Mini-skills challenge #3

[kgd]

Well hey, we are getting some success in participation in these mini-skills challenges so I figured lets get yet another one going. This one is another pretty simple one.

The challenge is to boil water using a steel waterbottle over a fire you made. I don't want to see water bottles sitting on a stove, I want to see them on a fire (the fire can be in the wilds, in your BBQ, I don't care). You can have your water bottle rigged with a bail or just use a pair of leather gloves to grab it off the fire when its done (thats what I usually do). You don't need a $30 nalgene water bottle to do this. I have a bunch of cheap $5 knockoffs and more than a few freebees given to me which I boil water in fine.

Last part of the challenge - use that water to make something good, tea, wild tea, cocoa, instant coffee, ramen noodles. Don't waste your efforts!

Motivation for this challenge. Every time I go to a meet up I see these guys carrying around shiny $30 nalgene SS bottles. Yeah, these things are the bees knees of SS waterbottles and they work great for boiling water but I hate seeing them all shiny and new like. Some folks even put stickers on them - like Winnie the Pooh and Eeor and stuff. Look - if you ain't ever going to use your bottle for boiling, then why did you buy the lamborgini of water bottles????? It pains me to see these virgin, shiny pieces of steel, like a safe-queen knife, not being used for what they are designed to do. Plus, you don't even really need a $30 water bottle to cook over. As I said, pretty much any of the knock off ones will work. Next time you show up to a meet, make sure you pull out that charred and soot covered water bottle. It'll make you look more manly than that peach fuzz hanging over your lip!

 

[Shotgun]

People buy them because they don't want plastic, not because they want to boil water in them. It's only the minority that purchases them for boiling. Just sayin.

 

[Widerstand]

People buy them because they don't want plastic, not because they want to boil water in them. It's only the minority that purchases them for boiling. Just sayin.

Agreed having a SS bottle that is BPA free also doesn't impart a taste into the water, also its nice to have the ability to boil in them but I don't think many people do for a few reasons such as if you do you now have a water bottle that is black with soot and gets everything black.

If you are going for a single vessel option they are best but not ideal at all (same can be said for the single knife argument).

why not just pair your nice water bottle with a big mug and or small pot, you can boil in the pot and pour off into the water bottle and you have a pot for cooking, you can't cook real meals in a water bottle.

I don't know if your statement "pretty much any of the knock off ones will work" is all that true, have you done 10, 15, 40+ boils in a cheap metal water bottle with weld seems? I have, over time that cheap thin metal expands and contracts each time its heated and cooled and then those welded seems break and you get a leak in your water bottle.

 

[pokesalad]

I think the spirit of the post was the challenge to boil water. The rest is just incidental. I'll give this challenge a go. It should go well with the other challenge to start a fire using wood shavings. I appreciate the motivation.

 

[Snakedoc]

Made this little backyard treat while testing out my Ikea wood stove. The first test I did I used my SS bottle but really didn't enjoy cleaning it so for the second test I used my canteen cup which was in turn used as my eating dish.

[video=youtube_share;rcEbocU7V-0]http://youtu.be/rcEbocU7V-0[/video]

Once I finished my potatoes and the stove cooled down I took it back to the work shop to add 4 extra holes for the tent stakes. These new holes allowed the tent stakes to insert near the top of the stove which allowed for the use of the canteen cup. Also added wire bailing to the tent stakes.

Found some pics of the first burn.

 

[kgd]

People buy them because they don't want plastic, not because they want to boil water in them. It's only the minority that purchases them for boiling. Just sayin.

Really? They pay $30 for one just to carry cold drinking water? Hmm, seems like a waste of money and weight to me.

To Wilderstand - the point of the challenge is to think about the multi-functionality of your equipment. I agree that having a pot to boil water and a cup to drink and eat from along with a water bottle is a great idea as are carrying water filters. How many people carry a cookset and/or water filter for a day hike? Some might, but I suspect a larger number of people have at the minimum a water bottle. If you have a metal water bottle it can serve the important task of water disinfection if it needs to.

Knockoffs - yes, I'v done 15+ boils in cheap bottles. Maybe not 40. Never had one leak at the seams. However, I do acknowledge that knockoffs have crappy caps and they more often leak water at the caps then the genuine nalgene ones. Don't get me wrong - I like the nalgenes and used to own one. I lost it though and haven't really come around to replacing it given I have all these cheapass ones hanging around. I still think its pretty silly to buy a $30 nalgene SS one just for water storage and nothing else. They even have that really nice lip to attach your bail to. But that is just me, I am a cheapskate.

