Forgive me if there are similar posts of this type as i am new and this is my first post.
I have been using my wife's girl scout mess kit for nearly 3 years now while camping. It is just like the open country individual 5peice mess kit. The only difference is that mine has a girl scouts emblem on it. (which can be rather embarrassing and definitely makes for some good conversation)


I have been looking for a similar kit that is made of titanium but have yet to find one like this.
If any of you have any suggestions on a similar product I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you

[img]http://http://www.opencountrycampware.com/category_fbd677dca775/product_7a8dfde3bbe7/large_view/session_25cd7423df7b/[/img]

For that kind of application, titanium is over rated. Just think, how long has your present aluminum kit lasted? The titanium will not be significantly lighter, but will be significantly more expensive.

I would explain the logo by pointing out that I became a girl scout when I turned sixteen.

If you go the route of a one item does all (pot, plate, mug) cook kit, then something like a Snow Peak 700, or similar, makes sense.

I guess i should have stated why I would perfer a titanium model.
I would like the titanium for the ease of cleaning and whatever weight savings that may come with it. However little they may be.

The reason I like this set so much is because it holds itself together and dose not need a bag and i like the frying pan part of it as i sometimes like to make pancakes or fry some fish if i happen to catch some.

As far as the mug part i don't use it at all.
I have taken it out and inside the pot i place my alcohol stove and wind screen winch is also my pot stand, that I am quite proud of.
I took a piece of aircraft aluminum just tall enough to fit inside the pot with the lid on and rolled it to match the shape of the pot, then i drilled holes at the bottom so than my stove can breath. I then riveted some small angle pieces about 1/4" down inside the screen for the pot stand.
Hopefully i will be able to get a picture up soon.

If you really enjoy making pancakes and frying fish etc then I wouldn't waste my time looking for a titanium version of this mess kit, since this metal is such a poor conductor of heat and is not really suited for any type of gourmet cooking. Now that is not to say that it cannot be done, it just takes practice and constant attention. Personally, I use a titanium cookpot and when I fly-fish and fires are not permitted then I will just throw in an actual frying-pan that I picked up from the dollar store and took the handles off of.

This whole system weighs in at a little under 20oz. This includes the pot, fry pan, pan gripper, stove, windscreen, 2 utensils, bandana, lighter and Ti mug.

If I went solo then I could get this much lighter by leaving the mug and extra utensil at home and switching out the canister stove with my alcohol stove.

I feel this gets the best of both worlds; light Ti pots with a good, durable frying pan. This is also great because I am able to switch out items as needed and if something needs replacing then I don't need a whole new kit.

I would recommend my favorite - a mini Trangia cookset (model 28, I believe). It has a nice, albeit small, non stick pan/lid, lid lifter, as well as a very efficient, fairly wide, pot with a capacity of about 750 ml - great for one person or maybe two. The lid locks on securely and you have a nice, self-contained package which also holds a lighter and tea bags, etc. It is usually sold with a Trangia stove and windscreen. I also use mine with a Pocket Rocket.

It really interests me that you don't see clearly labeled weights on aluminum vs titanium. I strongly suspect that for equivalent thickness, ti is no lighter than al, and does not conduct heat as well.

Ti is superb in some applications (I have ti spoons which are absolutely great), but most of what is sold is just marketing hype and bling. Either ti or al in uncoated versions clean up about the same.

Thank you, I am really interested in the Triangia cook set you have recommended.
As far as weight differences between titanium and aluminum.
I compared the Snow Peak trek 900 in aluminum and titanium. The titanium cam in at 6.2oz and the aluminum cam in at 9.2 oz.
Not a huge difference but every ounce counts right?

Also it is said that Titanium has the ability to self sterilize in the sun if it is high enough quality titanium. At first i did not believe this claim but after seeing it stated several different places I'm beginning to doubt my original assumption.

I also have a titanium spork and I thoroughly enjoy it. as i often camp in the desert the ability to clean an object with the minimal amount of water usage is a must.

Many moons ago I regularly used my snowpeak giga and msr titan. The pot looked the same and had the same shape after many many many uses. Some of the aluma stuff I had(not anodized) got dented just from sitting in my pack. PLUS, titanium is just cool.

if you like that trangia set up go out build a popcan stove and a can of beans. look at this set up its essentially the same deal. PS it doesnt always look this beat up it was used for the entire length of the AT http://www.trailquest.net/BRcookset.html

I strongly suspect that for equivalent thickness, ti is no lighter than al, and does not conduct heat as well.

Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any metal, however it is about 60% heavier than aluminium. But because of it's strength it can and usually is shaped a lot thinner than the Al equivalent. Hence the lighter weight.
It is totally non toxic and inert so it does not react to acid food (tomatoes...) like Al.
As noted it isn't ideal for cooking, much better suited for boiling.
Franco
BTW, what we use is a Ti alloy, that is Ti with some Al...

Agreed



I was refering to the Triangia pot and pan.
As for a stove I use the Vargo Triad XE stove.
My obsession with titanium seems to be showing itself. lol

BTW, about the largest Ti selection is offered by Snow Peak
http://www.snowpeak.com/back/cookware/titanium.html

Franco

Anti-Gravity Gear also has a nice selection.

http://antigravitygear.com/categories.php?cat=115

i can see that

Thanks! I figures somebody with a physics background would come up with some solid figures.

Can you comment about the presumably better ability of aluminum to conduct heat vis-a-vis titanium? Does it lead to any real world difference?

Oldranger,
I am a gear nerd, no scientific background of any sort here...
Yes aluminium does conduct heat a lot better than Ti, and that is in practice (less likely to scorch your food because of the more even heat distribution) not just in theory.
However there is one popular misconception about this, and that is "aluminium boils faster than Ti". In theory yes, in practice , using similar shaped/sized pots, it is the other way around. And that has to do with the thickness of the pot.
Franco

There are actually two figures of merit, one is conductivity, the other one is specific heat (the amount of heat required to raise one gram of the material one degree centigrade) [aluminum holds more heat]. The equations for conductivity require dividing the conductivity quotient by the thickness of the metal and the thinness of Titanium cookware more than makes up for its lower conductivity quotient, however its the thickness [per the same weight]and the higher specific heat of Aluminum that makes it "cook" better because the heat is diffused in it more, making for fewer hot spots, especially with the extremely tiny burners on ultralight stoves.
Heat actually goes through titanium pans very quickly, and a titanium pan of water set on snow will cool far more quickly than an equal amount of hot water in a similarly sized aluminum or stainless steel pan. This is why you burn your food in titanium, even though people say "It doesn't conduct heat as well" which is wrong for the reasons I stated.
All outdoor cooking requires constant attention and often the pan must be held in your hand rather than being set on the stove. I was waving my Titanium pan back and forth over the stove last night as I was reheating spaghetti and I still burned it a bit, aluminum would have done a better job, but only with similar attention. I have all titanium, but probably aluminum makes better cookware. I have a titanium skillet and it works for me.
Jim

It would seem that the problem of burnig your food could be helped by using a less intense stove and one with a more evenly dispersed flame pattern.

If you are cooking something more delicate (pancakes etc) then you can also hold the Ti pan a few inches above the flame. It will take time to get it just right, but it saves replacing your entire system.

The AntiGravityGear stuff is light and relatively inexpensive. I've used it for a long time.

This isn't to say don't get TI stuff - there are good light TI sets out there - but there is also aluminum stuff that is just as light.

In the end, you'll save a lot more weight in reducing/minimizing your cooking kit than you will buying higher tech cooking kit.

I agree. I love AGG's 3 cup cook pot and for only $10 it weighs 3.8oz, which is both cheaper and lighter than my Snow Peak Ti 700! So as mentioned, if weight and cost are your major concerns then aluminum can save you just as much weight.

However, the best and most cost effective way to save weight is to leave stuff at home! It costs you nothing to leave an unneeded item out of your pack.

I just ordered this modern day mess kit. When I want to go really light my "mess kit" is just a Ti mug for boiling water, eating and drinking. But when I want luxury I will reach for this. That hardened aluminum is da bomb.

This thinness would probably explain why George of end2endtrailsupply was able to boil water faster with a titanium pot than an aluminum pot.

I want to see how fast a titanium pot cools down. I know the titanium exhaust on my car never seems to be hot when I touch it. I really wanted to see if that'd still be true with titanium headers, but those went out of production before I could afford them.

Eugene said
"I want to see how fast a titanium pot cools down."

I have identical pans (same size, bth by evernew) in stainless steel and titanium. Pouring the same amount of hot water in each while sitting on snow, the water in the titanium cools much more quickly. ???? I'm just reporting my observations,maybe the titanium is thinner.

Don't really notice about the pot cooling very fast, but my home made titanium caldera cone gets cool so quickly when the stove is off that I can handle it when "sliding" the pot out.