Hello, All --<br>I believe I've read most of the threads on this forum, and thank everyone for sharing their ideas and techniques.<br><br>The great water balloon/condom/roaster bag thread was a terrific one for PSK purposes.<br><br>HOWEVER -- for general outdoor use, when you KNOW you're gonna be out in the woods for a day, a week, whatever -- you'd take a canteen along, and something to boil water in, or cook simple meals.<br><br>Has anyone found anything better than the standard US Military/NATO canteen that nests with cup and stove all in a convenient fleece package?<br><br>All the cool daypacks and fanny packs these days have a single or double pocket for water bottles; but I don't know anyone who makes a (preferably) stainless nesting cooking pot with collapsible handles to fit standard water bottles of any size.<br><br>Ron Hood's (excellent) site at survival.com uses a 1# coffee can with a lexan bottle inside, but you'd have to carry a pack, and couldn't attach it to a fanny pack or belt.<br><br>It'd be nice to be able to use the commercial fanny/day packs for minimalist camping or day-hike survival use if you had a convenient nesting cook pot that fit the canteen. <br><br> The alternative is to base your carry on a GI web belt to carry your ALICE- clipped canteen, clipped on pouches, etc. But then you still need some kind of daypack or alternate gear carrier for other essentials that won't fit on the web belt.<br><br>I'm looking for an equally elegant space saving canteen/pot solution that works for water bottle-type packs and fanny packs.<br><br> Anybody got any suggestions?<br><br> Thanks -- Karl

With a little sewing you could create a tunnel strap on the nice fleece cover of the milspec canteen assembly and slide it onto the strap of your fanny pack. Alternatively there is a decent titanium tumbler with folding handles that fits nicely around the bottom of a sports drink bottle. weighs almost nothing - costs decidedly something. I believe I got it from EMS retail - mfg'd by MSR in the titan line. Holds ~20oz fluid.<br><br>one online source found through google - there were a bunch so this is just the first so that you can see it.<br><br><br>MSR Titan Cup

This is not totaly an answer to your question but...<br><br>I have a fanny pack with two water bottle holsterson each side. It also has two straps underneath where you could secure an extra water bottle nestled in a cup/pot.<br><br>I'm planning on doing that with a small cook kit. I didn't want to spend big bucks on a titanium set, but I did find a reasonably prices aluminum set at Snow Peak for $13 +S&H (approx. $18 total) It weighs in at 18.5 oz., which is not too bad for a casual hiker such as myself.<br><br>I'm going to nestle my new pop can alchohol stove I made this winter (thanks to folks on this forum for that link!) and a fuel bottle. [url}http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html[/url]<br><br>Aside from the two straps, I'm going to tie it off somehow so it doesn't slip out the side and fall to the wayside on the trail. I haven't figured out how yet asI actually won't get the cook set until Valentines day from my sweetie!

KB,<br><br>Check out<br> http://www.wyomingoutdoor.com/commerce/product.asp?dept%5Fid=340&pf%5Fid=13%2DJ519<br><br>Sorry, I haven't figured out how to add a link, and my 11 year old son is at a friends house.....<br><br>It's a steel water bottle cup. It nests outside the bottle, it has folding wire handles. Hope thats what you're looking for.<br><br>Andy<br><br>P.S. If anyone would like give me the short explanation for how to post a link, I'd be grateful.

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>P.S. If anyone would like give me the short explanation for how to post a link, I'd be grateful. <p><hr></blockquote><p><br>When you compose or reply to a message, click on the link "markup in your posts" and all will be revealed to you... two variations; very simple and easy to remember once you try it.

