First of all, what I was looking for is a very simple water boiler system that would work on Esbit fuel. Lightweight, of course.

1. The aluminum beer can pots are a little fragile in my book. Sure, they are light and cute and fairly cheap, but if you get them packed the wrong way, they fold up or get a crease to weaken the sides. I was looking for something much tougher than that, so I was looking at titanium. Besides, if my Esbit runs out, I might need to cook this over a wood fire, and titanium is much more heat resistant.
2. The standard solo pot is roughly 16 ounces of fluid capacity. I found a Snow Peak titanium bowl that holds 20 ounces. The online retailer listed it as weighing 1.6 ounces, and that was a fib. It was 1.8 ounces in the product literature and I checked it at 1.80 ounces. The bowl shape is broad enough to accept any flame pattern. So, there was the basic vessel.
3. A titanium bowl is kind of hard to grab if it is hot, but handles weigh too much, so I fitted it with a wire bail. It is 0.030" stainless steel safety wire. I had to drill two holes in the bowl, across the exact diameter. You try drilling holes in titanium using a tiny steel bit! Then a diamond burr smoothed the hole edges. Instead of using ferrules to fix the wire on itself, which would have added weight, I used a tiny knot in the stainless wire on each side.
4. I fashioned a lid for the pot. This is three layers of heavy duty aluminum foil pressed together with the circular edge crimped, so it weighs almost zero.
5. So far, these pieces added up to 55.7 grams, which is slightly less than 2.0 ounces.
6. For the heat, I use a standard Esbit titanium wing stove, and this one weighs 13.8 grams. It doubles as a pot support.
7. For a wind shield, I use a bit of aluminum foil.
8. All of this together totals about 2.6 ounces.
9. The fuel goes in as a consumable, and each cube is about a half ounce.



--B.G.--

Edited by --B.G.-- on 03/22/2012 01:31:09 MDT.

Wing stove and the Snow Peak bowl. I love that bowl. So handy, and a good deal.

Bob,

Have you had any problems with the rivet in your ESBIT Ti wing stove? Mine has been fine, but I've heard of some complaints.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

"Have you had any problems with the rivet in your ESBIT Ti wing stove?"

No, but maybe I have a screw loose.

--B.G.--

This is my exact setup! So light/easy/durable I bring it along every hike. I haven't attached a wire bail as bandana seems to get me by just fine for now.

My esbit stove's bottom bolt has loosened up, but no noticeable stability change. Make sure you put it on a rock or plate or something in wintertime, the feet bury themselves quick.

I love that the setup is so cheap that if anything breaks I am not too bummed about it.

A friend had one of these Esbit burners a long time ago, except that it was made of steel. The center rivet got loose, so he wrapped the bottom with a lightweight piece of steel wire, and that held it together. That is underneath where all of the heat is, so it doesn't need to be anything robust.

--B.G.--

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

HJ
Adventures In Stoving

Roman

A little too much spamming here. I am sure your company's titanium products are nice, but please restrict your postings about them to Gear Deals. That is the only commercial channel.

Feel free to discuss with me if you wish. You can contact me at roger@backpackinglight.com

Roger Caffin
Online Community Monitor
Backpacking Light

Edited by rcaffin on 05/03/2012 00:17:15 MDT.