Best UL non-stick frying pan for the trail?

[Ken Thompson]

"and now it's stuck…."

You're right. New game.

[JJ Willcoxon]

ROTFLMAO

Thanks for sharing. I now won't be trying to fit mine over my Bear Can.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

JJ,

Yeah it's darn small but for scrambled eggs and (thick) pancakes it's OK.

Like most of us "skillet packers" I only take it for times when I know I'll do scrambled eggs or flapjacks. Sure, it only weighs 4 oz. (exactly) but to a ULer that's almost blasphemy. The rest of my cook kit (3 cup pot & lid, small plastic bowl, & plastic cup) weighs 5.2 oz. so 4 oz. is, relatively, a lot.

And then there's the 0.8 oz. mini spatula as well.
And the honey or maple syrup or jelly in a refillable tube.

But boy do those eggs and pancakes taste SOOOO good!

[Justin Baker]

imo, not carry 4 oz and forgoing flapjacks is "stupid light".

[JJ Willcoxon]

I feel that way about cooking my trout. I've done it in foil sheets, many times. But, it never turns out as well that way as it does when I hump the extra weight of a skillet, my "super secret recipe" breading mix, and some olive oil.

Well, except for that one time I tried to cook it in the Fluxburn Skillet… Blech!

If the Flex Skillet works out, all manner of tasty things become possible again. But, I'm that guy that doesn't love a hot breakfast enough to wash the dishes before I hit the trail. It's an energy bar, or a couple of handfuls of trail mix, and I'm off….

[Michael Gartman]

We hike with a retired Army officer. He said he went to the exchange one day, and they had teflon pans for $5.99. He bought an 8" and went home and cut off the handle. I have seen it in action, and it works great and it is very light. However, when he brings it, he has to use his MSR stove instead of his Jetboil.

He also uses a shedd spread country crock container as his UL bowl.

He says going light doesn't have to be expensive lol

[USA Duane Hall]

Not many of us do pancackes out on the trail. In my early days, that was part of my breakfast for week long trips, cooking over a tiny fire too. Only on weekends now, plus, there are no trout to fry anymore. :(
Duane

[JJ Willcoxon]

If you aren't getting enough trout anymore, you need to pack your bag and get your rear up to the high mountain lakes ASAP.

I firmly believe that many of the world's ills are the direct result of "fresh alpine lake trout deficiency syndrome".

That first bite of fresh trout every year is heaven for me.

[Sumi Wada]

I have the Trangia frypan from their "25 UL HA" (UL hard-anodized) series. Not as non-stick as the coated ones but much more durable and much easier to cook on than titanium. I think the specs say less than 3oz but mine weighs a little over 3oz in reality. Wide enough to be a real frypan (as opposed to the ones that are lids posing as frypans.)

One important rule about frypans and sticking. Get it hot *first*, then add oil/butter, and when that's hot, your food.

[USA Duane Hall]

JJ, I'm supposed to do part of the SHR in July with a few guys I've never met. Not sure we'll be by lakes/streams to fish at night. I was in the Recesses canyons a couple years ago, caught my share of trout and a few Goldens. Saving weight, no fry pan, nor did I keep any if I recall even to boil with ramen. Shame on me.
Duane

[JJ Willcoxon]

We have a very laid back schedule on our fall trip every year. Since we have 10 days in the mountains, we never do more than 15 miles in a day and take two zero days to do nothing but relax, day hike, and catch/eat trout.

With the prices they get for non-resident fishing licenses these days, I would feel fleeced if I didn't get to chow down on a few of those tasty morsels.

My boys love the off trail exploring and fishing more than the trail hiking and I find myself enjoying the zero days more and more, as I get older.

Once of the reasons we head to Montana for this trip in most years is that, once we get in 20 or 30 miles from the TH, we rarely have any company either. It is sooooo peaceful and relaxing. I rotate between a few areas in The Bob and a half dozen of my favorite areas in the Beartooths, so it never gets old or repetitive.

[USA Duane Hall]

I'm 60, hoping to do the Bob and a few other areas out west here after I retire, maybe some sooner. Not many folks out here in Kalifornia come Oct., even in high use areas from summer.
Duane

[JJ Willcoxon]

I have the PCT, the CT, and a couple weeks in the San Juans on my bucket list, for after retirement.

I grew up in North Dakota and spent many a week in the Montana Rockies as a Boy Scout and as the son of a addicted backpacker. I have an affinity for the less trampled areas up there and it just feels awkward to me to run into 20-30 people a day while I'm out on a trail.

[Justin Baker]

That sounds like a perfect trip. Why work your butt off hiking when you can chill at a lake?

[JJ Willcoxon]

OK, So I was bored this weekend and hauled out all of my old stove gear to take a look. Turns out that the previous post about the Trangia Skillet was on point. The Trangia 27 skillet is a fine piece of gear, about the same 7" in diameter, and weighs less than the MSR Skillet. Except, that it would require me to take a pot lifter/holder of some kind. With the Trangia Pot Lifter, it weighs almost exactly the same as the MSR skillet.

I'm thinking that it might be the better choice though. Because, it doesn't have the handle that folds up into the skillet to block the inside of it. The MSR handle gets in the way of nesting other items inside of it. Anyone use their Trangia Skillet lately? How was its "non-stick" performance compared to the MSR offerings?

