I have the Sierra cup, it has served me well as a camping utensil, but at 6oz in weight, it's a little more than I want to carry as survival gear. It holds just the right amount of water for one of the "Mountian House" freeze dried meals, so that's a big plus not having to do a lot of measuring. I can boil water in it with my MSR Pocket Rocket in a couple of Minuets tops.

If I know I am going to be out overnight or for a few days, the Sierra cup is definetely with me. But for an afternoon hunt type thing, I'd rather loose some of the the bulk.

Mess kits aren't clanky if packed right. Ranger bands outside and cotten wool or a bandana inside (if needed) to keep everything snug, slip it into a gallon ziplock to keep everyhing dry, then dump it into a spare watch cap pad it.

Put it in your pouch, and knock your pouch off the table. I bet the mess tin won't clank. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Has anyone considered packing their survival kit IN a 1 qt/ 1 liter pot? I'd hate to have to boil water (for drinking) in my 16 oz mug. Over and over and...

What does an aluminum pot weigh?

tro

The walmart grease pot weighs a little over 3 oz after removing the strainer. A better version of that pot is at Kmart or www.antigravitygear.com

Some of the Pepsi can alcohol stove crowd use stainless steel canisters to cook in. You can find them in WalMart, Target, etc. made for storing things from toothbrushes to kitchen spatulas. Just about any stainless steel container would work well for cooking. A lot better than uncoated aluminum like the Walmart grease pot. Don't use a double-walled or insulated container. Drill two holes and you can make a decent handle from a coat hanger or other wire.

I found the perfect solution for my problem! Thanks to Raspy who hit the nail on the head. I went with the below pictured 5.75" x 3.25" Hefty Ez foil, loaf pan. Wich weighs in at 1/2 oz a peice, I carry two. And at less than 2 bucks for a pack of 5, they are disposable.

I put a few power bars inside them to help them keep their shape, and it protects the power bars <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> .

Boiling container???
Besides hiking on the AT monthly I also get in an overnight paddle trip every 3 to 4 weeks, on my PFD is an attached pack and in it I've got a PSK, a small stainless steel bowl to boil water in, and a candle lantern that when placed under a cagoule can heat you up quickly if you are cold/wet.
I did have a thought though on a vessel to boil water-why not the ground? Dig a hole and place a liner in it-think plastic bag like a large zip lock,,,,put something on the bottom that can hold a very very very hot rock, it may take more than one application of hot rock to boil the water-crazy?
I've seen the really big pieces of bamboo (the ones that are 3-4 inches round) used to make cups for boiling, but in my neck of the woods nothing like that grows.

When boiling water with hot rocks, if you're using a plastic bag set into a hole in the ground, both the ground on the outside of and the water inside of the plastic bag tend to become insulators against the heat of the rocks. So generally, you won't have to worry about burning through the plastic unless you've got too little water inside the bag, the hole is too shallow outside, or the bag is making direct contact with the hot rocks with no insulation between them.

Still, I've seen people line the bottoms of bags with a few cold stones, bark, and even a few sticks when using this method to boil water, so I could have been misled regarding the insulation.

Has anyone else heard this?

Perhaps I've just been lucky! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

You can also hold the hot rocks in the water using sticks as "tongs".

while boiling in the ground does sound neet (and I may even try it just for fun), I think it would defeat the purpose a little bit on the side of weight savings. I don't carry a shovel in my bag when I am hunting, so I may just as well carry my 6oz Serria bowl that I am tyring to cut out of my back pack. I havn't seen any shovels that are under 6oz latley. Well maybe one of those plastic sanitary shovels <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

I tried boiling water on the stove the other night with the Hefty EZ foil loaf pan. It worked great, and didn't seem to break down the foil much. This was on a gas burner, on high, though. I need to do it over a real camp fire with rocks and such. I picked it up hot with just a shirt over my hands so that works.

OK, it's not quite a mess kit, but my solution is.... the CLIFFstove (copyright CLIFF 2006, or patent pending, or some such thing). I took a US one quart canteed cup, turned it upside down, cut the bottom out and cut it into a windscreen / stand, placed a Natick stove/stand on that (making the whole contraption look hour-glass shaped, to focus the heat up the side of your cooking vessel), and put a small Trangia stove under it all. Then you put your cooking vessel (A US Army canteen cup) on top of the windscreen / stand, light off the Trangia, and in about five minutes you have 500ml of water at a rolling boil. Take the Natick stove off, and you can use the windscreen / stand alone with a mess kit, pot, or frying pan. And it all breaks doan and packs up in a MOLLE canteen / utility pouch, with a 1-quart canteen!

If anyone can host the images, I will be happy to post them.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)