or whatever you're cooking). The problem with trying to compare Titanium to Aluminum cookware is the matter of thickness. Contrary to popular opinion, Titanium is not light. It's 1.8 times heavier than Aluminum so if you had two pots that had the same wall thickness the Aluminum one would be much lighter. Titanium however has much better metallurgic properties so it can be made much thinner and have the same, or slightly less, weight as an equivalent pan made from Aluminum. And that makes up for the poor heat transfer characteristics. However, the heat goes right from the outside to the inside without spreading much leading to hot spots. Fine for boiling water, not so fine for cooking.

Personally, I think Titanium is a marketing gimmick playing on it's exotic properties and high cost. Our two liter, non-stick aluminum pot weighs 6.6 ounces.

[kncats]

Ok People-
I am not getting anywhere near the efficiency that every one else does
out of their alcohol stoves.For instance-to do a Zatatarain meal in a two quart pot which required 2 cups of water,rice,some meat,and a 14oz can of tomatoes took me about 3 ozs.Ive got the screen about a half inch away from the 2L antigravity gear pot on top of a brasslite turbo 2d.At the rate im going im figuring about 4 oz fuel per day to cook and make a couple hot drinks per day. Oldfivetango:bse
If I you're talking about what I'm thinking about you're referring to a rice and bean dinner? You're also talking about bringing two cups of water plus all that tomato to a boil and then simmering for a while? 4 oz per day sounds like a pretty reasonable amount of alky for all that. If you want to get your alcohol consumption down you may need to revisit your menu selections.

[SGT Rock]

Ok People-
I am not getting anywhere near the efficiency that every one else does
out of their alcohol stoves.For instance-to do a Zatatarain meal in a two quart pot which required 2 cups of water,rice,some meat,and a 14oz can of tomatoes took me about 3 ozs.

OK,two issues here. One is that with all that you are adding, you have the equivelent of at least 2 quarts of liquid to heat. There is not a straight line progression when heating liquids ie. it takes 1/2 ounce to heat one pint, but it would take about 1.5 ounces to heat two pints in the same pot at the same time. Is has something to do with overcomming pressure or something like that.It was explained to me once, but I don't claim to be an expert on this. The next thing is Zatarains meals are tough ones to cook over alcohol (although I do love them). I normally cook just half a box and add some sausage to the Red Beans and rice, so one box is two nights rations for me. And Zatarans needs a long simmer time, so if you are doing a full Zatarains box with all the extras, it is no wonder you need a lot of fuel. If you were cooking on any stove it would take a lot of fuel, it just isn't as obvious with other types of stoves since you cook until you turn it off, but alcohol stoves like this make you plan ahead on fuel.



Ive got the screen about a half inch away from the 2L antigravity gear pot on top of a brasslite turbo 2d.

Close it to 1/4"



At the rate im going im figuring about 4 oz fuel per day to cook and make a couple hot drinks per day.Sounds like way too much compared to others reports.

You are using a lot more. I use about 12ml for breakfast, 15ml for dinner, and another 12ml for beverages per day, plus I plan a 6ml per day fudge factor. That puts me a little under 1.5 ounces per day. Breakfast is two packs of instant grits and 8 ounces of coffee, dinner is a 2 serving lipton type meal with 16 ounces of tea and some sides that don't need cooking.




What am i doing wrong here? Im assuming you guys must be finishing off your cook times in the cozy apparatus that comes with the pot rather than just using it to keep it hot?How do you know how long to cozy it?

Yes I am. I cozy it for about the same amount of time plus a little extra based on what the box says. Not all foods are the same as I have said, Zataran's is a little funny, so I'll often give it my 6ml fudge factor of fuel to let it cook just a little longer. There are some other foods like this I have eaten that cook fine except for one thing like a brand of minestrone soup that the carrots are always tough.



I really do love the brasslite stove and my tin man stove-apparently i just dont know how to use them.I have tried Heet (yellow bottle) and Ace Brand denatured alcohol but cant say i detect a significant difference though.


