so, in my cheapness, and recyclingness, it is safe to cook in a soup can, right?, ive noticed some are aluminum, others like fruit cans look like a composite of metals on the inside. the soup can fits perfect on my new pocket rocket and i really want easy coffee in the morning after a solo camp and backpack. (which ive only done once, 7 miles in, 5 out, a couple months ago, loved it)

Not necessarily. TTBOMK, Eden is the only company which manufactures cans with BPA free inner linings.

HTH & Peace,

Richard.

Good to know about Eden. Thanks. Speaking of coffee, coffee cans seem to lack that epoxy coating that contains BPA. Beer cans also have that epoxy coating containing BPA, but it is thinner than with soup cans etc.

For the record, pot is only safe if you grow it yourself, and is much cheaper that way also.

Not really... the metals aren't always fantastic quality (meaning they will rust, not that they'll kill you), and to make up for that, they line it with a plastic that contains BPA. If you want something cheap that will be safe, go to WalMart/KMart and get a 1 liter (1 quart) aluminum grease pot. They are usually less than 10 bucks, and are generally lighter than even most titanium pots, and they come with a lid. Not as durable, but for $10 you can always replace it down the road.

Go to Salvation Army etc and you will probably find a small light weight alum pot for $2-3. Cut the handle off and use a pot gripper of some kind.

. . . plus that cheap aluminum pot transfers the heat much better than the expen$ive titanium one, saving fuel.

from a Mac forum:
Titanium's thermal conductivity is 17 W/m-K versus 210 W/m-K on aluminum.

Somewhat misleading, but yeah. For a thin pot there isn't alot of difference since most of the temperature drop is not from one side of the titanium to the other, but is from the flame to the pot, and from the pot to the water. The big advantage of aluminum is in the way it conducts heat from a hot bottom up its side, increasing heat transfer to the water that way, which might make a significant difference for tall mugs, but perhaps not so much for wide pots. Anyhow, they are both great materials for pots. I think the real place for titanium should be for hobo stoves. I'm not sure if you could still rightly call it a hobo stove. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

JAK-

What is a hobo stove?

By that I mean a coffee can with holes in it, or something similar.