Boiling water without a pot.

Is using an 8oz cup to boil water in really going to work???

The GI alum cup is very doable and carryable.

Next time I go for a hike which should be very soon, I am going to look for natural or manmade found objects which could be used to boil water. Be it birch bark, a large stump that could be carved or burn into a pot or a stone or even digging a clay hole in the ground which would hold water.
 
The shine on that cup of yours looks a bit like stainless steel Sketchbag.

Why do we need to boil water anyway? Cooking? - well there are alternatives to boiling and stews etc. Do we need to sterilise the water? - Maybe there are places where this is absolutely necessary....but sometimes perhaps we worry too much about things like this. However, I do not know what the water in your wilderness is like, so you have to make up your own mind.

If it is essential to have sterilised water or boiled food, then I'd say it was fairly important to have a decent metal pot of some sort. And probably a decent storage bottle for water if necessary....no point in lighting up a fire and boiling just enough for a drink every time you need one.

Dang... collectively we've spent thousands of bucks on knives etc, surely we should think about having a simple pot :)

I have a big stainless steel mug which would suffice for the job. Tin cans are good. Cheap stainless steel bowls would be fine too....and some of them are fairly darn light. You might want to make a couple of holes through the side up near the rim to attach a wire hanger.

If the round shape of a mug or a bowl doesn't suit your carrying method, then perhaps you may be able to find some of those old-style rectangular mess-kit 'pots' that we used to see in army surplus stores. But no matter what the shape, the pot doesn't effectively take up much space if you have stuff you can store inside it.

Nevertheless, it is good to know alternative methods for boiling and cooking etc.

I made some crude pottery once which I fired in a small fire in my back yard. The trouble with unglazed pottery like this is that it is porous. I heated water in my pot for ages and I couldn't bring it to the boil. Maybe water was slowly migrating to the outside of the pot and keeping things cool. I believe that if you cook up something mealy or fatty in a new pot like this you may be able to seal it.

If the territory you are in has water of questionable quality, then probably the responsible thing to do is carry a metal container for boiling...unless you are happy to consume a lot of 'purification' chemical.

Of course, even if you do have some sort of a container, you still have to be able to light and maintain a fire.

Here's my stainless mug. At the time I took this pic I was cooking up a rice pudding in it:

AlcoholStove.jpg
 
coote said:
I made some crude pottery once which I fired in a small fire in my back yard. The trouble with unglazed pottery like this is that it is porous. I heated water in my pot for ages and I couldn't bring it to the boil. Maybe water was slowly migrating to the outside of the pot and keeping things cool. I believe that if you cook up something mealy or fatty in a new pot like this you may be able to seal it.


AlcoholStove.jpg
Click to expand...

coote, pourous unglazed clay can be made less pourous by a process called burnishing. When it starts to dry at what is called the leatherhard stage you can take a smooth piece of wood or your fingers and polish the surface. This creates a fine finish which is more water resistant.

The problem is on short hikes I don't carry a pot. Frankly, I don't know of anyone who does. That GI set up is pretty convient. I will probably get one soon.
 
Aye Chrisaloia, I can see that burnishing should help reduce the effect of porosity....but burnishing will add more time to a process which is already long and possibly complicated. Gotta find clay, and maybe some sand or something else for 'temper' if possible...then you have to make the pot, air dry it (maybe a 'forced dry' near a fire), burnish it and fire it. Even then the danged thing might crack :o

Carrying a metal can of some sort would save time.

Remember the Sierra Cups...the little conical things with the wire handles? One of those would be fairly easy to carry, and they'd certainly be better than nothing even if they don't hold much.

Still, I gotta say you are on a worthy quest. I will follow this with interest :thumbup:
 
I carry water in a 32 oz. Nalgene bottle. Along with that goes one of the Olicamp Space Saver stainless steel cups that slips over the bottom. It weighs next to nothing and takes up no additional room.
 
Dave Markoitz, I check that Olicamp cup. It is pretty good and cheap $6.

I am going to get one of those stanless GI cups. It fits over the canteen and goes conviently into the carrying case with a pocket for idodine tabs.

Best deal and I will always have a pot on me for short hikes.
 
Ok, you guys got me thinking about the heavy duty aluminum foil. Two things are wrong with it for a boiling pot. First, folding it repeatedly causes it to weaken and fail. Second, really hot temps can burn right thru it.

But what if you didn't fold it. What if you wrapped it into a cone shape and only folded the tip of the cone to seal it. It could be folded again when that fold got weak. And we know that direct flame isn't needed to boil water. At least not to boil it slowly. So we make a cone of foil and suspend it fron a green forked stick to the side of the fire or the right distance above coals. Then once it has boiled, we have a handle to retrieve it and pour it once cooled.

I looked at Potable Aqua today in a store. Iodine it is, I think. It kills bacteria, but not cryptosporidium or giardia. I read that the other aquacide is chlorine based, and will kill bacteria, most viruses, giardia, but takes four hours on crypto. Boiling kills it all. Thus the need to boil water. Or take your risks and drink untreated water, or use any step inbetween. I personally don't like the idea of using the chemicals on a regular basis, even for a week or two.

