How come no one seems to like aluminum?

storl said:
Holy crap, I hope the rest of your stuff is on the lighter end of the spectrum.

Regarding aluminum, if you want to use it for cookware, then get stuff that is hard anodized. It is more expensive, but it has much better antistick properties and also holds up well against scratching. For bottles, the whole reason that everyone freaked out about plastic was BPA. Some aluminum bottle companies like Sigg were using a BPA liner in the bottles, so that did not help them out, even though it was proven not to leech.
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It was a joke. ;)
 
An old friend of mine used to backpack a cast iron frypan on wilderness fishing trips because he believed that and butter were the only proper way to cook wild trout. When people gave him a hard time he would respond "my total pack weighs 18 pounds so shut up about the cast iron pan". It was a hard point to argue when your pack went 30 pounds.....

DancesWithKnives
 
I like aluminium because I like simple and lightweight stuff when it isn't essential that it is anything else.

I've not bought into the stainless steel bottles thing for a couple of reasons. 1] They strike me as being pitched at the picnic or day hiker that wants to boil water in a their bottle. If I want a single bottle of hot water for a day I'll save myself some hassle and take a vacuum flask. No extra paraphernalia required. True, in the event of something adverse I could reuse a stainless bottle to harvest water and boil in it in a way I couldn't with a vacuum flask, but realistically I think I stand more chance of being drowned by squid than needing to do that. I'm extremely unlikely to get lost on a trail walk or picnic. 2] They strike me as terribly impractical for anything more than the most casual of events. The weight would start to rack up real quick using multiple stainless bottles. A more sensible solution for me is to carry water in the kind of bottles water comes in or kiddies fizzy cola plastic pop bottles. Those used in conjunction with a dedicated kettle allow me all the flexibility I need and provide a very light solution. Water is heavy enough as it is so I don't want to be hauling excess packaging for it. True, one may break, but one never has yet and I do this a lot and have been for quite a while. I have more confidence in the integrity of them than I do water bladders and many people seem not to give a second though to how robust they are. Plus, recall this is a multiple bottle solution, so in the unlikely event that one does ever break so what. The only case that I'll entertain against them is they lack kudos. They look cheap and they are cheap. I can get my head round that if it shaves off pointless weight. I can then indulge myself with my dedicated aluminium water kettle, and I like that. I prefer to take my water from something that isn't tantamount to drinking from a saucepan for a few reasons.

I also enjoy aluminium Trangia pans. They're light and non-stick. True enough the non-stick doesn't last forever but why would I care about that. It lasts long enough if you're sensible with them. I use Lexan spoons so that helps a lot. I guess those of you into carving wooden spoons could get similar longevity from them.

Even uncoated aluminium pans work just fine. Below is a pic of some plain aluminium pans I used for nearly a week a little while ago. I brought the stove and the fuel and mah women brought her basic aluminium pan set. No problems. I figure you're not much in the way of a cook if you can't make those work. For an Englishman it would be like calling yourself a driver when you could only make left turns. A cook can cook with all sorts of non-optimal kit. Simple as that. Swapping out for Titanium would make little if any improvement. I enjoy the light weight.

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The toxicity of aluminium doesn't concern me at all. I don't use aluminium at all domestically, and even though I get out a lot I think my exposure to anything harmful is well below anything I'd consider a threat. I've got it pegged right along side the BPA boswellox. Besides I've got bigger fish to fry. I am what the filth calls “a sophisticated drug user” – I get through a bunch but I am no threat to myself or anyone else in the process. That said, I do wilfully consume substances that science fact demonstrates meddles with the dopamine pathways. At one end abuse could lead to Schizophrenic symptoms and at the other end symptoms of Parkinsonism. I believe at my current consumption rate I'd have to live many lifetimes for it to cause me a problem. Still, I am aware the risk is not zero and I persist. To behave in such a way yet swerve aluminium because my water kettle might be poising me would be a reasoning I would find abhorrent. I'm not getting into that aspect any further, but that is my candid response, full and frank.

