What metal is your cookset? Need your guys' input on some choices.

W

Will_Power

Joined
Aug 22, 2011
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I've been bit by the Wilderness bug in a bad way, and my jaunts in the hills are starting to run longer and longer. Long enough to the point that I want to buy my first fire and cook kit. Got the stove situation sorted out, but am lost between a couple of choices of cookware. I'm not carrying a lot, and this isn't for ultralight backpacking trips. So, durability is more of a factor than weight.

  1. Primus 1.0 L Litech Trek Kettle Pot - Hard anodized aluminum with no-stick Teflon coating. 4.3" x 3.9". 9oz.
  2. Backcountry.com Titanium Cookset - 1100ml - Titanium. 11.5cm x 11cm. 6.5oz.
  3. Snow Peak Trek 900 Aluminum - Bare aluminum. D 4.75" H 4.25". 9.3oz.

More or less this is coming down to a question of materials, and I'm stuck.

Titanium doesn't cook all that well, and for the weight savings you gain, you get something as fragile as the aluminum.
Anodized aluminum might hold up better, but there's a question of the anodization flaking.

What about you guys?

If I could find a stainless steel version of the pot + lid/pan combo, I'd be all over it. No luck so far. So I'm deliberating between these three.
 
Carbon steel frying pan and stainless pot. I am a huge fan of aluminum and Ti weight but can't stand to cook with them. Chris
 
Hard anodizing wont flake off and will be easier to clean than others.

I have a stainless MSR kit and there are others out there.

I think Zebra pots are stainless.
 
I carry a combination, generally. I have never found a pot with a lid that actually makes a reasonable skillet.

So, I have a Snow Peak Trek 900 titanium pot/lid, and when I'm doing more fancy stuff I take along a Paderno carbon steel baking pan, mine is the 6 5/8" version I think. They season up pretty well (as you would season cast iron) but weigh much, much less.
 
I use anodized aluminum. Cooks better (and more efficiently with the fuel) than Ti or bare stainless, easier to clean afterward.
 
I use an Evernew Titanium Non-Stick 1.3 Liter pot with Frypan lid.
EvernewECA-418TiNon-StickDX3PotwithFrypanLid.jpg

I also have a 14CM Zebra Pot which is stainless and pretty heavy but I haven't used it yet.
The Zebra pots come with a stainless bowl inside that can be used as a frypan or bowl, I purchased the Pot Gripper so I can use the bowl as a frypan if need be.
Got mine from Ben's Backwoods.
 
I’m with August West on the carbon steel frying pan…Bens Backwoods has a large and small one, but of which are superb for cooking and backing in:
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Most of my meals are instant, so it really doesn’t matter what I use to boil water in. The most common item is the smaller “Bush Pot”, but any decent sized container will do depending on how much water you need for the main meal, hot drink and a little left over to clean up.

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I haven’t used it much, but Snow Peak’s little stainless pot is a nice size for a variety of tasks:
SnowPeak-2.jpg


If I’m not packing a canteen kit, I’ll add my Snow Peak cup (it’s double wall, so it can’t be used directly on the fire…strictly a luxury for my backpacking).

Also, I often pack a MSR stainless bowl for mixing and eating if I’m not eating directly out of the pan.

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Another good option is MSR’s stainless Stowaway pots. They come in various sizes (I like the 775ml and 1.1 liter versions). They are quite durable, can be used to secure food items and if your meals are messy, stainless is much easier to clean than the others.

ROCK6
 
Thanks for the replies so far, guys.

ROCK6, that's one heck of a collection you got there. I'm impressed... and a little jealous!
 
This is a great thread. I always love talking about seeing others cookware.

I am not going to give any recommendations, but I am going to give you some things to think about because what YOU plan on doing is really going impact what will work best for you. For example:

1) Do you plan to purify water through boiling? If you don’t go in the woods for long enough to need to get water, or you take a purifier or use chemicals, all those are cool. But, if you plan on boiling for purification, you are going to want something that will easily boil 1L. Not just hold 1L, but be able to boil it comfortably without it bubbling over the edge. The reason for this is boiling for purification can be time consuming and if you have to boil a pot twice, just to fill a 1L bottle, it is a huge pain.

2) What kind of foods do you eat? For some trips, I will eat oatmeal in the morning, a no cook lunch, and something that I have dehydrated myself for dinner. In cases like that, I can get away with as little as my Vargo titatinium mug. There is going to be a big difference between boiling water, and cooking meat or baking bread. Other times, I am more concerned about hanging out at the fire and want to do something more elaborate (as most others have already mentioned).

3) Winter camp? Usually you will need more capacity for cold weather camping for melting snow for drinking water. That is, if you want to use the same stuff year round (assuming you winter camp). In the end, I just have lots of cookware, and I end up taking what suits the trip :)

4) How many people are you usually with? I mentioned my Vargo cup. I love it for myself, but I am rarely alone. If I take any of the kids with me, the cup usually ends up being pretty useless.

Just some thing to think about. It doesn’t look like you will go wrong with anything you have selected, because I am guessing you will end up getting more cookware for different needs eventually anyway :)

Good luck!
B
 
I use mostly stainless for the durability (small skillet & GSI cup) but also carry an Aluminum "grease separator" pot from wally for boiling water.
 
Many of the folks here will disagree but studies have shown that Aluminum isn't a good thing for you to ingest. That being said I use stainless when in the bush and cast Iron or stoneware at home. My food doesn't taste like Al, and it cooks even. That and my wife has not had an Iron deficiency since we switched. Besides, once seasoned the home stuff is a lot easier to clean.
 
It was already mentioned, and I agree, that a selection of cookware is required to cover all the bases. Of your choices, I really like the little Primus anodized pots. I have one (an older model with a regular lid), and it's my favourite little pot for boiling water or small cooking jobs. It's a really strong, well-made pot too. But I don't think you should get the non-stick version. Non-stick pots/pans never last that long. The anodized version works just fine on it own. I think you only need a non-stick coating in a frying pan. BTW, I was so impressed with Primus, I bought their fry pan - awesome.

Also, titanium is fine for pots. Cooks well IMO. I've had much success with the larger Snow Peak pot that comes with a plastic lid (name: "Cook and Save"?), and it's holding up well to my abuse. This is great for the bigger one-person meals - can cook often for two people. Definitely very light.

Last bit of advice: skip anything that requires a separate pot gripper.

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I have a variety of gear ... I prefer stainless

I have found that my stainless steel flat plate is as good as a fry pan for bacon and eggs , and it means I only have to clean one plate not a fry pan and a plate .. it also means I dont need to carry a fry pan :) just got to be aware the plate is HOT

for trips with more than just me tho , I have a nesting set of nonstick aluminium I got from Big W for $14 .. I stuck a chux cloth between each item to shut up the rattle , and prevent the surface wearing off , it all packs up in a drawstring bag , does what its sposed to do , tho I have no special love for it , its not let me down yet . Id not hesitate to swap it out for a stainless set tho if I could afford to .

Nonstick gear kinda fills a niche .. you dont need grease oil or water to cook on it and it wipes clean enough to pack away . OK not super hygenic .. but good enough if youre in a hurry and on the move for whatever reason .If youre heating it up to cooking temps again next meal , its my theory that any bugs breeding on it from last one will cook as well , just extra protein , always good , it also means you use less water washing up , this can be a good thing too .

my thoughts only , your mileage will most likely vary :)
 
I mostly use a stainless billy that a mate in Australia sent me. I have no idea who the maker is but it works well for boiling water and rehydrating fd foods. I haven't used the small stainless plate/pan that came with it. It does hold my gas cannister, Coleman Max-micro stove and a GSI plastic cup.
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I have several other pieces I use on occasion like the one-egg-wonder skillet from WalMart and their stainless basteing pot, as well as a well used USGI folding handle skillet.
 
I have ranged from my old British Army mess tins, to anondized aluminum

But the best has been an old $5 aluminum quart pot with a lid and a pot holder
Sorry nothing fancy, but it is light and sturdy and had it for 30 years....
 
Depending on what the activity will be and how many people will be with me, I usually pack the following:

Esbit mini-stove with GSI "Glacier" stainless cup:




Emberlit Titanium wood stove with Evernew titanium 1.3L pot:


MSR Pocket Rocket with GSI "Dualist" pot and bowl:
 
I've been using a 16cm Zebra pot and a GSI nesting cup for quite a while now, but after a couple of trips this month my back has really been aching so I'm trying to trim pack weight where I can. I'm switching out to titanium. I have a Snow Peak Seal N' Save pot and a 450 cup on the way right now.

I need the bigger pot because I usually have a group size of 2-6 people, sometimes more, and 2-3 are usually kids that can't carry much for themselves. I considered the Trek1400 set, but the Seal N' Save is shorter/wider so it will be less likely to tip and has more surface area on the bottom for contact with coals to help with the less-even cooking of these lightweight metals.

The GSI cup isn't going anywhere, I just wont be carrying it when I'm Camelbak'ing it and don't have a Nalgene with me. I'll still take it when I do short stuff alone and just have a bottle.
 
Been a Zebra pot fan for years! the hold up well, can take the heat and have cooked everything from boar stew to brewin' tea at the end of the day....my personal is a 14cm.
 
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