Nalgene Backpacker and Rust

B

Burncycle

Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
248
Posted this on another forum but thought I'd mention here

I have a 32oz Nalgene Backpacker (stainless steel), I figured it was a flexible setup since I could boil with it and it's the right size for purification tablets.

I've heard someone mention the problem before, so I decided to give it a try and actually test it out with some of the purification tablets. I use Chlorine Dioxide tablets (like Micropur MP-1 or Potable Aqua) since they work against a wider range of threats than iodine. The byproducts of the reaction are oxidizing agents. This will cause rust around the seam inside the bottle near the top, not visible unless you have a dental mirror or something similar. If only a small amount of rust occurs each time it will be difficult to notice so I used the same water and did three separate treatments over the span of a couple of days. Unfortunately it definitely rusted, the water turned an orange-ish hue and rust streaks could be seen along the sides and ultimately deposited themselves on the bottom of the bottle.

For those who carry around purification tablets for emergencies and don't routinely use them, it's good info to have. You can still boil water with the stainless steel ones but it's not as flexible as I had hoped

Just passing the word!
 
I am not sure how Iron gets into CP (Chemically Pure) Titanium. I wouldn't want to treat my drinking water with Chlorine gas. The Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) used in low concentrations to disinfect water shouldn't bother Titanium. Titanium has excellent resistance to Sodium Hypochlorite solutions at a 20% concentration, much higher than drinking water.
 
Chlorine, in any form, does give off some chlorine gas. Even in lower concentrations. I have no idea how this effects titanium, but stainless steel is still steel, just with added ingredients such as chromium which make it "stain-less", not stain proof. I suspect that items of deep drawn stainless and maybe titanium also, which are produced in many off-shore factories have somewhat questionable metal purity. That said, I have a stainless billy can produced in Taiwan or perhaps China (via Australia) which has not shown any sign of corrosion in several years of use.
 
Most, if not all, my Titanium bottles are made in Japan. At the prices charged, I wouldn't call them Saturday night specials. The low levels of Chlorine compounds present in swimming pools and drinking water would not pose a threat to Titanium. On the chemical resistance charts, Titanium out performs most stainless steels.
 
tiguy7 said:
Most, if not all, my Titanium bottles are made in Japan. At the prices charged, I wouldn't call them Saturday night specials. The low levels of Chlorine compounds present in swimming pools and drinking water would not pose a threat to Titanium. On the chemical resistance charts, Titanium out performs most stainless steels.
Click to expand...

Interestingly Titanium in it's natural state is found in three basic ores and always in the form of titaniumdioxide. Oxidized titanium. And the majority of that ore comes from Russia, Africa and Australia with some deposits in the U.S. and China. Often it is found in ores that also contain iron. So I suppose the purity of the titanium ore used in Japan will depend on the exact source and degree of refinement.
 
The carbo-chlorination process, by which most Titanium is refined for pigments and metal, yields 99.9% pure TiCl4. When the TiCl4 is reduced, a 99.5+% purity Titanium is produced. This is also known as CP (chemically pure) Titanium. The highest grade, CP-1 grade 4, has a maximum allowable limit of 0.20% Iron.
Japan does refine Titanium ore.
 
Does .2% iron preclude any rusting/discoloration? I know that my titanium sheet metal Emberlit stove has never rusted at all (discolored from high heat, but no noticeable oxidation).
 
tiguy7 said:
The carbo-chlorination process, by which most Titanium is refined for pigments and metal, yields 99.9% pure TiCl4. When the TiCl4 is reduced, a 99.5+% purity Titanium is produced. This is also known as CP (chemically pure) Titanium. The highest grade, CP-1 grade 4, has a maximum allowable limit of 0.20% Iron.
Japan does refine Titanium ore.
Click to expand...

I believe "CP" when referring to titanium means "commercially pure"
 
Codger_64 said:
Does .2% iron preclude any rusting/discoloration? I know that my titanium sheet metal Emberlit stove has never rusted at all (discolored from high heat, but no noticeable oxidation).
Click to expand...

I have Ti stoves, pots, kettles, flasks, bottles, thermoses, bicycles, eye glasses, tweezers, knives, lighters, lanyard beads, etc. I have never observed rusting/discoloration on any item.
CP does indeed stand for Commercially Pure.
 
Ive noticed an Iron smell with any of my Titanium camp gear that gets scratched/used, my Vargo bots actually are the worst offenders with the lids when I unscrew them its very strong, though has no taste added to liquids like Stainless.

This is why I assume its not pure Ti but an alloy, as Ti is not supposed to have any smell/taste.

Pure Titanium is actually only as strong as lower end stainless steels by weight, So it makes little sense to me why pure Titanium would be used(for weight savings) when all you would be getting is corrosion and toxicity resistance over stainless, when all the camping stuff is lighter then the SS versions.
Either getting a weaker container compared to SS or its an alloy and not pure Ti.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top