I'm adding a pot ( 1l or 1q) to some of my kits. The ability to cook, or just boil water is useful and a pot is simple and light

I went to the goodwill store by my house and got a heavy duty one for 99 cents. Been with me on numerous scout outings and general camping.

I put a 2 qt pot in my emergency kit. The ability to cook means that I can stock the kit with dry goods like cous cous, instant rice, and angel hair pasta. More nutrition per weight and bulk.

If I could carry only three things in my neck of the woods, they would be:

medium sized blade
pot
fire starter

I have some sort of pot in each bag and vehicle.

I like titanium, light, strong and doesn't mess with flavors. I keep a Snow Peak titanium Trek 700 mug in my small GHB (nested with a Nalgene bottle) and a Snow Peak Trek 1400 Titanium Cookset in my truck's kit. Since my GHB is in the truck it's available too. For the simple process of boiling water there's an old all copper Revere Ware kettle in the truck, that brings water to a boil quickly.

Also got one of these at Target...compact, boils water quickly. Don't use the included cups but my DIY alcohol stove fits inside it.

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Adventure-...oleman+cook+set

My absolute minimalist pot is a sierra cup with folding handle in stainless steel - http://www.rei.com/product/765762/rei-campware-sierra-cup

The same item is available in titanium,, but at less than one oz. weight savings, and at double the price, ss works just fine. Inside the cup I have a stand for esbit tabs, along with the tabs , firestarter, and a mini Bic -just the basics.

Yeah but... the titanium Sierra cup comes with a lid -- Vargo - Ti Sierra 750 Cup
OTOH I've never been fond of the Sierra cup ergonomics, maybe just didn't give it enough time. What is it that makes the Sierra cup so popular?

Whenever the subject of pots comes up, I think that one of the best threads on this forum is of this very subject and provides a lot of great info.

For the past few years, I have been using a Zebra 12cm Billy Can. Great versatility and I like that there is bail handle on it which makes for easy hanging over a fire when needed.

The all stainless can holds 1.5 L and also comes with a SS bowl insert for food cooking and eating.

I think I posted this pic here previously.

That is the oversized Sierra cup on steroids. The classic cup is about half that capacity. I fashioned a lid for my cup - take a piece of aluminum and cut away everything that doesn't look like a lid.

Actually, I wish there were a source for a snap-on lid for the S cup. It would be much more useful that way.

The "pot" in the mini-Trangia cookset is also about 750ml. It is my favorite solo cookset. It can always work as a cup, as well, but I prefer a separate cup, usually.

The sierra cup/bowl is a classic, versatile design which is fairly light weight. It also works as a shovel if you need to dig for water in a desert stream bed. I suppose you could even fry bacon in it....

Some sort of cooking vessel is one of my essentials. Sometimes it is a cup that a Nalgene rests in, or a titanium cup that is a bit larger than 12 ounces.

Sometimes I carry a metal coffee can with a hanger made into a handle.

I generally carry a 1 quart titanium pot when backpacking.

They don't take up much room because you can pack stuff inside them, and they are light. So unless it is a pocket type survival kit that I am limited to, I am carrying some sort of cooking pot.

+1 on the twelve cm ZEBRA Pot.And I agree 100% on having a bail.It can be used on a stove or a fire both.The 12 cm is good for one or two people.More than that get the fourteen or sixteen cm.I got mine from Bensbackwoods.He also carries the lighter weight anodized aluminum "Mors bushpot" in 1.5 and two quart sizes.I also recommend a pot gripper to go with any of them.Makes handling much easier....

BOATMAN
John

Toaks have Ti pots with butterfly handles and bails.

http://toaksoutdoor.com/

Also Self Reliance Outfitters have an SS version of the bushpot

http://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/pathfinder-stainless-steel-bush-pot-cooking-kit/

Though 1.8l

I use a coffee can with a long wire coat hanger bail. Having a long bail is really handy for dipping water out of a creek, the bail on mine is about
10in tall.

Thanks for the reference to the earlier thread, which pretty much seems to be identical and even began in the same manner. Does ETS go to pot periodically? It would seem so....

There is good info on these threads. It should be summarized somewhere.

I really like the British military crusader canteen cup. Slightly larger than the USGI model and very sturdy.

I use the trangia mess tin as emergency cookpot. Big enough to be usefull, has a little lid and acts like a proper container to store things. In my opinion, for emergency only use. A pot as the main contain is beter, then a cup nestle in canteen options. You can shrink the size of a canteen (take a flexible one), but can't really shrink the size of a pot. Ofcorse unless you have a filled water container.

I do have to say that I generally do not carry a from of cooking pot as emergency gear. Too big and I really do not get that far out of civilisation while being in the outdoors in europe.

If I'm carrying a bag in the outdoors, it has some kind of cooking vessel in it, at least a swiss cup but usually something a bit bigger. All my kits bigger than pocket size have something like that in it. Boiling is one of the best methods to disinfect water, especially if you have fire and plenty of fuel for same.