 

[kgd]

Nice stuff Snakedoc. Is it that you just don't care if soot gets on your canteen cup or do you find the canteen cup easier to clean? I don't clean any of my gear, I usually just wrap them all sooty and such in a bandanna I use for cleaning and stuff and then launder it after I'm done my trip.

I tend to use SS bottle cups often along with my water bottle. I usually use the bottle cup for cooking things - like noodles and stuff, but for what ever reason prefer a bigger pot or the water bottle itself to boil water - that way I can make enough for tea and food instead of making food and then tea in sequence.

Thanks for posting your trials. It totally slipped my mind to use a hobostove - that was a good idea!

 

[Snakedoc]

I don't care if I get soot or fatwood resin on my canteen cup as it goes back into the canteen cover, no biggie. With the bottle though I sometimes throw a loop of paracord around it and carry it over my shoulder so I really don't want the soot rubbing off on my clothes. Not that worried about getting dirty but when I make it back to the truck I don't want to transfer the soot to my seat.

My bottle holder kit contains a Ti cup and lid and also a bail for the SS bottle. If in a situation where that was all I had with me I wouldn't hesitate to use the bottle on the fire and use the cup as my drinking vessel.

I really love the idea of being able to boil water in my SS bottle and that is the main reason I bought it. It would be real handy to boil water for purification purposes.

 

[Shotgun]

Really? They pay $30 for one just to carry cold drinking water? Hmm, seems like a waste of money and weight to me.

Yep. It's kind of a yuppy thing which is why you're seeing a bunch of knock offs for "normal" folk. I still prefer plastic nalgenes.

Back to the challenge...

 

[VTguy17]

I found a whole lot of the Swiss SIGG metal canteens at a yard sale for $2 a peice. Took them all

I'll jump in on this, I do it enough so I might as well take a picture next time!

 

[LMT66]

..............

 

[Shotgun]

I found a whole lot of the Swiss SIGG metal canteens at a yard sale for $2 a peice. Took them all

I'll jump in on this, I do it enough so I might as well take a picture next time!

Are we talking Sigg stainless steel or aluminum. If I'm not mistaken the aluminum ones have a food safe coating on the inside. Not good for using over a heat source.

 

[xbxb]

Well that is pretty nice stuff--- a metal bottle. Nuts I just use an old pork and bean can. Why do folks use a bottle like that when there are cans all around. Help me out a little here.

 

[Snakedoc]

Different strokes I guess. If I was out an needed to boil water and didn't have my kit with me I would be fine using a tin can if I could find one. If I have my kit with me I can be sure I will have my bottle and drinking vessel. If I go without my kit I run a risk of not being able to find a can when I need one.

 

[beanbag]

Are we talking Sigg stainless steel or aluminum. If I'm not mistaken the aluminum ones have a food safe coating on the inside. Not good for using over a heat source.

This is the part I'm not sure about. Are all steel bottles safe to boil in?

 

[mtwarden]

I think there are some double wall ones that I'd avoid boiling, single wall stainless is probably what a guy should be looking for

if you want this

going to need this

 

[LMT66]

You have to look at the bottle tag to see if it's coated inside. There are many metal bottles available but some are coated inside and are not for warm liquids or soaking in coals or over a fire. Many cans are lined also.
18/8 SS, single wall bottles are the way to go. Double wall should be avoided as they can busts over coals or fire.

 

[kgd]

Well that is pretty nice stuff--- a metal bottle. Nuts I just use an old pork and bean can. Why do folks use a bottle like that when there are cans all around. Help me out a little here.

A lot of tins these days have a liner in them as the liner protects the metal from acids in the foods. In some cases, this liner also contains BPA. Coffee cans don't and I've made my share of billy's with them. They don't last all that long though. I've had better luck with my cheap knockoff's lasting. The tins tend to rust after multiple fires. But as long as you are willing to replace them regularly (and please don't leave old tins in the firepit) than that also works.

 

[VTguy17]

Are we talking Sigg stainless steel or aluminum. If I'm not mistaken the aluminum ones have a food safe coating on the inside. Not good for using over a heat source.

These are single walled stainless SIGG bottles no coating on the inside I made sure

 

[Max_Power]

Hopefully this is close enough: It’s kind of tough to see, but I once boiled snow in a Miller Light aluminum bottle and stuck a bratwurst in the bottle to cook it. It was amazing.

We did boil water in the bottle several times and rinsed them out, as we suspected the bottle had some kind of liner even though we couldn’t see it (like Coors Light cans having the blue liner). After the fact, we saw some info that there may be a BPA-free/FDA food grade liner. Hopefully we burned it off before we cooked in them.