Hey guys. Hoping the wealth of knowledge here can help point me in the right direction.

I'm looking for Brass Sierra Cups. Long story short, a good friend and backpacking partner used them on the trail with his grandfather. Cups were earned with trail miles, and engraved with an earned trail name.

Jack passed away in 2000 and in his honor we have been holding a "memorial" 50 miler every summer. It would mean a lot to my friend if we could find some brass cups and continue the name and cup tradition with our group.

But I can't find the Brass cups. Aluminum and Ti is all I can find. I understand why, but the point here is sentiment so I don't want to settle for anything other than Brass if I don't have to.

Anyone know who sells or makes them? Other thoughts?

Thanks a million!!

Two questions. Are you talking about an actual sierra cup (tapered sides, rolled edge, wire handle), or any generic handled metal cup that might be called a sierra cup? And is he sure it was brass, maybe it brass plated or possibly copper?

I was thinking it could be possible that it's an older style of soldiers cup used by one of the military forces or a reproduction of some sort. Similar to one of these.

http://www.fcsutler.com/fctin.asp

http://goosebay-workshops.com/CUPS-CANTEENS

http://www.alberene.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PBN4700

I just did a search for brass soldier's cup, or brass cooking cup. If you're willing to spend the money, you can always have them custom made. If you have a picture of the one you're talking about, I'll try and keep my eye out.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, those muckets look dang useful. I wonder how heavy they are.

-Blast

I have one of these brass sierra cups; it was purchased from the Early Winters catalog in the late 1970's or early 1980's. It has a geometric design and the words "Northern Lights" embossed from the rear into the bottom of the cup. The wire handle appears to be stainless steel. The roll quality is very high. You can tell it is brass all the way through as my copy has a couple of deep scratches in it that continue to show brass, so it was not plated.

Isn't Early Winters in Washington or Oregon?

Good luck; I wish I could tell you more.

Those muckets remind me of an Aussie Billy can of sorts.

Early Winters appears to be an outfitter (tripping) company in Washington state. They don't appear to sell gear on-line.

http://www.earlywintersoutfitting.com/

I found this newsletter printed in 2003 that describes awarding someone an engraved brass sierra cup:

http://www.amc-ny.org/facilities-services/trailswaves/trailswaves200301spring.pdf

Both have telephone numbers associated with them. You might contact them to see if they know anything about brass sierra cups.

Ken K.

Thank you all for your help!

As far as I know, the cup is solid brass. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to meatals though. Here's a pic of the cup in my posession. I've never posted a pic before and the post preview doesn't show it but I'll try anyway.

[img]http://www.corriganfamily.org/gallery/v/Adventure/Misc/Sierra-Cup.jpg.html[/img]


KenK, thanks for the lead. I will probably call them, but the next couple lines of the news letter are a bit discouraging.

"... awarded an engraved, brass Sierra Cup. This wide-mouthed cup with handle, perfect for dipping cool water from a mountain stream, was developed by the AMC. Times change, and the Sierra Cup is no longer available (and drinking directly from that mountain stream is not advisable)."

I think I'm hitting a dead end, but I'll keep fighting the fight. I've posted at an AT Thru-hiker's forum as well and they haven't been able to find anything either. Just a sign of the times I guess. There are much better options these days. If any of you happen to run across one, drop me a line. Again, thanks a ton for the input!!

m

Anyone lend a hand on why my pic link didn't work? I read through the FAQ's and everything looks ok. I gotta be missin' something!

Thanks.

m

You’re linking to an HTML web page, not directly to the image itself. The “URL” tags would’ve been better suited for that.

Aahhh... got it. Silly mistake too. JCWohlschlag, thanks for the help.

Thanks also to jmarkantes for the PM. Maybe if we organize that desert trip, I will introduce you to my favorite tv cop.

So, here's a picture of the cup.



Thank you all for your help!!

m

Hey everyone.

The AT Forum I mentioned in one of my last posts got me information that put the brakes on. One of the regulars is the founder of Brasslite alcohol stoves. His comment to me was,

"...it would have to be tin plated on the inside or you couldn't ever drink from it. Brass is poisionous and should never be used to store food or consumable liquids."

It's probably safe to assume the toxicity is the reason the cups went out of production. Aaron also went on to describe the manufacturing process, explaining Brass must be cold forged while the materials I am finding the cups in are most likely stamped. I fully expected cost to be the reason brass is out of production, but was surprised to find it's no good for you physically. I did a little Google research and found good enough arguments to discontinue my search.

If anyone happens to run across some of these brass cups let me know. I would still buy them for the novelty/sentament.

Thanks again for all your help everyone. This is a pretty awesome community!!

m

I think your friend is misinformed. Don't look now, but there are probably brass fittings in your plumbing.

Brass is mainly composed of copper and zinc. Some brass alloys contain lead, for example, to make them more machinable, but that's not a good material for a cup.

Brass utensils or food containers that are not enamelled or tinned adequately can lead to copper poisoning and conditions like childhood cirrhosis of the liver. It's the acids in foods that reacts with the brass to leach out copper. A different but related problem with some brass utensils is lead because sometimes a mixture of tin + lead is used to "tin" brass utensils, causing lead toxicity, too. Both situations are quite rare in the US these days, but still cause problems in countries like India where untinned or inadequately tinned brass utensils can still be found.