Today I wanted to see if I could boil water in the bottom of my PSK tin. I knew theoretically it should be doable but I wasn't sure if it would leak under the heat or what.

Tried it over an esbit stove outside (~40 deg F) and it didn't reach a rolling boil with a single esbit tab (no wind brake) but the water was hot and more importantly it didn't leak. In a real situation it would probably be set up over an open fire.

It doesn't hold that much water but it beats tin foil!

Good idea - I like to carry a metal bottle or a cup for this.

Better practice that.

If I ever have to resort to boiling water in an Altoids tin, things are not going well at all.

hehe agreed -- I usually carry a metal cup with me (nalgene or canteen) but it's nice to know if all I had was the PSK tin and the clothes on my back it would work.

Next time I start up the grill I'll try it over an open fire I might drill a couple of small holes around the rim and include some picture/snare wire to serve as a handle.

Some kind of iron alloy- they rust. Other than that, got no idea, probably recycled Soviet Navy surplus reactor vessels or something.

I keep my smallest reasonable kit in a French military mess tin- can't do diddly in it with an esbit tab or triox bar, you can boil water in it if you've got a anything more impressive.

you can use that dumb esbit for a firestarter (if you can get IT on fire) I've had mixed luck igniting Esbits myself.

Also, I once tried a cup of cocoa, with tin foil windscreens. Still no boil after 1 tab (about 25 out)

the search for a metal survival kit container is a subject that just about drives me nuts..for all the cans and box's out there none seems to be just right..the best i have ever seen is the old inner tube patch box that Tacoma Mountain Rescue put out years ago.the art on the wrapper that shows the guy in the tube tent in front of a fire drinking out of the can hits the nail on the head.
fire-shelter-hot drink..at least for my neck of the woods..i have bought just about every military mess kit,aluminum box,can--so on and on you can think of and not are the right size or shape..what i want is a Spam type can i can seal and have something like the old military ration tins,small enought to carry in a pocket and big enought for cooking..

You need to relax. Don't fight!

Just leave your survival kit in whatever pouch it is and start carrying a small kettle or metal cup, on the side. Sometimes, there is no perfect answer.

This is what i've been doing for a while, and it works... not that I was involved in a survival situation, but hey. I am using a Primus LITECH hard anodized aluminium kettle and it works perfectly over a fire or on a stove.

Here are a few more survival kit containers. These are more of the step up in size from the pocket EDC altoids and BCB mini mess tin PSK containers.

The BCB Stainless Crusader Steel Mess Tin (tough and a nice size but slighty heavy)

http://www.cardinalgear.com/crusader-mess-tin.html

Or the Laken Hard Anodised Aluminium Mess Tin, which replaced a Sigg Alu Box Midi.

Nice. I am also an anodized teakettle user, light and durable, and usable on avariety of fire sources. But I like this, where did you get it? I did a search but am coming up empty.

Here's the manufactor, not much info there though, at least a product name though. product page

Sorry I forgot to mention it, this isn't an altoids tin, it's the tin that came with the proforce survival kit (although I changed pretty much everything that originally came inside it)

It's about 4.75" x 3.5" x 1" and holds approx 1 cup of water (a bit less realistically since it wouldn't be full to the brim)

I also have gerber bags and micropur MP1 in it

Really? I can boil two cups of water every time, nearly as fast as with an alcohol burner. I use a Ti wing stove, a MSR Titan kettle and a tight-fitting foil windscreen. I've used them for up to 5-day trips on the AT. I've also gotten rolling boils using a canteen stove and cup, and the original Esbit stove with a Sierra cup, as long as I make lids for the cups out of aluminum foil.

Maybe you've got a bad batch of cubes. Did you buy them all at once, or have you tried ones from different purchases?

Flatten a loaf tin (the sort I get curries in from the take away over here) and pack it down in the kit. Much more robust than using foil, much better capacity than an altoid tin

Did you use a lid?

With the small stoves you really need whatever you are using as a pan to have a lid, to help keep in the heat. A typical PSK tin is wide and shallow, which gives proportionately more area from which to lose the heat so it needs a lid even more.

(But don't cook with an air-tight lid because it will go bang.)

A windshield helps, too, as you are aware. Even without, you probably got it hot enough to kill the germs.

Interestingly enough I thought about that very subject about 3/4ths of the way through the test. It occured to me that there's an awful lot of surface area for it to radiate heat off quickly. I did end up putting the lid on it (slightly off center). The esbit was too far gone for it to boil after that but it may have gotten quite a bit hotter had I had the lid resting on it from the beginning.

Well, there may be a way to make a PSK tin that actually works for boiling.

Take a Nalgene bottle cup. Stash your gear in that. Using a side cutting can opener, take the end of a coffee can- it fits great as a lid, at least Maxwell House does. Couple of big rubber bands to keep the lid down, and a quart freezer bag or two to keep it dry. Won't fit in the pants pocket, but a jacket pocket, sure.