Non-Stick Ti Pots – Worth the weight?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I had a look just know at the Bugaboo. BPL actually had a good write up on it. The weight breaks down like this:

Small Pot: 152g
Small Lid: 98g
Pot Lifter: 68g

Total: 318g

Even with a lighter lifter (you can find ones about 45g) it still weighs about 300g….which is the same as what my 1.5L HAA MSR pot weighs now. So really I'd be spending $50-$60 to add the functionality of a frying pan. My MSR pot has ridges on the base so it's doesn't slip too. The Bugaboo seems like a good pot, but for me it's too close to my existing HAA MSR pots to warrant the price.

I could leave the lifter at home and perhaps make a tin foil lid. That would bring the weight in around the same as the non-stick 1.3L Evernew (170g). Then again, I could remove the handles from the Evernew and use a tin foil lid with that for about 100g. So apples to apples, the Evernew is still significantly ahead.

[Ashley Brown]

Even with a lighter lifter (you can find ones about 45g) it still weighs about 300g

No way I would be carrying that around. A tin foil lid works fine, or get a thin sheet of ti and cut something to fit (the same stuff you can buy for making windscreens). As for the pot gripper, the stock version is way too heavy. Roger has one of these pots and cut it down to about 17g I think. An even better solution might be to drill some little holes on either side of the pot and attach a thin wire handle.

Then again, I could remove the handles from the Evernew and use a tin foil lid with that for about 100g. So apples to apples, the Evernew is still significantly ahead.

Firstly, I'm not sure the handles and lid on the evernew are going to be as much as 70g.

Secondly, obviously you don't get something for nothing. Yes, the evernew non-stick is going to be lighter if you strip it down equivalently. But the point is, the evernew ti non-stick doesn't really work properly compared to true non-stick. So if you want to compare "apples to apples" then the evernew doesn't cut it for real cooking.

So it's really a matter of what quality of cooking surface you want to use. If you can get by with the ti non-stick then the evernew will end up being a bit lighter. But if you want something you can also do pancakes on, choose the slightly heavier GSI.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Non stick on Ti is a delicate thing on most pots. Partly due to how hot TI gets when exposed to heat, the rapid warm up. Just realize that and that when cooking in it that liquid foods work best. Ti is very thin walled so as the liquid cooks away or into the meal your chances of the pot having issues goes up.
An example is the new MSR line, the Quick 1 Pot in Ti. Great for boiling water, sucks at cooking in. Why? If the food is too solid the pot soaks up all the heat, goes red hot and starts warping. Not good. Have had that issue in a couple other Ti pots of various brands/sizes.

It takes a lot to warp HAA pots. You really have to try. As well, if one does fry on food it comes off a lot easier. HAA comes in natural and in also non stick versions. HAA is technically "naturally non stick".

There are so many pots out there though – and every year we get new ones to choose from. Don't buy the first one that calls and don't always go for the lightest. You can cut weight in many areas, but for actual cooking make sure your pot won't have you screaming and or having to carry a scrub pad/soap and a food scraper.

As well, with ANY pot make sure you can use a scrub pad and what type of utensils. Not all can take the pads.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

I found an Evernew 1.3L Non-Stick on eBay for $38 so I bought it. The seller has another one listed if anyone else is interested. I'm going to give it a whirl and try to stick to liquid based cooking. If I venture outside that I'll keep my FeatherFire really low and go heavy on the olive oil. If that doesn't work I'll pack my HAA pots for trips where I'm going to be cooking more. Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm excited to get this and my FeatherFire so I can start doing some trial cooking at home. With the pot purchased, I can now start making my new windscreen to fit the pot…..the work never ends.

I'm thinking about using an oven liner for a really light windscreen, but I'm not sure it'll be worth the few grams saved over roof flashing for the decrease in durability. Then again….maybe it will be way easier to pack.

[Mike W]

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[Jack H.]

I guess it's a little late but here's my experience.

I used a 1.3L Evernew Non-stick pot on the PCT. It was new at the start and by the end over half of the non-stick coating had worn off. I used a plastic spoon. And I virtually always "self sumped" (drank my dish water). That means that in the five months I used the pot, I ATE over half the coating. That's got to be unhealthy. At the end of the trip, I switched out to an uncoated pan.

I've met people with similar experiences.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Does the coating end up flaking off? Or just wearing thinner and thinner until it wears right through? So how fast it wears would depend on how abrasive your scrubbing utensil is and how much you need to scrub it? Or are there other factors too like perhaps higher stove heat weakens it?

By chance, did you weigh the pot after the trip? It would be neat to hear how much weight you ate off the pot.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

More than likely it just wore off, slowly and where a person almost doesn't notice it – not like the old non stick days where you'd see huge pieces of it floating in a pot of water.

It sounds like he didn't scrub the pot, but soaked/cleaned and drank the hot water after it.

[Jack H.]

Sarah is spot on. Nope, I didn't weigh it. I only used soft leaves, grass or my fingers to clean the pot. I've seen these pots bubble and flake coating but only when large areas of the sides are exposed to high heat with no food in it. I think it was also a factor of those pots being well used and the coating already weakened. I feel like I treated my pot well, and the amount of coating that I ingested would be about normal for most people's use.

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