Just for giggles, I weighed the Trangia Kettle, while I had it out. It weighs almost exactly the same as my MSR Titan Kettle. For some reason, I had filed it away as "too heavy" to consider anymore. The Trangia Kit is heavy, compared to my other options. But, most of the weight is in the alcohol stove, dual pots, and windscreen assembly.

I'm going to stick with the MSR Titan for it's ability to nest my fuel canister and stove and to get the dual use as a cup/bowl. But, the pots and pans in the Trangia Kits are well made and much lighter than I recalled.

[Jesse Anderson]

JJ am I incorrect, or can't you remove the handle on the MSR Quick and Flex Skillets? It would be about the same as carrying a separate pot lift, which you mentioned you would have to do with your Trangie unit anyway.

After many years of use, the nonstick on my Blacklight pan is showing some signs of wear. This is great info on all of the other options I will have when it comes time to replace it.

[Marko Botsaris]

It's a pretty heavy handle at 1.3 oz so a pot grabber would be lighter in most cases. On the other hand it's a fry pan and maybe a pot grabber is not the best idea for handling it for actual frying. Lots of manipulation required to avoid excess heat, pan with hot oil, and sticking you hand near the heat to grab it. And that is not to mention trying to eat your fish out of the pan. Sounds like a definite klutz no go. :-o

[JJ Willcoxon]

I'm sure that you could permanently remove the handle from the MSR skillet. But, it doesn't look like it could be put back on afterwards and, as Jessie said, it would lose the advantages of having said handle. Thus, my question about which pan has the better non-stick performance.

I would much rather have a handle attached. But, I'm trying to compile and evaluate the other pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Stability and safety while cooking, when a handle is attached.
2. No worries about losing or misplacing a potlifter / holder.

Cons:
1. Handle is heavy (not sure how to quantify "heavy" without breaking the pan).
2. Handle is reported to be flimsy and break easily in some reviews.
3. Handle blocks the space inside the pan when folded in for storage.

Marko… Did you take the handle off and weigh it? You called it at 1.3 ozs. in your post. The Trangia pot lifter would be heavier at 1.6 ozs. (47 grams).

[Jesse Anderson]

JJ are you using one of the quick/flex skillets with the "talon handle"? By all acounts it should unhook from the pan with some ease to facilitate storage. There is still a bracket left connected to the pan but I believe the bulk of the handle should be able to come off. Check this youtube video where he removes it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZeoX6k9Iqs
He pulls it off right about 2:14

EDIT: Not sure what happened to my response to Marko, but I'd have to agree that a fixed handle (or at least a solid removable on like MSR's talon handle are superior for use with a frying pan than any removable pot gripper.

[Justin Baker]

My msr skillet has that same handle, pops off and attaches very easily. I don't see the handle being heavier than a pot grabber.

[John Klinepeter]

The MSR Flex Skillet has a handle that is removable if you wish. It remains stiffly attached to the skillet (albeit with a little "play") until you wish to fold it into the skillet, an action which is accomplished by pressing the red plastic locking/unlocking button toward the skillet. Just takes a couple of seconds to remove or replace the handle.

Specs from my digital scale:
skillet less handle weighs 5.5 oz.
handle weighs 1.4 oz.
total weight 6.9 oz.

[JJ Willcoxon]

I ordered a Quick Skillet late last week and haven't received it yet. So, I was unsure if the handle was sturdy and removable and what its independent weight would be. I had read a couple of reviews on the retailer sites that criticized it for having the handle in the way of "nesting other items in it" when it was folded for storage. The last few posts have answered my remaining questions.

[Marko Botsaris]

"Marko… Did you take the handle off and weigh it? You called it at 1.3 ozs. in your post. The Trangia pot lifter would be heavier at 1.6 ozs. (47 grams)."

Yes as the posts above shows, the handle does come off (and go back on again AS DESIGNED) or as an alternative can just fold in, as could also have been verified from any number of other reviews or youtube videos, as well as the actual MSR product information. I'm shocked, shocked I say to hear some online reviewers didn't seem to know this and yet presumed to review the thing.

The handle seems plenty sturdy enough to me for UL equipment (yes I actually have one and I am not speculating from pictures and hearsay).

My pot grabber (that I only use with my cc sidewinder setup) is a hair less than an oz:

[Marko Botsaris]

Again, as I posted before, the "Quick" and the larger "Flex" are different sized pans.

For the smaller quick the numbers are:

skillet less handle weighs 4.5 oz.
handle weighs 1.3 oz.
total weight 5.9 oz.

I would be surprised if the handle isn't exactly the same for both, and the small difference there is not just scale uncertainty.

[JJ Willcoxon]

I don't spend much time on U-Tube. I find many of the reviews on there to be incomplete, fanboyish, and/or done by people with far less hands-on experience to reference things to than the BPL crowd. Besides, the "one time…at band camp" stories that often come along with discussions in these forums are a lot of fun too.

That said, the only remaining question I have would be answered by a "I have used both" comparison of the non-stick qualities between the Trangia 27 skillet and either of the MSR Skillets (I think you have established that size is the only difference and it is safe to assume that the coating is the same in both the flex and the quick).

All else equal, I like the idea of an attached handle while I'm playing with a pan full of sizzling oil and food.

As I have the MSR on the way and the Trangia on hand, I'll play with them next weekend, if no one else has done a head-to-head yet.

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