I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the Sigg aluminium boxes as vessels for boiling water (in an emergency). I ask because they are described as not for cooking, but I don't know if this is because the heat might warp them or damage the outside coating (or some such relatively minor concern) or because some joints will fall apart or something will poison the water.

Any comments welcome...

(An alternative option is to pack my semi-EDC "extension kit" into a 1 litre (32oz) Nalgene bottle, but the mouth isn't quite wide enough to get in the AMK heatsheet without repacking. And clearly, you can't boil water in the Nalgene by conventional methods.)

Thanks,

eeph

Re: eeph

I don’t think you would have much problem boiling water in your Sigg aluminium box in an emergency situation. The reason Sigg doesn't recommend that the aluminium boxes are not used for cooking is because they are not designed for repeated cooking use simply because the walls of the box are very thin. I believe the coating is an anodised coating, which is quite tough but can be affected by deep scratches. The other problem with the Sigg boxes is the handling of the box when full of boiling water. Therefore an MSR pot lifter should be included if you are going to use one of these boxes as a container for your PSK. Therefore to summarise, boiling water in an emergency (would be much better than an aluminium foil tray) shouldn't be a problem but I wouldn't use it for frying or other cooking duties. Continual use may warp the box as well simply because the aluminium walls are so thin.

If a similar box (the smallest one) were to be made from titanium. That would be just perfect for a PSK container.

you might try the EURO 3-Piece Mess Kit from http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/saver.htm
if you can deal with the added space it would save a lot of money.

I've seen people putting pots (all kinds) directly on the coals of a fire. I wouldn't do this with any pot, and esp not with thin-walled aluminum. And you don't need to. Just prop it up on a few rocks above the heat source.

Sue

Thanks, all, for the advice.

I got the larger-sized Sigg box in the plain brushed-silver colour - I don't think it's coated with anything - as my other concerns were weight and usefulness as a container.

eeph

Trangia makes a nice sized retangular mess tin than you can cook with, although it is too big for pocket carry. It would easily fit in a BDU cargo pocket, but you would walk funny.

Why not simply use a cooking pot and tape the lid on? Someone wrote a while back about how we all like to improvise when there is no need to. If all you've got is a Sig box ok, but why chose to use the wrong thing when you can pack a real cookpot? Or slap a kidney shaped mug on the bottom of your water bottle.
I fell into this trap and bought a pair of ponchos with cord and poles to make a tent. A few minutes of trying to put it up reminded me how awful 2 pole tents were to assemble. I could barely manage it in full daylight, with no wind and in good weather. And at the end of it what did I have? A tiny low groundsheetless, draughty, condensation wet, bug ridden tent that I got sprayed with rain in since it was barely longer than me. I went back to a proper tent.

That's why some of us surplus mess tins for our cases. The UK one is superb!

Basically, weight.

This is semi-EDC, and not for when I expect to have to use it. A cooking pot would (I expect) be heavier, and would not be large enough (in its longest dimension) to act as container for the other items, hence the weight of a separate container and a two-piece solution.

It's more a substitute for aluminium foil or a collapsed disposable baking tin than for a cooking pot. A lightweight metal mug would be another option. The steel ones I have are too heavy, and it would still be another item.

I don't carry a conventional water bottle, but there's a ~1 litre platypack in the tin and some roasting bags that can also be used for water storage.

eeph

I have some ex-issue UK mess-tins, somewhere. For this application they're heavier than I'd like and don't really double as a waterproof kit container. And again, too short in the longest dimension.

(But thanks for the suggestion!)

eeph