In searching for a better way to eat I came up with a simple solution that I was able to test in the field over the past few days. I wanted to improve the way to rehydrate and eat freezer bag meals. I also wanted a way to keep the lid on the pot while hiking without using a small stuff sack.
Where I landed was to make a simple cozy from an old GG thinlight 3/8" foam pad and I moved to a large pot, now a MLD 850 instead of a BPL 450. My previous cozy was a reflectix envelope style from Hawk Vittles. I used a snowpeak giga for this trip, but the stove really doesn't matter. This system works fine with alcohol or esbit stoves.
MLD 850 Cozy System: Pot, Cozy, and Stove
Heat water, pour into freezer bad, put bag into pot, put pot into cozy, and add lid.
Wait 20 minutes then open and eat from pot, when finished throw away bag.
Cozy placed on pot over lid to keep lid in place while hiking.
No concrete data, but I believe the food inside a ti pot wrapped in a foam cozy keeps food warmer than reflectix. One night I left the food for 25 minutes with the outside air temp close to 32 degrees and when I opened it up it was still piping hot and fully rehydrated. I also found that by moving to a larger pot I could put the entire meal inside the pot. Clean up is a breeze, just toss out the bag.
Old System:
BLP 450 ti mug & lid (1.8oz) + Reflectix Cozy (.9oz) = 2.70 oz
New System
MLD 850 ti pot & Lid (3.3oz) + Foam Cozy (.45oz) = 3.75 oz
So the new system does weigh 1.05 oz more, but functionally it has made cooking, eating, and clean up much easier than any system I have used so far. The biggest negative is the volume in the pack.
Probably does not seam like much but I find anything that improves my hiking experience to exciting.
Jamie