...At a minimum, I have a metal water bottle when hiking...moved away from plastic for this reason

Mine is the Primus LiTech Trek Kettle Pot, in which I put my Bush Buddy stove, alcohol stove, mini-Bic lighter, folding spork, j-cloth and tinder. It is a 1-litre pot and micro fry pan/lid. It is in my BOB / get-out there pack.

My definition of a get-out there pack includes the basics of everything I need if I decide to go camping for a weekend on a moments notice.
I delete unnecessary items at the trail head. I just need to top it off with a food kit which I am currently working on.

Why has it become more difficult to find decent but inexpensive small stainless or aluminum pots with bail handles lately?
They used to be very common, however I don't see many of them anymore, not even in the camping stores.

Chickenlittle,

Since cooking on open fires is seldom done in camping today, the bail handle is of little use. Many newer (since the 70's) campers have never used an open fire for cooking. The stove has outdated the bail handle. Even though I still use wood fires (where legal) I have, thanks to HikinJim, moved to a Caldera Cone TiTri for cooking and don't use the pots with bails often anymore.

Respectfully,

Jerry

For the poster that was asking, here is a good article on the history of the Sierra Cup.

I have had mine since the early 70's.

I've never understood the appeal of the Sierra cup, especially after taking it on a few adventures.
-Blast

Blast i get the impression that the cup was one of the first,if not the first,to have a heavy wire around the rim.the wire dissipated the heat so you could drink hot stuff without burning your lips.i gave up on metal cups and took a heavy coffee cup on camping trips.
nice cup but a old idea.

I agree Blast. It never held enough to be useful except for coffee. I'll stick with my ss USGI cups for drinking coffee, and cooking in.

I've got an assortment, but I always come back to my USGI canteen kit. Inexpensive, durable, the perfect size to boil enough water for coffee and a meal, works on a stove or a campfire, easy to diy a lid and insulation, nests perfectly with the canteen and there's the bonus canteen stove. Love that thing so much that I've got one in all my kits, including my tackle box.

Classic! You gotta love the humble coffee can and wire bail. We've always got one when I camp with the family. Hard to beat!

i have that exact set barbakane, and so far I am loving it. I still keep the cups nested inside for coffee. And coincidentally for those of you who mentioned a lid for the sierra cup, if it is the right size cup, the lid off the stanley cooker fits right on the sierra cup, at least it does on mine anyway. Well, mine is not a genuine sierra cup, it's one of the generic ones from wal-mart. I add the cup to my set as it nests right under the cooker, and i can be eating/drinking from the sierra cup whilst heating up more water for others in the group if needed.

no affiliations other than as a happy user of the product(s)

Same here. The Sierra cup is from a by-gone era. I switched to an insulated plastic mug 25 years ago and haven't looked back. Sure I can't heat anything in it but any liquids, etc. stay warm so much longer. First thing I do when making a meal is boil water and pour into the mug for tea/coffee, then let it steep until the rest of the meal is made.

My 2 cents from the EDC perspective.
For many years I'm EDCing in my business suit jacket's inner pocket a cheap stainless steel flask, nicely cut off wide open at the very top.



It is stuffed with disposable plastic rain poncho wrapped around inexpensive 8 Amp hour LiPO battery USB phone charger with glass solar panel on the side, and a tiny AC/DC USB converter on the bottom of the flask. The flask body protects and organizes the fragile equipment and takes virtually no space by itself at all. In emergency it is easy to almost double its capacity simply prying on the concave sidewall outwards, making it a wide mouth SS cup. That makes a way better boiling vessel than anything you could rig from the classic aluminum foil EDC piece. The only caveat - it is noticeably heavier than a piece of foil

I added a second metal cup to my GHB/ Day hike kit this winter - an over-sized tin mug with foil lid, in addition to the cup in my army surplus canteen kit. We had so much snow last year, that I wanted more capacity to melt and boil it for drinking water. It weighs almost nothing, and I nested my alcohol stove and fuel inside it so that it takes up very little extra space.

Of course, we haven't had much snow this year so it hasn't been an issue, but it's nice to know it's there, and it's got me thinking of new bushcraft meals to fire up the next time I find time to get out there.

And on that topic - I've also added a small tin can to use with that kit for baking.

I'd also like to have a bigger pot handy for boiling water more than a quart at a time.

I'm often car camping with my telescope and have to operate in a total darkness throughout the entire night (I'm also selecting specific locations far from any artificial lights, and days around the New Moon, so it's really dark at night and the flashlight is a big taboo). So, the best pot for me is a cheap 2 quart SS teapot with a whistle accompanied by the Coleman's single burner attachment to a regular gas canister. It's much more convenient, fast, and safe for my typical "dissolve in the boiling water" cooking style compared to any pot. When I'm running it at night I'm wearing sunglasses

+1

Also the Vargo Titanium Bot nests a nalgene perfectly. It has a sealed lid for liquid carry as well. http://www.vargooutdoors.com/titanium-bot-bottle-pot.html#.VPXWR1XF9Ko

A hunderd bucks

Doesn't look like a good pot either. Heat transfer wise, a wide base is generally more efficient...

