Stove and cook kit

[DS]

Im overhauling my gear and have decided that going with a canister top stove will work best for me. I chose the MSR pocket rocket 2 for the purpose of boiling water. Now I am faced with choosing a cooking vessel in the .8L-1.3L, Ti preferably. Does anyone have any input on what they like best by brand and volume? Stability and ability to nest a 110 gram canister and stove inside is preferable. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[Terry G]

For just boiling water, I use almost exclusively a 0.9 liter Ti pot even on trips with 4 people.  It is tight for more than about 3 people but still doable.

[Bob Moulder]

How much hot water do you typically need per meal?

Believe it or not, the PR2 is actually rather heavy and bulky by today’s UL standards. Check BRS-3000T and Fire Maple FMS-300T for comparison.

If you’re set on the PR2, a popular companion is the MSR Titan kettle which holds 850ml with a fair amount of headroom.

Image below is Titan + Pocket Rocket, so it’s likely that the PR2 will also fit inside with a 110g canister.

If you really want to go UL and are willing to switch to Esbit or alcohol, just ask. Otherwise I will assume you’ve assessed your needs thoroughly and I will shut up for now.   :^)

[JCH]

I won’t suggest that my kit is best, or that it will work for you, but it is the solution I came up with when I attempted to answer the same question you have asked.  You can see it here.  I do highly recommend going with a wide/shallow pot…it makes a huge difference in amount of fuel burned.

FWIW, I doubt you are interested in re-thinking your stove choice as the PR2 is certainly a fine stove, but I’ve been extremely impressed with the performance and fuel efficiency of the Soto Windmaster. I would buy it again.

[Bob Moulder]

JCH’s Toaks 900ml with the 130mm diameter is definitely the best when it comes to fuel efficiency. And in the 900ml/3+cup range it is AFAIK the only one currently available since the apparent demise of the Open Country 3-cup aluminum pot.

It’s also very convenient when other cooking-related bits such as spoon, lighter, windscreen and maybe a small pot scrubber also fit inside the pot. It makes it far less likely that items will be lost because they are “inventoried” every time you put away the cook kit.

[Matthew / BPL]

Evernew makes a 135mm 900ml pot as well. More expensive than Toaks. I think it might be lighter. Trail Designs and ZPacks both sell it, the latter includes a nice cuben stuffsack.

[DS]

Thanks for the feedback Bob. Not familiar with the BRS-3000, how adjustable is the heat and does it do well in windy conditions w/o screen? Picture you sent looks like MSR Titan 2L, was considering smaller .8L version. It wont nest everything together like the 2L but not a problem. Also thanks ofr suggesting the Toaks 900ml pot. Looks like a good fit for the PR2 and great for boiling water!

[DS]

Thanks for the tip Matthew!

[DS]

JCH, thanks for the recommendation, the Toaks products look great!

[Alex Wallace]

Note that Evernew’s 900ml pot has a pour spout and volume graduations stamped on its side. Toaks’s doesn’t.

[JCH]

Dana,

Matt points out a very good option. The 130mm Toaks weighs 102g…best current price seems to be $45 delivered.  The Evernew .9L (ECA252) weighs 109g and is $60 from TrailDesigns.com, $62 from ZPacks, shipping is additional on both.  I have no doubt that the Evernew is the better quality pot, but if price were important, I would not hesitate to buy the Toaks.

If I had to complain about the Toaks, the only things I would mention are the lid fit and lack of embossed volume measurements.  The lid is not a problem, but is not the most robust.  The Evernew lid appears to be a significantly better design.  Were I buying a pot today, I would likely opt for the Evernew primarily because the lid looks like it would provide a tighter fit and a little extra volume when in place for transport, i.e easier to stow all kitchen parts in it, and it has embossed volume measurements.

Remember, whichever TI pot you buy, you will most likely have it for a very long time :)

[DS]

Great observations guys, thank you! Definately only want to purchase this once so the feedback is most helpful and appreciated…

[Bob Moulder]

Thanks, Matt… I forgot about the Evernew

Re Titan pot size… the one pictured above is the .85L.

Below are photos of mine with an old Snow Peak Giga stove, similar in size to the PR. Fits in the pot very easily with a 110g canister. If you maximize space by putting the stove under the canister’s concave base there is even more room.

Another photo comparing the Giga (74g) with a BRS (25g). Most of these stoves have a small flame pattern but it doesn’t matter a bunch if you’re just boiling water. Always throttle back to about 60% of maximum flame for best efficiency.

As far as wind is concerned, it is very easy in most places to make a wind screen from found materials such as tree branches, rocks or snow, or you can even use some gear to block the wind. In the first photo below the wind was blowing 25-35mph but it wasn’t much of a problem. Second photo was during a blustery rain, making dinner under a tarp, using ditty bag and food cozy for a wind block… also no problem.

[Katherine .]

I’m very curious about the Vargo bots. If I were in the market for a new pot I’d try one of those.

[JCH]

The Vargo Bot has some very attractive attributes, but it also embodies some unfortunate tradeoffs.

Pros:

• Really nice graduated markings
• Completely watertight
• Well made

Cons:

• Lid gets really hot when used to boil water and lacks a convenient handle
• Tall and narrow is inefficient when used with a canister stove.  Would likely work very well in a (Caldera) cone setup
• Heavy…147g is nearly 150% the weight of the Evernew or Toaks pots
• $99.95 !?!?  Wow.  That is one precious pot.

But…those are simply observations from my viewpoint.  I bet there are a number of people for whom the Bot ticks quite a few (all?) of the boxes and who will love them.  Nice to have so many choices :)

[Matthew / BPL]

A couple more thoughts:

The lid on my 1.3l Evernew is ok but not great. I feel like the pot came slightly oval.

The pot on my Toaks 550 and 750 are relatively heavy. You might be able to find a significantly lighter lid if you want to save some grams.

The Bot doesn’t make sense to me at that weight. I like PE jars from US Plastics for rehydrating. They are cheap and weigh about 2 ounces iirc. I like the modularity of bringing them or leaving them at home depending on my mood.

[DS]

Just ordered the Evernew Ti .9L Red and will let you know if it comes out of the box in round or not and quality of lid. Thanks ofr all the input!

[DS]

nice set up btw, I trust you fashioned the canister cozy and pot grip insulators? I also noticed you use a thermo cover for in the bag cooking. To minimize trash I converted a glad square container with removable cozy. Find it easy to mix food in without spilling. and avoids a dity cooking vessel. Also fits into an Opsak… Thanks again for all the input guys!

[Bob Moulder]

The canister cozy is 3mm neoprene and it’s part of my cold-weather setup that I’ve been refining for quite some time. I can now use butane canisters in sub-zero weather with no preheating, but that’s by combining a few simple tricks that require a long explanation. Search “Moulder Strip” and there’s a bunch about it.

I experimented with Sugru on the pot handles. However I’ve tried in on a couple of pots and it doesn’t insulate nearly as well as I had hoped…. the handles still get too hot to grab most of the time.

Although the cozy made from a car windshield shade worked okay, recently I’ve found a tough bubble mailer that is better for the job. (And it’s lighter!)

I use a Food Saver vacuum sealer to repackage MH, so not much trash.

[Author]

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