Depending on the mix of the denatured, most will have about 20% more BTUs per ounce than HEET.




Even made me a SGT ROCK meat can stove out of onion dip can
with a push pin and it works pretty good as a "blast furnace" for quick boils
but nothing simmers like the trusty old brasslite will.I bet i use an ounce to an ounce and a half just to boil water;so a meal and 2 cups of tea or cocoa
per day is going to get quite wasteful if i dont figure out whats wrong.

I would check my pot material, is it steel? I would then check my windscreen, sounds like too much space, make sure you add a bottom reflector.



Any advice is appreciated.Good news is that i can and do eat my own cooking.Thanks.
Cheers to all,
Oldfivetango:bse
Hope that helps.

[SGT Rock]

Actually, as far as metals go, Titanium is a very good insulator. And this is NOT good when you're talking about trying to transfer heat from your stove to your water (or whatever you're cooking). The problem with trying to compare Titanium to Aluminum cookware is the matter of thickness. Contrary to popular opinion, Titanium is not light. It's 1.8 times heavier than Aluminum so if you had two pots that had the same wall thickness the Aluminum one would be much lighter. Titanium however has much better metallurgic properties so it can be made much thinner and have the same, or slightly less, weight as an equivalent pan made from Aluminum. And that makes up for the poor heat transfer characteristics. However, the heat goes right from the outside to the inside without spreading much leading to hot spots. Fine for boiling water, not so fine for cooking.

Personally, I think Titanium is a marketing gimmick playing on it's exotic properties and high cost. Our two liter, non-stick aluminum pot weighs 6.6 ounces.


So this sort of goes with what I was thinking. I knew about the Ti weight vs aluminum weight thing, and how Ti pots could be thinner yet stronger than aluminum. I sort of figured this about the reason for my observations about heat transfer since a Ti pot can be paper thin, thus not blocking the heat transfer. How about the steel working as a heat sink idea with the observations on the steel pot stand?

[kncats]

So this sort of goes with what I was thinking. I knew about the Ti weight vs aluminum weight thing, and how Ti pots could be thinner yet stronger than aluminum. I sort of figured this about the reason for my observations about heat transfer since a Ti pot can be paper thin, thus not blocking the heat transfer. How about the steel working as a heat sink idea with the observations on the steel pot stand? The heat capacity of steel and titanium are close to identical. Around 500 J/kg per deg C for steel and 544 J/kg for titanium. But again, we're looking at a figure that deals with per unit of mass and there's going to be a lot less of the titanium than steel. Since we're considering so many variables I'd imagine that the only way to get a good answer would be to rely on good quantitative testing and I bow to your vast experience for that. I can throw out the theory, but when it comes to experience all I can tell you is how tell you is how well my Trangia and 2 liter MSR aluminum pot work. For all the rest of the combinations and testing if SGT Rock says it's so then that's good enough for me.

[Frosty]

Ok People-
I am not getting anywhere near the efficiency that every one else does
out of their alcohol stoves.For instance-to do a Zatatarain meal in a two quart pot which required 2 cups of water,rice,some meat,and a 14oz can of tomatoes took me about 3 ozs.Ive got the screen about a half inch away from the 2L antigravity gear pot on top of a brasslite turbo 2d.At the rate im going im figuring about 4 oz fuel per day to cook and make a couple hot drinks per day.Sounds like way too much compared to others reports.
What am i doing wrong here? I like Zatarains. I cook it in a .85 liter Ti pot. Here's how. Don't use Red Beans or any of the boxes that require more than 2.5 cups. Forget cans of tomatoes, meat and other junk which is WAY too much for one person for one meal.

Heat the mixture to boiling, take off stove, blow out Esbit (or stop whatever stove you have). Cover. Wait about 15 miutes, stirring once or twice. Put back on stove, re-light Esbit tab or light stove) and bring to boiling again. Blow out Esbit tab.

Eat, or if too crunchy, wait a couple minutes then eat.

.85 liter is at the very limit of cooking Zatarains. I have to watch boil-over, but it isn't like I have a lot to do at the time. .85 is also good for Liptons (watch boilover) and Idahoan instant potaotes.