It is so thoughtful of manufacturers to provide us with a variety of options at widely ranging prices. Just remember that as the size of the item diminishes,the weight savings of titanium vs. stainless steel becomes quite small. It might not be worth the added cost of ti.

My preferred solution is a stainless steel, 16 oz. cup with folding handle (several brands) which will hold either a one liter Nalgene (if I want the capacity) or a one quart recycled sport drink bottle (lighter weight and cost). This has worked fine for solo or emergency use for me.

Success in adding pots to my kits - especially bigger kits. I went mostly with camping cook sets. (And added towels, sports, mugs and matches to them.) Now I can boil water, make soup or oatmeal, etc

and it appears it only took you 8 months!

Well, I have to admit, I didn't get my vast collection overnight either. Timing and happenstance seem to prevail in acquisitions. Most of the time I by something I didn't even know I needed until I see it for the first time. Is that what's called impulse buying?

My favorite pot at the moment. The Evernew ECA318.

http://www.amazon.com/Evernew-Titanium-P...vernew+titanium

I am preparing for about a week of field work for three of us. Our cook kit will consist of a military surplus cook set, vintage 1951 - a two quart aluminum pot with stainless steel frying pan/lid - augmented with a few odds and ends.

It has been my fav on many group backpacking trips for more than fifty years...

Titanium in interesting material,but its cost is often not justified, depending upon the application..

That is one heck of a pot. It better be a "pot of gold" for that cost!

I'm too cheap for that. I'm more of an aluminum (or stainless steel) type of guy.

The Evernew pot works well with a Keith Titanium hanging chain.

http://www.amazon.com/Keith-Titanium-Han...+titanium+chain

I keep the pot stored in its storage bag with the Keith Double Walled Titanium Bowl.

http://www.amazon.com/Keith-550ml-Titani...ZD8TEDFYKY4K1P4

The bowl keeps the Porridge warmer for longer!

I also AGREE with Byrd Hunter +1

I use a titanium pot for my billy. It works OK.
I think the whole "titanium" thing is overdone. A basic billy works fine, and it doesn't have to be exotic. It's definitely an essential item.

I guess we're all Hobo's now !!

Pete

Trying a MSR cookkit; good build, weight and size

Ultralight, cheap, the opposite of snobby, but a little fragile. I replaced the knob with a lower profile one and added a thin copper wire bail. It fits nicely inside my larger 2 quart pot when I go out in winter or other wise need two pots.

The Grease Pot

http://www.walmart.com/ip/25858919?wmlsp...815&veh=sem

So, whatever happened to Sierra cups?

And that makes #4,000 for me

Sierra cups have been overtaken to a large extent by better technology, as well as the declining practice of dipping a cup into "pristine" mountain springs and streams.

I have a setup in which a Sierra cup (with folding handle))contains a small esbit holder, some cubes, matches, and the ever essential tea bags - nice and light and guarantees that nice cup of tea wherever.

The vertical walled units that fit around a Nalgene water container are actually more practical and they make perfectly fine tea as well.

Plenty of S. cups available from REI and other suppliers.

I'm EDCing a tiny "pot" in the front pocket of my jacket/sport coat. It's a cut off at the top 8 oz SS hip flask with holes for a bail. Prying the concave side out I can extend its volume to ~12 oz. It takes virtually no space in the pocket, as it protects my power bank and its integrated solar panel riding inside (as well as the disposable rain poncho, AC/USB adapter, and mini/micro USB cable). It's kinda heavy though, but I'm used to that.

I'm solo camping/backpacking with SnowPeak Trek 700 Ti mug with another smaller steel mug with DIY folding wire handles fitting snugly inside. It's good to have one for a hot tea/cocoa/coffee drink, another for cooking - very compact, fits alcohol stove with the fuel and windscreen inside or the SnowPeak GigaPower burner with the small canister fitting perfectly over the lid, and seems totally adequate for all I need.

If bugging out by the car/bicycles/evac transport, I plan to grab my new All American pressure canner with me. Should be great as a 15 quart family sized cooking pot or skillet, can be used to make a desalinator, medical sterilizer, steam generator, etc. Also, pressure cooking saves fuel, nutrients, and treats food/water properly at high elevation. It may be rigged as a bear proof container hiding the edibles' smell.

I don't like thin aluminum pots, as they are easily getting dented and scratched, and then attracts sooth and other dirt, which is hard to cleanup without shaving off some wall thickness.

They seemed to be standard issue at one time. The handle hooked nicely over a belt, insuring your cup would be both handy and dirty whenever you wanted to drink from it. The sloped sides made stirring anything in a Sierra cup a sloshing, wasteful mess.

I have a couple around, but haven't used them in decades.