Stainless steel cups with folding wire handles, sized to fit on the outside of standard 32oz Nalgene bottles (HDPE or Lexan), are very common these days. I have purchased them off-the-shelf locally and mail ordered them. They very much are the "water bottle equivalent" of a current issue US military canteen cup and canteen in terms of function. I'n not going to post any links because they REALLY are commonly available from many sources - note that this is fairly recently (say, the last two years) that they became widely available. I have found that they are not all of equal quality and none of them are as robust as a military canteen cup (go figure). But they work just fine. Capacity is a little less than a canteen cup (too lazy to go check, but I will hazard that they hold about 12 fluid ounces (US), which is probably about 2/3 of the capacity of a canteen cup).<br><br>I find that unlike canteen cup/canteen combos, they all rattle annoyingly. However, one can reduce or eliminate the rattle with a scrap of cotton cloth sleeved around the bottle butt (between the bottle and the cup). The cloth is my "cup cleaning" rag and "crud screen" for filling the water bottle from surface water sources... and I usually carry one in a canteen/canteen cup combo, too - the diff is I must use a very thin one (issue hanky works well) for the military gear combo and something thicker like a shop rag works better for the water bottle - cup combo.<br><br>I do NOT like these cups as well as the canteen cups. But they are very useful and do the job without robbing any space. They also cost less than canteen cups... no matter if you are buying a couple, but if you have lots of kids...<br><br>One thing I like about standard water bottles: Wide mouth - easier to fill, not as hard to thaw by pouring hot water in and cold slush out, very slightly slower to freeze up, etc..<br><br>IMHO wide mouth water bottles suck for use as a canteen - wrong shape and not as easy to sip from. YMMV... and there are probably hosts of reasons why 32 oz military canteens from around the world continue to have essentially the same form factor for the last 60+ years...<br><br>If you don't mind it flailing around a little bit, it is trivial to sew a strap onto a standard water bottle bag in order to sling the combo bandoleer fashion - like the old timer 2 quart "cowboy" canteens could be carried. I usually have one slung under my parka that way in the winter time much as Mac (I think) was describing in an earlier post.<br><br>Life was simpler when I wore web gear <grin>... I don't feel that either combo is perfect for all situations (no pack, day pack, big pack, etc.). I use them interchangably, as the mood strikes me. If I'm going on what I consider a "serious" trip, I always pick the military combo - no explanation; maybe just personal comfort level.<br><br>The cups are common; not so common on the market is a ready-made cover/carrier. Hope that helps.<br><br>Regards,<br>Scouter Tom

I very rarley go so minimal, but if I were to go that way I would carry a 32oz nalgene wide mouth bottle with the top held on by a strap that comes with the bottle, and a stainless steel cup that hold something like 16oz. The cup fits the bottle pretty tight as is. It for sure can't rattle. This would limit your cooking to the cup though. I think these 2 items would need something for the cup to stay in place...a string/thong from water bottle strap to cup handles which fold.<br><br>I like these bottles because i can use the top and strap as a handle to get water and stay dry. I don't know the best way to attach this to a belt, or webbing. I can think of several ways, but not knowing you useage I can't say what would be the best for you.<br><br>I use a few different packs and like things inside of them with as little as possible hanging on the outside. However one of my smaller framlesss packs has webbing, and I tend to place the water bottle on a benner over my right shoulder.<br><br>I don't care for the hydropacks, as I can't see carring a pack for just water holders with a straw gizzmo. But hey those things are well accepted!<br><br>When I go out in 1758 gear I don't carry water, but find water, and use a "Corn Boiler" made of copper. It holds about 24 oz. I use it for drinking and cooking. If I know water will be hard to get I bring a wooden keg that holds about 2 1/2 gallons, but then I travel by canoe and never take the keg far from the canoe..... Also places I go tend to have pretty good water, and I boil it...

Your not alone. I have no idea how to post a working link. You can copy and past one though. And I wish to know how to post a photo here as well..... help us!!!! Mac

Check the FAQ

You have to post the pics SOMEPLACE on the web. Then put the url to it in your post like this: "[i m a g e]url[/ i m a g e] = Puts the given url in an img src tag." Not as handy as some software that lets you put the image in-line, but it works great.<br><br>Similarly, the tags for a hyperlink are: "[u r l ] link [/ u r l ] = Makes the given url into a link" OR<br><br>"[u r l = link] title [/ u r l] = Makes the given title into a hyperlink pointing to link"<br><br>Of course, I had to pad the examples above with spaces between the letters - when you use it, don't space it out like I did (type "url", not "u r l")<br><br>These are just tags, syntaxed like regular HTML tags (if you've handcoded any HTML - hope that makes sense)<br><br>All this info and more is at your fingertips when posting or replying - look up at the top of the screen - the menu line - click on FAQ.... OR, for a separate pop-up window (more useful IMO), go to the line that reads "Fill out the form below... ... so you may use markup in your posts." - click on the link [color:green]markup in your posts</font color=green> and a window pops up with the info you seek...<br><br>I stumbled around with it a little till I figured out that it's just exactly the way it shows in the examples - hope that helps.<br><br>Tom