Last, an account of how I've done a sort of circle: Moons ago I had a mate from a bike club that wanted to get into outdoor stuff and was constantly after advise on bits of kit. Despite what I was telling him he had a penchant for army surplus, specifically East German stuff. He had that Raindrop pattern everything; clothing, nasty old pack, you name it. Utter shite. I watched with some hilarity as he added powder, then more powder, then even more powder to water in a flimsy looking East German mess tin in an attempt to make scrabbled egg with powdered egg. He got a watery yellow soup to drink. It all seemed to hang together nicely. His clothes were rubbish, his kit was rubbish, and his food was rubbish. At some point he stood on his mess tin and it just buckled. Again, I dismissed that as hanging together great with the rest of his rubbish. He even announced his own disappointment with his mess kit calling it “like compressed aluminium foil” and vowing to get a heavy duty tough set. That always makes me smile because years later I find myself often using those heavy duty aluminium disposable roasting trays as uber-lightweight pans when I don't want to carry multiple proper pans. They work great and they are even more flimsy than his old East German surplus kit. I think I made a mistake. I think I tarred his flimsy aluminium pans with the same brush as I did the rest of his kit unfairly. The problem wasn't the pans at all, the problem was he was a clod.
 
cramsey3006 said:
And bottled spring water causes cancer in California.....:eek::rolleyes:
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...and I drink Ozark springwater...from springs in Texas... and live in Tennessee. Hopefully all of this geographic dislocation confuses the carcinogens so they don't realize I was born in the middle of the last century... in California! :eek:
 
Baldtaco you are Da Man. Its all about cooking and knowing how to cook loving good food. I use an old aluminum pot that a friend of my gave me. He used it in the 70s while traveliing in Africa. It beat up dented but the food come up sooo good on a backpacking trip. Now if i would find a good price on Ti pot i would go for it..
 
I don't mind aluminum.

I think Codger said it best.

I have some titanium and stainless stuff but mostly I just cook when I'm backpacking out of a single pot, and that pot is aluminum. It cost $13 bucks, it has a bail AND a back handle to pour when cooking over a fire. It holds nearly 2 quarts. I never notice any taste in the cooking.

I also like to take along aluminum foil for cooking mushrooms or pepperoni rolls.

Car camping I go for cast iron and steel usually but for backpacking you really can't beat aluminum. Light, heats up quick so you dont have to cut as much wood and cheap.
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What you take may depend on whether you enjoy a lot of
experimental cooking etc. For just basics, very little is needed.

Some Aluminum is very flimsy, I would not trust it.
Food can stick to aluminum and to lesser extent any iron/steel.

A strong small Aluminum pot with teflon coating can be bought at
many stores. The plastic handle can be removed or refitted as needs
require.
It is so light and so easy to clean that:
I can cook everything: meal, tea, coffee etc. in the small pot.
I eat out of it. Only other implements: small (2.5 inch) oval plastic scraper,
Spoon, small plastic cup. 2-liter coke bottles carry my water. Al pot-holder.

In dry weather, I do not use soap at all. Meal followed by hot water for tea
and your pot is clean. BTW, you can sterilize a reasonably clean pot by
just heating it for a moment.

I bought a Ti pot and put it in a survival kit and I have neglected to use it.
I must at least try it out.:rolleyes:
 
Can't tell you how much food I've eaten out of a GI canteen cup, heated over fuel tabs when I was growing up. GI surplus gear was the "in" thing among my Scout Troop. Most of it was okay, including the MRE's. Worst thing we ate was deer steaks cooked with a propane torch by our Scout Master. I'm not sure if he didn't know any better or if he was just messing with us. Black on the outside, bloody on the inside and tasted like propane. No one ate much, but almost everyone tried it:D

GregB
 
When I was a young man I'd lug a CIDO and cache it. Whatever got cooked it was carried til gone(which was not too long.) Haha okay I only did that a couple times.
I have some SS junk but never became a fan. It sits in a closet as I became an indoorsman. (I am a new guy not one -a loves to share woodsmeister :)gimme slack ?)
I have considered using "foil" dishes but I like to use items that are made for- ever use. Is that wrong?;; even if entirely recreational? I dont have much of a mission or goal when in wilderness except to be there; and like it. If I had a race or peak to conquer or lost my shituff and found a bake tin I'd use that:D. (Or later become so wise as to follow suit)

So far I have resisted the Ti. I am attracted to the idea of it/ I have a Ti alcohol flask-splurgy indeed. My Nalgene one holds more. I read iirc someone saying Ti was a good conductor. The first I heard that, I heard it burns and sticks food to the pattern of your flame.

I am a bit annoyed by the odd etched color of insides my trangia kettle.(my favorite best designed piece of kit IME) I also regret splurging on an AL sigg "waterproof box" I will need to fire it; just to feel better, if only boiling some water. I use it to store all the survival stuff I buy but later find- do not really need -since it holds A1 Do Not Need rating as of now.