Codger
 
Reading all of this is very interesting. I have tried with success a little foil cake tin. They are reinforced at the corners and just collapse flat. Good in a pinch. All metal Sierra cups with those wire handles get incredibly hot. You have to really watch when you grap the handle or try to drink from them. Then just the other day my buddy showed me this:

http://www.jetboil.com/

The thing really, really works. We used it for tea breaks while out working and it would boil enough for 2 mugs in about 1.5 min. The whole thing with mini gas cylinder is about the size of a 1L Nalgene bottle ( a little wider though) and not much heavier. Weightwise I was very surprised how light it was. It all packs into the cup portion. It has an insulated sleeve, soft grip handle and a rubber lid with an integrated spout for pouring. You can use a mug or just drink right out of the pot. I would seriously consider taking this while backpacking or even a day trip for tea breaks. It would work equally well for powdered soup, stews, hot chocolate or rehydrated meals. It was so handy and saves mucking about with fires especially when it's pissing down rain. We actually stood it up on the dash of the truck and had a brew up for lunch (windows open of course). Don't get me wrong, I am all for practicing skills, but when you have been walking in the rain/snow all day, your hands are wet and cold, getting a hot drink into you ASAP goes a long way in restoring morale. My .02
 
Interesting. I've been looking at a few light stoves. This one requires a special cannister that can't be found just anywhere? $71.95 is the best price I see so far. I had problems with low pressure on isobutane stoves in the past in cold weather. Electronic igniter sometimes fails? Dunno about this.

I'll see if I can find one in a brick and mortar store to check out. I need to see what else is out there. My last new stove was an Optimus back in the nineteen hundred seventies. The one in the square kit with a brass white gas fuel tank. It didn't mind low temps and worked like a charm when maintained properly.

Codger
 
Hey Codger. After I posted, I did a bit of checking myself. Availability, price, reviews, that sort of thing. I found out that in general the Jetboil seems to live up to it's claim, but I think that like anything else you have to take it with a grain of salt. In checking I've found that the stove will accept other manufacturers cylinders and that smaller MSR or Colman canisters work well and fit into the cup. In case of igniter failure matches or a lighter can be used. However I did find out that they are not sold in Canada. So in order to obtain one, I'll have to go to the U.S or buy one here in New Zealand where I am right now (mucho $$$) I've also been looking at the Snow Peak Mini-solo cookset but am concerned about the ti. I'm always looking to save weight and increase efficiency. I mentioned the Jetboil because it seemed to be sort of an all-in one solution to the original question. Plus I have had the chance to examine one and see it in action. It really is remarkable how fast it boils and how compact it is. The smaller canisters may be harder to find, but weigh half as much and last twice as long. Thanks for checking it out though. Never hurts to hear other opinions.
Cheers, marv
 
Marv, my opinion of the stove is quite unsettled. I've not used one, or even held it. I just looked at some reviews for them. Backpacker magazine raved over them in 2004.

I do have a coleman stove that screws onto the top of the larger Coleman bottles. It works well enough, except in extreme cold.

In my upcoming canoe trip this winter weight will not be a driving issue, but reliability will. I intend to cook mostly with campfire, as usual, but the stove makes it possible to have hot mid-day drinks when I don't have the time or real need for a fire. And makes it possible to have a hearty meal (Mountain House or Richmoore FD) when socked in by wind, rain, or driven snow.

I'm looking at the Svea and other liquid fuel stoves just now. Haven't a clue what I'll wind up with yet.

Codger
 
For occasional use, a simple alcohol burner seems like a reasonable idea. You can even make your own.

Oh yeah...and what about solid fuel tablets for the odd occasion when you can't light a fire? I have a few of those stashed away, but I've never used them.
 
As I've mentioned before, I always carry trioxane. It is good for quick heat, and you can cook slowly with it, but it does not have the BTU's to rapidly boil water. I don't think the alcohol stoves do either, but I could be wrong. I bought some "fuel sticks" at wally world today to try. They looked interesting and were cheap. Doesn't really say on the pack what they are. A guess is wax soaked wood pulp. Anyone seen and tried these? If you shred them will they catch sparks, or are they only flame ignitable? Maybe if I sprinkled one with mag bar shavings first. Yeah, I picked up an Ozark Trails mag bar with a Coghlan's branded Doans unit in it while I was there. Didn't see the Light My Fire or Swiss ferro rods.

Codger
 
chrisaloia said:
Dave Markoitz, I check that Olicamp cup. It is pretty good and cheap $6.

I am going to get one of those stanless GI cups. It fits over the canteen and goes conviently into the carrying case with a pocket for idodine tabs.

Best deal and I will always have a pot on me for short hikes.
Click to expand...

Those work great, too. I used one when I packed a GI 1 qt. canteen.

One thing I found useful is to carry some AL foil to cover the cup with. Just like when you're boiling water on a stove at home, if it's covered it'll boil faster, using less fuel.
 
I wonder how hard it would be to make a die out of hardwood that would allow you to form a lid for the canteen cup - using sheet aluminum?
 
Thomas Linton said:
I wonder how hard it would be to make a die out of hardwood that would allow you to form a lid for the canteen cup - using sheet aluminum?
Click to expand...


Great idea, Thomas!

Of course, we're all going to want one when you've worked it out! :D

-- FLIX
 
I am ready to make an order for the GI canteen cup.

Is the stove that comes with, worth it. I carry chemical fuel tabs but can it be used over a fire? or could I rig something up better?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top