That I have not found anyone else carrying.
I carry a metal cup. Such as this Cup with a Nalgene bottle in it.
I have found this to be a great carry item. Not only as a cup, but I can use it as a small cook pot, I can use it to boil/filter/collect water, I can use it to signal if need be since it is shiny, I can beat it flat and possible make a blade, also it can be used as the water holder for a solar still. Im sure there are plenty of other uses. I bought a few to put in my kits, bags, vehicles, ect. It is such a cheap and simple item, yet it can come in very handy. It is much better then trying to use tinfoil for boiling, a cup, bowl, ect. If you carry a Nalgene bottle it may be a good idea to put a metal cup on the bottom, especially if you don't carry a mess kit with you <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

I carry a cup with me when I go camping or out to the field, but it doesnt nest in my nalgene like I would like it to do. You are right. I usually only carry the one cup, and maybe a small pot with me when I go to the field to boil water for shaving or cooking, (not at the same time) I am in need of a cup that will nest over my nalgene bottle so I can use them in the same manner as a canteen and canteen cup, in a pouch on my gear.

Garrett

I carry a one quart military canteen, with 2 canteen cups (one inside the other - see below), and a cup stand/stove. The two cups gives you the option of heating water and still having cup for drinking or preparing eats (e.g. soup). What I did was get a surplus canteen cup - with the wire handles which are tack welded on - and had a friend of mine who works sheet metal pop off the handles and grind down the welds. Fits perfectly inside my first cup, which still has the handles. Put this rig inside of one of the new MOLLE II canteen/utility pouches (with the pockets on the sdes), put several Esvit tabs in one pocket and my SAK in another, and I have my cook kit and am covered in an emergency.

Hope this helps.

.....CLIFF
- Everyone is entitled to my opinion

I carry a Snowpeak titanium cup as part of a minimal emergency cookset (alcohol stove, gatorade powder container with screw top converted to a bowl + holder for everything). It all weighs under 6 oz. This goes with me for hiking, showshoeing, etc. Also nice to be able to quickly brew up a hot drink in the winter!

My "be-nighted" bag in the van has a GI canteen cup with fuel bars in a zip lock bag in it . I recently added a small square cook set ( pot and lid) that I filled with a little rice, dry onion, garlic , buillon powder, hot chocolate mix , etc and fuel/matches. At least if I get stuck somewhere I'll have a little hot food.

Hi Paul - I'd love to say "great minds think alike." <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
I've been carrying the same thing for about a year. I add a bandanna stuffed into the cup, under the bottle, with a very small corner peeking out above the lip of the cup so I can get it out - it wedges the bottle into the cup very tightly.
I recently got a small shoulder bag instead of my too-big daypack, and I then had to get a small pouch that I can attach to the shoulder bag to hold the bottle.
I'm less likely to need to cook in a daily commute/walk, but I like having that as a possibility. Mainly, I think of it as a way to share the water if, for instance, I'm stuck on a subway train for quite a while and someone needs a drink - I can control how much they get, and we're not all drinking out of the same bottle...and if someone doesn't give it back, I've still got the water.
Dave

I have seent hat done before and it is a good idea! I like the ideas of having nested mugs like that because they dont take up too much space. I want to go with a Nalgene style mug system though, becuase I like the wide mouth better than the narrow mouth of the issue canteen. I actually dont even use them at all most of the time. I use my nalgene bottle more often than not, but I usually carry my camelbak for water. I use the water bottle to have a rapid source (for lack of a better term) of water for cooking and hygene. They work out better in colder environment as well.

I am getting very excited about getting a mug now. I cant wait to get out and get one.

Didn't suppose I was the first to think of it - seemed too obvious. Several others in my old unit did it, too, after they saw mine.

In a fit of optimism several years ago, I sent the idea to Brigade Quartermasters. Never heard from them. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Another mod I am going to do after some experience: Cut the curved lip off of the handleless cup - saves a bit of weight, and you can turn it upside down and put it on top of your first cup, as a cover, when boiling water. Makes the boil time drop.

.....CLIFF
"Measure twice; cut once."

Hey, I carry a metal cup too. And the darned thing has come in handy quite a few times! The ability to COOK in it has been helpful a few times!

Paul,

I was inspired! Great post. I picked up the cup with the foldable handles to go under my nalgene bottle a few days ago. I cant wait to take it afield and test it with the Esbit stove.

I was wonering, any tips about how to keep the handles closed and keep the cup on the bottle? I thought about tape, but I'd like to avoid the residue. Thoughts?....

My minimal kit is becoming more and more fun to carry and use, afield and EDC.

Thanks for you thoughts.

--Luke

A rubber band or "Rangerband" (rubberband made from bycicle innertube) would be good for holding the handles closed. To keep the cup on the nalgene bottle you can use a bandanna or even another rangerband depending on the size.

By the way, I don't know if Doug reccomends a metal cup in any of his kits, however it might might be something to look into. I have found it to be an indespensable item. It gets a lot of use.

