All good ideas people,

Hikemor/Nurit - I have never seen oatmeal in a tin container, I remember paper sacks, cardboard boxes and maybe a pressboard cylinder? I am not a big fan of oatmeal, but I guess I will be checking it out tomorrow.

Susan - Now beer I am fan of, but it was Heineken Can pots that I read the BPA report on, the ultra-light hiking crowd use these beer cans pots regularly and debate the health risk on the web. Draining them would be fun!

Hike4fun - I agree with you about the flat containers, I have lots of them but I think the tall "billy can" shape would be easier to use in this situation. My current pocket kit is in a flat steel tacklebox, but the items in this new kit would fit in a taller can better. I prefer square or rectangle containers to round ones as I find stuff packs in them better, but there are more round tin containers available.

Mike

If you have a Trader Joes anywhere near you, they have the Oatmeal in the tin can. Its about the same size as a one quart paint can with a friction lid. I have been thinking of putting some of these back for emergency food, Oatmeal does take a lot of water to prepare but it is nutritious and filling.

The Trangia container I use will hold an Esbit stove, tabs, emergency blanket, firesteel, and a disposable poncho, Not the most durable piece of kit, but a warm meal after a disaster or catastrophe could be a real morale boost. The wire handle has a plastic coating to insulate against heat and the lid stays on in normal use and carry

Hi Tarzan, no Trader Joes here; but I did find an online Canadian supplier for the Trangia Containers tonight.

Later, Mike

Mike, I don't have suggestions that match your requirements exactly. I assume that you're on a tight budget?

My default tin for 'just in case' kits is the classic Tim Horton's coffee can. No coating AFAIK, one litre capacity, tight fitting plastic lid, and comes with decent camp coffee as a bonus. I recently got some Nabob tins on sale, also one litre size, that have a big sturdy lip inside the top of the can; I could drill a couple of holes in that lip for a bail and still have a sealed can to carry water using the plastic lid. Personally, I'd rather have two of these than one big can.

In my kits, I put a label on the coffee cans that says 'OK to cook in, ' -- just in case somebody else happens to be using it. They taste a trifle metallic when first boiled, so I prefer to discard the first batch of hot water (fine for washing though).

LOL at Sue's suggestion! I've kept a couple of those big Heineken cans for exactly that purpose. If I was going to use them regularly, I'd scrub out the inside with some fine sandpaper or steel wool and then boil the bleep out of them. The coating isn't thick. I'd use the same routine with 'found' cans in a survival scenario, using river sand as abrasive.

Susan,

Who knows what they coat the inside of beer mini kegs with.
And aluminum containers are cheap to buy.

I admire the re-use and MacGyver creativity; however,
with all the chemicals involved and you are cooking at
high temps, why take a chance.

Lots of workers got sick from working near coal dust,
rock dust, asbestos, cooking oil, lead, mercury, flour, etc.
I think heavy metals are dangerous, and I even avoid tin or
aluminum. All these iron cans are coated with something.

SwampDonkey,
If you are making an Emergency only kit, any of the cans
that might be un-healthy would be OK, if you burn em out.

If this is a regular-use container, I recommend granite
ware with no "warm colors" on the old stuff. Granite ware
teapots, billy pots, bowls, and large cups are cheap and
available, e.g. Walmart camping and cookware sections.

Lighter weight, would be an aluminum pot with teflon,
which is (I think) safe and very easy to keep clean.

Now if someone please could produce a stainless steel hip flask without seams.... Or a similar rectangular stainless steel container, about 1" by 3-4" wide and about 5" tall. I guess that shape is kind of tough to produce from one lump of metal, no seams allowed.


I've been tinkering with a cut-down stainless steel hip flask for my kit. The flask is made of one cut-out bottom profile and a rectangular sheet that is wrapped to the "hip flask" shape, so it has one seam along the bottom and one along its length. The seams are probably welded or soldered. I don't know what kind of stuff the welding/soldering could release when you put that on top of a hot fire... Like plastic liners, it's probably not such a big deal for emergency, one-time-only use, but I still don't like the idea. It will have to do while I search for a better solution.

Perhaps you could get some Swedish Trangia Mess kits in your area. In the UK they cost about $20 USD a piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-GHZ-l_tGw

They pretty tough and can be used either with the excellent Brass Military Trangia Burner (which has greater heat output and capacity over the excellent civvy one). It will boil 16oz 0.5 litres of water in around 8-9 minutes. Both pots are designed to also be used over a fire as described in the video. They are pretty neat well thought out compact kits.

Total weight with enough methylated fuel for about 4-5 days use is around 1.2 kg. There is also enough room to keep a drinking cup i.e. a double walled 300ml Snowpeak cup in their as well along with a folding ti-spook and a pot holder and lighter or matches.

I am sure that is why I purchased my container of oatmeal, which I opened the other day since it had been around a few years. I deemed it time to consume and replace.

To my surprise, when I pried off the lid and punctured the intact aluminum seal just below, the top layer of oatmeal had been compromised, probably by water, changing into some sort of gray muck, which also extended down the sides of the can an inch or two.

Had this been a real emergency, I would probably have tried to salvage some of the interior material, but, playing safe, I just pitched all the contents.

To my surprise, we were only six months past the "Best By" date of 06/2/2009 printed on the base of the can.

I think I will try again with a fresh can. I regularly consume oatmeal. It is nutritious, cheap, and sustaining. Add enough fruits and it is actually tasty.

One other thing. The directions on the can recommend cooking time of 30 minutes - not good in an emergency situation. I understand that in the old days in merrie Scotland, you grabbed a handful of oats,plunged your hand into a mountain brook, and breakfast was served. That's tough! perhaps some of our UK friends can comment further.

That Swedish mess kit is just so neat... a bit large, though, for this requirement:



These are the though requirements to meet.

A stainless steel water bottle would fit your measurements. Or a hip flask that you cut down (but those come with the wretched seams, not something you'd really like to use on a regular basis).

I am perpetually searching for a pot/container with the "cut down hip flask" form factor, but so far I've had little success. If I can't keep the thickness at or below 1.5-2 inches it won't fit a pocket anyway, so then I may as well toss in a small pot in a backpack.

Now I know there are lunch boxes of any shapes available, but using those for cocking is a really flimsy option. A flat tray about 1.5-2" high is hard to keep level over a fire or stove in the bush and the large surface gives a lot of evaporation.



This is the easy and fun part... the Swedish Army mess kit shown above is a very good alternative, but there are literally TONS of options for this size. Anything from coffee cans to Trangia stove+wind screen+mess kit combo will more or less fit within those volume/size restrictions.

Excellent, now were "Cooking" with the ideas folks!

Doug - I checked the 2 coffee cans I had at the house and both had a plastic liner, but if Tim Horton's are clear then that is great, I can source them in my home town as we have 2 Tim Hortons here, EH.

Susan - you are correct in that this kit is probably just for emergency use and therefore not real a problem what container you use to heat water in. I have used a tin can billy many times and only recently discovered there was a plastic liner in them. I never cared until the Internet told me I should. Our local WalMart has some blue granite ware, can you expand on the "warm colours" concern?

Mostly Harmless - Yes a cutdown SS Water Bottle may work, I just have to find 10 cheap ones. My aluminum ones all have a liner.

Am-Fear_Laith_Mor - 10 Trangia Mess Tin/stove sets would solve the snowmobile kit problem, I will check the Canadian military surplus stores on the internet today.

Thanks everyone and keep your thoughts coming,

Mike