If you find yourself using more fuel, are you using a windscreen? Doubled piece of aluminum foil is fine, but you should have one. Makes a BIG difference. For things like Zatarains that take 20 minutes, don't cook the whole time. Get it hot, let it soak, then heat some more. No need to keep fire going all the time.

I haven't used a pot cozy because I do cook at the size limits of my pot and it would only be a couple meals before I slopped food in my cozy.

[hungryhowie]

I've been using my MSR Titan Kettle for going on five years now. Still the best pot I've ever used or seen. It's only 0.85L, but that's big enough for a meal for one person. I can cook an entire mac n' cheese in it, or just heat enough water for tea. The handles are "built in" so I don't have to keep up with a separate pot holder, it's got a slight pour spout, a tiny steam hole (so the lid doesnt rattle or blow off when I get a boil, and (the best part) the lid fits on tight, so it doesn't roll around in my pack and make noise. A tight fitting lid is also nice for when the water source is so far away from my camp that I only want to make one trip. I can fill up my reservoirs, and my pot too, and I'll still have most of what I put in there by the time I get back to camp (as long as you keep it upright).

Probably one of my favorite pieces of gear.

-howie

[Maxwell_Allen]

Suprised no one has mentioned the Grease pot yet... works well for me. Its $6 at wally world, about 5 cups, aluminum, and weighs 3.5oz. Most importantly its got the the word "GREASE" stamped into the side. I took the plastic handle and steel screw off the lid and replaced it with a bit of parachute cord.
MAX

[The Solemates]

Looking at pots for my '06 thru-hike and cant decide on what size to get. Also curious as to what type (titanium, aluminum, etc.) you recommend.

1400mL Titanium Snowpeak, because we cook for 2.

Id probably go with the 700mL if solo.

[weary]

I like a big pot, mostly because I cook elaborate stuff occasionally and like plenty of room when I stir to keep things from burning. Also I like to boil a couple of quarts of water in the evening on my Zip Stove for use the next day. My two quart aluminum pot with a "bail" handle has been used for a couple of decades and has lots of dents, but is still serviceable. I forget the weight -- maybe 6 ounces. I think it originally came from an LL Bean cook kit.

Weary

[oldfivetango]

Thanks to all ya'll for responding with alcohol cook tips.Ignorance can
be an awful thing-i put the reflector away after i had a little "flash" on
the stove.Maybe it was because of cooking on a wood table in the sun that day in about 55 degree weather,dunno.Thanks,Sarge-i'm reviving the reflector now.
For those who asked-i do have the brasslite windscreen with holes on the bottom.Cut a "mouse-hole" so i could reach in with a gooseneck lighter or
adjust my simmer ring.Pot is the antigravity gear coated aluminum 1.5 qt.
Im packing the little 3 cup pot that comes with it which may or may not remain on the trip-its handy for oatmeal though.I could go with something
plastic to eat oatmeal out of but you can't put lexan and plastic over a flame. Might want to do some two burner cooking sometime.
Im thinking i might try a zatarain without any add ins other than some tuna
after the two cups of water boil-then simmer it until the fuel(2 oz sound reasonablle?) gives out and then cozy it for the remaining minutes.Im impressed with how hot and how long those cozys do the job.If too crunchy
i might pop another half ounce or so of fuel off under it.
SO-i'm assuming you guys are cooking most of the time with the stove on
the dirt or a rock and the screen about a quarter inch off the pot with a reflector on the ground .
Seems like alcohol cooking is more of an art than a science but well worth it
for the savings in weight.I did note that i had WAY too much to eat after i
got done but then again i hear all these stories about "hiker hunger".Got to
be prepared dontchaknow.
Thanks and cheers to all,
Oldfivetango:bse

[Footslogger]

Seems like alcohol cooking is more of an art than a science but well worth it
for the savings in weight.Oldfivetango:bse=========================== ============
I use the Trangia (heaviest among the alcohol stoves) so for me it's as much simplicity as it is weight.

'Slogger