Any ideas for keeping the cup attached to the bottom for EDC? I want one of those cups, and I would love to have it around with my bottle all the time, as I am caught without a coffe cup quite a bit. Anyone have any ideas to keep the cupp on the bottom of the bottle with out having a pouch or something??

Garrett

depending upon the clearences involved you could put a ranger-band around the nalgene bottle and slip the cup over the ranger-band. This arrangement (when clearneces are tight enough but not too tight) works like an 0-ring seal and the cup will be held in place by the friction with the ranger-band.

Another alternative would be to stick some of the selfe adhesive velcro to the nalgene and use a strap around the bottom of the cup to hold it in-place. This might be a rather long strap of velcro so it might become unweildly.

Why the resistance to a simple light bag with strap around the outside of the cup-nalgene combination? These type of bags often come with other useful pockets on the outside for holding the P.A. tablets and a spork and maybe even the esbit cooker. The combination allows you to sling your water bottle over your shoulder and be carrying an entire kitchen complete with stove, pot, water carrier and purification, and fuel)

I was actually thinking about the O-ring option like you described. The reason I dont want a bag, is that I carry my nalgene EVERYWHERE. I drink at leat 8 bottles of water a day, and I dont need a case for it, as it is always in my hand. I just want to have a cup with it for coffee or to cook with in an emergency. I do want a case for my day pack and I will get one or two of those for day trips, driving, etc, but for EDC, all I want is the cup and the bottle, thats all.

Garrett

Eight (Nalgene) bottles = 8 Litres of water.
Wow, thats a lot of water..... <img src="images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Hi Garrett - not sure how you'll be carrying your bottle for EDC? I have on in a bottle pouch, which keeps the cup with it without a problem. Sounds like you're planning to carry it with the bottle exposed. I keep a bandana in the bottom of the cup, with one corner of it peeking up past the lip of the cup. It keeps an extra bandana handy, and the cup is snug enough to the bottle that that little extra material wedged in there makes the cup stay on pretty firmly. However, if you're carrying it, for example, with the cap's loop around a belt and the bottle swinging free, I couldn't recommend the bandana as a secure solution.
Hope that helps
Dave

Dave,

I found the space saver cup at a local store, and I also ended up buying a bottle sack as well. They bot fit in the sack great and now I have a setup I can use.

Garrett

G'day Cliff.
I carry two military waterbottles with two cups canteen in their webbing pouches.
My PSK as you yanks call it is part of my belt kit I wear when out bush. I wear old military webbing with 2water bottle pouches and three minimi sized ammo pouches for my other gear. Very handy when I used to go shooting in the Northern Territory or now as I don't shoot anymore (tough gun laws) just for bushwalking and camping.
Love roughing it and don't need half the stuff some people here seem to carry.
As I kid all I ever used out bush was a box of matches a pocket knife, pocket full of string, a tarp and an army water bottle on a webbing belt. Oh and some tucker to eat.
Cheers. <img src="images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Hey,
We not all 'Yanks'! <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />. This is multicultural forum and PSK has become an acronym across the whole web on sites relating to the outdoors. It stands for Personnal or Pocket Survival Kit and doesn't usually include something like you're talking about, which is often called web gear, webbing or belt kit. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Probably just stating the obvious here.

No, Pete - state away. Sometimes we become so focused we need to be reminded of the obvious. Imagine how history would be changed if a helmsman back in 1912 had stated the obvious - "Uh, Captian, that's a REALLY, REALLY BIG iceberg. Can I turn now?". <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

And we regulars to ETS need to remind ourselves that newcomers may have a hard time catching on to our shorthand and acronyms. I know I did.

All the best from this side of the Pond,

.....CLIFF

And some of us don't limit ourselves to what we can stuff into our pockets, most of my my PSK is in the back of my suburban, and I wouldn't dream of trying to carry it all into a mall with me or on my person all the time, but it's all never more than a short walk away from me... to each his (or her) own.

Troy

hi wazza: like you i like the use of military webgear ie..bumpack,water bottles etc..but alot of folks get turned off using military gear and do'nt want to be stereotyped as "survivalists"..i'm glad their are still some folks around who do'nt mind being seen in it. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

Yeah, ya can't beat time tested gear, I've even made up a few special purpose rigs for flaggers (I'm a Laborer). The first time I went out to a job site with web gear, I got a few chuckles, but when the guys saw me pull lunch out of the butt pack, plenty of water or gatorade out of the canteens, and saw that the grenade straps made a perfect holder for the traffic sign (slip the pole through the strap, brace it with your foot, and tahdah...the signal stands there using no hands), everybody wanted to know where they could get a set. Not to mention that an ammo pouch is a perfect holder for the radio keeping you in touch with the guy on the other end of the job. I do occasionally get some strange looks from passing drivers...but that works too, it gets them to slow down a little closer to the speed they ought to be going through a work zone. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />