best cookware brand?

Order of Importance for pot characteristics for me.
Durability
Size
Weight.
I'm looking for a pot to replace my Heine pot for the PCT i dont want to run the risk of burning out the bottom of the Heine as i so often do. Thoughts anyone?

http://www.antigravitygear.com/proddetail.php?prod=MK3CNS

why do you think theyre the best?

Used one (well the model without the non-stick coating) for years, and there's really not a lot that's a lot lighter other than a heiny pot. You can spend a fortune on titanium and not be any lighter either.

I am thinking outloud that if you are doing pct, you can alwaysdrink another big beer at a resupply point if your can gets too bent up.

If I were trying to go lighter, I'd use a canpot. as it is its plenty durable and has been all over the earth with me (quite literaly):

Frosty morning in snowbowl, Skyline Trail, Jasper, Canada:


Mt Torc, Ireland:


South Coast Trek, Tasmania:

enough said haha it looks like a beauty..... that pot has always been on my radar of choices too... what is that stove you use?

Two of those pics I'm using the penny alcohol stove. - which is
what I use most of the time I'm not out in winter conditions.

If you look carefully in the first picture, you'll notice the maple leaf - it's a canadian penny.

The one on Mount Torc it's sitting on a snow peak gigapower. I brought the canister stove on that trip because it was just daywalks with my sweetie in ireland.

It has spend it's share of time chucked in the edges of wood fires too.. so mine has been well loved.

Here ya go, west coast trail - vancouver island:

Geez, and more from west coast trail:



I think I have more pictures of my stupid pot than I have of myself on my hikes. Then again it's not as easy to take a picture of yourself.

Aww man... and I didn't think I took one here..

Vista Ridge Trail, Mount Hood, Oregon:



I take way too many pictures of my food cooking

man thats amazing. really. youve been EVERYWHERE youre inspiring me. seriously.... i want to go to ireland my brother went there on a europe trip and said its like no place he's ever been.

how many of those have you owned? i get that you were using a penny stove haha I clearly have used them if i know what a heine pot is lol but is that the bottom half of a heine can you have on the outside? what does that outside part do? ive never used one like that before...

Bah. I've been nowhere near everywhere. I know lots of people who I am very envious of for the hikes they do and they've been a lot more places than me.

Heck - you're talking about PCT - I've never had the opportuinity to do that - so go do it and make me jealous.. I'm now "old" which means I have a career and the money to go places sometimes, but I don't have the *time* to do something like a PCT through hike.

haha im only 22..... with a really supportive girlfriend. thats the ONLY reason i can do that. Ive been talking about doing this since the day i met her.

What the pot? or the stove?

that's the same pot in all the pictures - so how many I've owned would be "one"

the stove? what outside part - the windscreen? the bottom cup, the simmer ring? which "outside part" are you referring to..

Oh, you talking about the bottom of the heine can that is *under* the stove? it's yes the bottom of a henie can, it's the "lid" of the stove, and when operating it's the base, it holds the bottom of the stove off the surface it's on so that it both doesn't burn the surface it's on, and if the surface it is on is cold, doens't inhibit the stove from working (by making it harder to get the alcohol boiling)

Then do it quickly young padawan.. while there is still time. Through hikes are for when you can put your life on hold.

So for that i do feel fortunate.

you seem like a really nice person phat.

Well, that's good, because sometimes I can be an evil SOB. If I didn't seem nice I'd never fool anyone.

haha

speaking of penny stoves, not sure if others do this, but I never really liked the bottom of a can as a base for my penny stove. I just cut out a circular piece of a paper milk carton, the stuff is like a really thick card stock that's wax coated, to use as the base, and it's the right size to use as a cover/cap for the stove when it's not in use as well. Insulates from cold surfaces, doesn't burn, the waxy coating keeps it from getting soggy.

might even be a smidge lighter too, but it couldn't be more than a fraction of an ounce...

What size do you want? What stove do you use? My two favorite pots are the short/wide evernew .9L pot, and the Mountain Laurel Designs 850ml Mug/Pot. Both should be sufficiently durable and are both reasonably light.

The Evernew is a great size for largish solo meals for couples meal bagging, is easy to cook in, and I have found that it tends to be around 20% more fuel efficient than other pots due to it's optimal dimensions.

The MLD is more compact and works well with the UL Caldera (the main reason I switched from the Evernew after 9 years of use). Large enough to use as a pot. Narrow enough to use as a mug without regularly spilling while drinking (which I have done with larger diameter mug/pots).

I haven't tried them, but the 550ml & 900ml sold with the TiTri fronm traildesigns should be good, but I have no personal experience with them.

--Mark

I personally feel there is no perfect pot do-all out there - there are many that work just as a person needs - but that each stove and style of cooking can require a different pot to do it best.

Make sense?

Basically it is like owning only one stove. It might do everything you need but if you go on a different kind of trip...you find it doesn't work perfect anymore

That is why I own so many stoves and pots

It depends entirely on what you are doing. I have no less than six different pots, to boil water, cook, or bake in. I also have around ten different stoves (but that's easy to do when you use alcohol stoves ) and the one I take depends on the menu and method I use.

I like MSR, Evernew and Snowpeak. Among the three there's a size and shape to fit literally every need, all with titanium options (the best combination of weight and strength).

Cheers,

i plan on carrying a cup i need something that will let me boil water for rehydrating and also cook in (as mentioned above i dont want a heine pot because i already use them and have learned they arent at all durable for the abuse i put them through.)

Try the IMUSA grease pot or the small IMUSA mug with the grease pot lid. They are durable and light. You have to remove a heavy knob from the lid and replace it with a wire loop. You can also cut some of the handle off to save a tenth ounce. My mug with lid weighs 3.1 oz and holds 0.6 liter; the grease pot with lid weighs 3.8 oz and holds about 0.8 liter and has a pouring spout. Walmart sells them at least in this part of the U.S. Check them out at http://www.imusausa.com/index.php?option...&limit=5000

They work great with alcohol stoves.

i already own that pot. I dont like it at all.

Phat's link is for the 3-cup pot of this complete set: http://www.rei.com/product/708066

Based on your (Boomer) priority of durability, size, weight. These fit the bill. The full set comes with the pot gripper (needed), and then you can choose which size pot you want to take for which trip (or both). they are cheap, and durable. The only downside is the pot gripper will eventually scratch up the pot. I have the 3-cupper and it has lasted quite a while, and I have beat on it.

I'd disagree with needing the pot gripper. I've never taken one on any of my trips. I have ragg wool gloves which work just fine for me to pick up a hot pot and put it into the cozy. Potholder? bah. single use dead weight. Gloves - useful for more than just picking up a hot pot.

i second that. i never even bothered wrapping my heine pot

Thinking back, I am not sure why I said the gripper was needed since I am of the philosophy that no piece of gear is "needed". Humans existed for millenia without gear stores. The more you know, the less you need.

And for those of us who don't camp in the great, white north you can use a bandana (a most useful multipurpose item).

Fold it in such a way that it is about 1-2 inches wide the whole length and wrap it around the pot to pick it up with both hands. Or if you leave it traditionally folded and the water is not too full, you can pick it up by the lip of the pot.

Another option would be to put a small bail handle onto the pot (this would require drilling holes in the pot, which you may not prefer to do).

Tango61

True, but really, if you're in the great white north you can just use your toque.. (actually my toque is often my pot cozy

Hmmmm, must be something lost in the translation.

I did toque me a nap though this afternoon and imafixinto eat me some supper.



Just kidding, I like that word but nobody around here knows what it means and they think icing is what you eat on a cake.

Btw, congrats on the hockey gold medal.

Yeah, well it's always baffling to me that a country as advanced in all other ways as the United States doesn't have a proper word for the thing you wear on your head to keep it from freezing

What's wrong with hat? (It's even easy to spell ... H-A-T)

A hat is what you wear when it's warm out - to keep the rain off your head, and the sun out of your eyes..

Calling a toque a hat is like calling your boots or your sandals shoes..

agreed

Traveling with a group of four this summer for a month, and we have been talking about using a group stewpot instead of multiple setups. After looking at the IMUSA family on amazon, buying a multiple quart IMUSA and then switching to the wire loop seemed like a good option.

Does anyone else have any experience with the IMUSAs or something similar?

Cook, you've got to be kidding me. You're talking to a Texan.

It's not just a hat.

We have Cowboy hats: felt or straw? If felt, 5x all the way up to 20X beaver; Stetson, Resistol, Bailey or custom, what style?

We have caps (baseball style) - felt or summer weave nylon.

We have winter caps - flat caps, Elmer Fudd's, bombers, etc.

A toque is sometimes called a 'toboggan' around here. Very weird. I don't want a sled on my head.

But, also down here all soft drinks are referred to as a coke.
"You want a coke?"
"Yeah, gimme a Dr. Pepper."

I have a word for it, but it's not the word all the other Californians use. So I must not be a proper representative of my country.

Strangely, I call it a toque.

For function, weight and durability: Snowpeak.

For function, durability, and value: Antigravitygear.

U S Army Surplus - the source of my 1951 Mountain Cookset. Two thin gauge aluminum two liter pots and a stainless fry pan/lid. Probably cost me about $5.

Best with large groups, obviously.

Back that one up Jason:

Snow peak mini-solo set weighs 155 grams with little pot, lid, and cup - no cozy

My AGG 3 cupper with cozy weighs 141 grams on my scale, my plastic cup that rides inside it weighs 19 grams.

I have pot, lid, cup, and cozy for 160 grams even.

Snow peak has pot, lid, cup for 155.

Can you put a cozy on it for 5 grams?