Aluminium FOIL pot lid

[Mike Clelland]

Hi there,

The lid that comes with the titanium pot is too heavy. Don’ t take it into the backcountry. Replace it (as most folks do) with some aluminum foil.

Here’s what I’ve found.

The best aluminum foil is from an old turkey basting pan. (or an old pie tin)

And here’s why:
=========

* Easy to cut.

* Easy to pack.

* Stays on if you do a tidy crimp job.

* .3 ounces for a 1.5 liter pot

* Put a rock on top to keep it from blowing away!

* The aluminium foil that comes in a roll is problematic. It just gets too crinkly.

peace from idaho
M!

[Ross Bleakney]

I was just thinking of this the other day. One of my thoughts about a very light, thin aluminum top is that it would not insulate very well. In other words, heat would escape quite readily. I wonder if anyone has done any testing to see if it makes a difference? If it does, perhaps something with some insulating value might make sense. I’m afraid a foam pad would burn (and not in a nice way) but I am not sure about that. If not, a combo lid/cozy would make sense (fits over the top and locks in the heat). Any thoughts?

[Dale Wambaugh]

Nahhh– any lid is going to keep the convection from sucking the heat from your meal and slow evaporative loss. You would need something like a cozy to make a real difference. I like a lid to keep the bugs and fir needles out as much as the heat in.

Good idea on the rock. Simple, cheap, and available.

I like a tin can bottom for a lid– nicely finished when cut with a safety-type opener and easy to replace.

[Roger Caffin]

> One of my thoughts about a very light, thin aluminum top is that it would not insulate very well.

Not at all. The MAJOR heat loss path is evaporation. Everything else pales in comparison. The Al lid will stop this 100% (well, OK, 99%). Radiation – minimal as the Al is so shiny.

Yes, it seems so strange that the manufacturers make such light Ti pots then add such a heavy lid. I’ve been testing the MSR Ti Kettle and pot. The kettle lid is OK, sort of (kinda neat actually), but the pot lid is way heavy. The kettle and pot are fine though.

[ian wright]

I think most times the lid is designed to double as a frypan therefore they need to be robust.
So we dump them. If you are gonna fry something then you need to carry cooking oil or similar and about 1kg of cleaning equipment !

My last foil lid was also made from one of those turkey pan thingys.
One modification I make is to cut a cross in the middle (or an X), so it can be opened up if necessary eg, to stop what you’re cooking boiling over.

[Scott Tanner]

I made my stanco grease pot a lid from a pie tin and used the tiniest lightest weight screw I could find and a cut down wine cork. Just pressed the screw through the bottom middle of the pie tin lid and screwed it directly through and into the cork. Holds the lid down and gives you something to grab the lid by. I also used a nail to make two small holes across the top of the rim of the pot and threaded some wire through them to make a bail for the pot. Acts as a super UL handle for the pot and can be used to hang the pot over a cook fire.

[Brian Johns]

Thanks for the info, but how'd you find the thread?

[Daniel Pittman]

Good stuff Mike! I've got the MSR ti ketle (love it) but haven't modified it yet. The lid is pretty light in my memory, but I'll break it out and weigh it tomorrow; see if I can't make something lighter. I have some thin aluminium left over from a windscreen I made a while back. I'll post weights if my efforts bear fruit.

[Brian Johns]

Years. I THINK mike c. was talking about the Snow Peak 700 Trek Mug/Pot which is a great solo Ti cup with – why, snow peak, why? – a stainless steel lid that weighs almost as much as the pot itself. I too have the MSR Titan Kettle. Great pot, maybe a tad much volume, but you CAN get a carbon fiber lid from Rota Locura for it to save 15 grams or so.

[Franco Darioli]

"a stainless steel lid that weighs almost as much as the pot itself"
are you sure that it is SS ?
The one I have is about 95g for the pot and 35g for the lid.

[Mark Ries]

I doubt he was talking of the SP 700 as down farther he mentions lid weight for a 1.5 liter pot. But the SP700 is an excellent example of a lid to leave home, its as worthless as it gets. I really like the lids Mike talks about and with a rubber band around the rim it stays on tight in the pack

[Chad “Stick” Poindexter]

I have a lid made from an aluminum pie pan on one of my pots, it works pretty well. But I gotta admit, I like my carbon fiber lid from Ruta Locura a lot better than that aluminum lid. Much more durable and only 7 grams! (Although, it is a bit more expensive…)

Here's mine…

[Bob Gross]

Yes, I made a carbon fiber lid for one of my pots. As the weight goes down, the price goes up.

–B.G.–

[Ryan Smith]

Don't over think it. It's just a pot lid. (insert sarcasm)

Ryan

[Ben H.]

so sayeth Roger Caffin: "…The MAJOR heat loss path is evaporation. Everything else pales in comparison…."

I have heard this and agree completely. I have also heard that a slick of oil on top of the water makes a great lid. For these reasons, I have been thinking a floating lid slightly smaller than the diameter of the pot would make a better lid than an aluminum cap up top. I wonder how closed cell foam stands up to boiling water?

[Franco Darioli]

"I wonder how closed cell foam stands up to boiling water?"
What's the taste of closed cell foam ?
( I hope is not like chicken because I don't like chicken flavoured coffee)

[Roger B]

Silicone lid

scroll down to Yukio's post

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=35377

[Brian Olson]

I have a Snow Peak 2 liter titanium pot paired with a White Box Stove that will just barely come to a roaring boil with its titanium lid at sea level before running out of fuel, but it will not boil with an aluminum foil lid. I'm seeing this as evidence that aluminum foil lids are not quite as efficient as the lid supplied with the pot. 2 Liters is obviously my stove's upper limit of how much water it can boil and the lid makes the difference on whether or not it gets the job done. My theory is that my titanium lid is more efficient because it is a tighter fit than the aluminum foil folded over the edge. I do not think that insulation properties of the two metals are very important here, but I could be wrong. It is also possible that larger volume pots are more sensitive to what lid they have. All I do know for sure is that I can boil a full 2 liters with the titanium lid, but not with aluminum foil. I need to boil the full amount because it is exactly enough to cook 4 Mountain House meals or 3 meals plus hot chocolate for everyone when hiking as a group. For your info, my aluminum foil lids are made out of two layers of the thin kitchen stuff sold in folded sheets rather than rolls. They work perfectly fine with my smaller pots and I don't notice any changes in fuel consumption. They are so light that my scale is not sensitive enough to accurately weigh.

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