I just read an interesting article on Be Prepared To Survive about using aluminum foil as an improvised water container.

http://www.bepreparedtosurvive.com/Don't%20Trust%20Aluminum%20Foil.htm

They even call out the PSP:



Has anyone experienced/tried this?

I have tried several versions of aluminum foil including the heavy and industrial versions and they all leaked, so I ousted them from the kit. I just use my Guyot Designs Stainless Steel Bottle and it works great. The aluminum foil when folded has small pin holes and micro cracks to where it leaks all the time. Good for a pan for cooking on but not for water.

Flat aluminium foil is pretty useless for constructing a cup for boiling water but can be done if the aluminium foil is formed into a cone shape wrapped a few times and the last edge sealed with some duct tape. The tip of the cone needs to be folded over as well and secured with duct tape. You then have to arrange the heat source is applied to the opposite side of the aluminium cone so that it doesn't burn the duct tape. Overall the size of the formed cup ends up being really small, it is difficult to fabricate even in good conditions and always has the chance of everything going horribly wrong. Not really recommended.

Even folded up premade Aluminium pie and pudding dish are tricky to use but are certainly a major improvment over flat alumiumium foil improvised folded cup.

http://www.buyrite.co.uk/AluminiumFoilContainers_001.htm

I haven't used the PSK foil, but I've tried foil right out of the box. Both regular and heavy duty Reynolds. The regular did start leaking faster than the heavy-duty, but in the end, they both didn't get to boiling.

In all fairness though, it may have been cuz I was setting them on the gas range, like any other pot. I haven't tried a campfire with the cup sitting on a rock or something that would better distribute the weight.

I was curious so I tried.
I took some heavy duty foil (Alcan brand) and smoothed it into shape over the bottom of a pot.
Then I filled it with water.
Then I waited.

No leaks.

So Then I put it on a hot stove element (electric)and the water boiled in about 2 minutes.

No leaks.

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What I don't like is how flimsy it is because now I have to move a piece of tinfoil with boiling hot water in it or leave it sitting on the stove till I come back.

So yeah, it worked but it would be a desperation maneuver in the wild just because the foil might not be strong enough to hold the pot shape when full of water.
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An hour after boiling, still no leaks.

Emptied it out, filled it and boiled it again.

Still no leaks.

Maybe your aluminum is bad.

If you had a pot to shape it over, why use the foil?

I think the problem comes in with the folding. I tested this by folding a piece of heavy-duty foil, 18 in square, the same as I would in my PSK, then unfolding it and shaping it into a water container. I had a leak. Presumably this was caused by the folds.

But I still keep foil in my PSK because you can use it for cooking or as a reflector for your fire, and you can patch it with duct tape where it leaks and use it to hold water. And if you heat the water by dropping hot rocks in the container, I bet you could boil water with the duct tape patches in place.

I've not tried, but I'd like to try some adaptation of scafool's method. If I had the pot like he had, then I think I'd use it to boil water, but his experiment was a great idea.

If you had anything like a terra cotta pot, a ceramic flower pot, a few coat hangers for a frame (maybe with some wire) or whatever that would not hold water, it still might provide enough support for the foil to make it so the two together could have enough support and hold water so that it would boil.

No way I am going to try this over the next few weeks, because we are finishing the house and moving.

Didn't the Mounty's get issued a paper bag to boil water in?

I thought that was what the hat was for

Once you form you aluminum foil cup, you are supposed to place it NEAR the fire, not in direct contact. It is not the best method of boiling water, but if you can get a pot into the PSP container, or your altoids tin, knock your self out.