What I did: finally earn enough disposable income to acquire, was an 8 inchBakepacker It is a small handleless skillet/shallow dutch oven. I have not excursioned with it. Just using it on my grill and stove to see what it'll do.... I have to like it. It seems a smart tool. So far"I like it"

To go with it; I have been considering a Ti sierra cup large750ml size. But optimus ( I think) makes an anodized Al trangia kettle. I know I like the kettle 750ml size. and with this anodized bakepacker I do believe I like hard ano Al.

Only from the experience of enjoying eating when needed. It appears the major cause of burned food, and, or sticking, is simply too much heat for the implement, and or substance cooked. So In removing it off the heat do you use a dedicated pot lifter or a more useable tool? I have some mini channel locks and heat treated fingers...
 
Again, use what you like. This past weekend I went on an overnight hike to a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River. My cook kit was my stainless Aussie billy tin with a lid, my one-egg-wonder teflon/aluminum skillet, and my Coleman Max stove. Supper was beef strogonoff made with boiling water poured into the pouch, eaten with a GCI plastic spoon. Breakfast was coffee made in the billy (no grounds were swallowed, no filter) and drunk from a GCI plastic cup, and a three-egg omelet with diced bacon, bell pepper and onion on rye. Cleanup was a wipedown with the paper towels that held my sandwich.
 
Hi codger. I came here to know what Ilike without the acquiring of too much of what I do not. Please excuse any interpreted advising as it all remains a question for me. i know I like tenn. being not far removed from my KY home
 
Briarbrow, understood. But in the end, there is no way around buying and trying gear to find out what you personally like. I like gear (cooking gear in this case) which is not overly expensive, is reasonably durable, is relatively lightweight and easy to keep clean. For me that is a mix of materials and styles. I have a small trunk of old camp pots and pans that I have accumulated over the past 40+ years outdoors. I have my favorites, but even that is subject to change.

For the least money and the least experimenting, go to a major outdoor supplier like REI or Campmor (two examples among hundreds) and buy a name-brand set of new stainless or annodized aluminum cookware. To my way of thinking, that is the best way to go from zero to equipped without a lot of experimenting and expense. You can catch it on sale and find online discount coupons. You can pick pieces from the set which best suit your style and needs when it comes time to pack for a trip.

If cost is the most important factor, used from flea markets, yard sales, goodwill or mil-surp might be just the ticket for you. Or even aluminum foil baking pans from the grocery store.

If you are a gearhead or minimalist, titanium is the ticket. Expensive, yes. And it has it's own drawbacks like every material. It gets hot spots, but so does (thin) aluminum. You can overcome this to an extent if you cook over a gas stove that allows good heat control (some adjust, some don't).

You can also overcome a lot of negatives if you cook you food in the pouch, dehydrated meals. Cooking fresh, whole foods takes more various cookware and utensils than does simply boiling water, and there is nothing to clean afterwards but your spoon/spork/fork.
 
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Codger_64 said:
You can also overcome a lot of negatives if you cook you food in the pouch, dehydrated meals. Cooking fresh, whole foods takes more various cookware and utensils than does simply boiling water, and there is nothing to clean afterwards but your spoon/spork/fork.
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Man of my own thoughts. :D

When camping close to the car I have plenty of stuff and actually cook. When I'm living out of a bag I carry with me, a jetboil and dried food in a pouch is just the ticket for me too.
 
Fiddleback said:
I prefer aluminum for certain things.
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Same here. Tent pegs, for example.
I cook in aluminium because my large billy is significantly lighter than steel and significantly cheaper than titanium.

B
 
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Aluminum pans have their uses. I like medium thickness aluminum pans for frying and baking on camping trips. My paper thin titanium pans aren't very suitable for baking. Medium thickness uncoated aluminum pans withstand the elevated temps associated with baking and frying just fine.

Also, my paper thin EverNew titanium frying pan doesn't distribute heat worth a flip. Aluminum ( maybe 1/16" thick) is WAY better. And cheaper.

I don't buy the link between aluminum/alzheimers.


I just got back yesterday from doing the John Muir Trail, and was more than happy to have cooked everything in a Snow Peak Trek 700 titanium cup, coupled with a surplus aluminum British mess tin, fired by a butane Snow Peak Gigapower stove.

CHEERS
 
I'm still using my aluminum cookware and they work just great for me.
My fuel bottle is also aluminum.
All of my carabiners are made of aluminum.
My only Ti product is racing bike's rear gear stack (larger three gears).

But my favorite metal is iron based alloys, especially those containing adequate carbon and can be heat-treated.
 
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