Tin cup is super important and overlooked. Its not enough to have 100oz camelbak if you can't put purified water in it (given you have lost or don't have any alternate means of purification than fire). I have a Ti cup but it's too narrow to nest a Nalgene bottle. I have the GSI stainless steel cup that perfectly nests a 1L Nalgene round bottle and I recently bought a Nalgene Oasis (GI canteen) which I can use my canteen cup. I am starting to prefer the Oasis as the footprint is smaller in my pack but can't add ice, harder to scrub out.

DON'T OVERLOOK THE TIN CUP. GREAT POST.

Aha. I repeat myself. I contain multitudes...

Yep, I have more than one also. I don't have any in "tin", but I have both stainless and a few in Ti. The Ti Snow Peak 450 double wall mug is used daily. The 700 not so much, but it's a better all-around mug for cooking, eating & drinking.

Will the Snow Peak 450 double wall mug fit on the bottom of a nalgene bottle?

No, not even close.

Having established that cost is no object, how would you rate the Snow Peak 700 ml vs. the MSR 850 ml Titan Kettle? Thoughts?

MSR Titan kettle at MEC

I'm willing to give up 150ml of capacity and opt for the Snowpeak's excellent packability with a Nalgene or Gatorade bottle nested in it, while saving $13 along the way. Not that you can't nest a bottle in the Ti Kettle, just that it's not quite as efficient.

Part of my reasoning is that I've had great results using the 700ml Snowpeak for a party of 2 hikers, so I know for me it's enough volume. If you bump up to 3+ in the party, or start needing to melt snow, the 850ml capacity doesn't help much over the Snowpeak and you still have to go to a larger vessel.

The Snowpeak 700 is actually worth the cost in this application. It is very tough, providing shielding for either the Nalgene or Gatorade water bottle, and is adequate for one or two easily. For a larger group, I tend to go with aluminum, which can be jsut as light, although not as tough.

My Sigg Tourist cookset, a very lightweight thin aluminum set, only lasted me for thirty-five years. My Snowpeak 700 is probably immortal.... I tend to shy away from stainless, except for car camping.

I carry my single walled, 400ml REI Ti cup everywhere. Its very small, but thats the point. I wanted something I could throw in my EDC bag/daypack and forget it was even there. One of the best investments I've made.

The problem with some TI cups is that they do not tolerate repeated high heat cycles and will warp after awhile which is troublesome for the TI cups that have a fitted lid.

I use a SS cup that has provided years of usefulness and will probably last for the rest of my hiking days. I am not a weight weenie when it comes to gear so I don't worry about the pros and cons of TI vs SS weights.