GSI Outdoors Cascadian Cup SPOTLITE REVIEW
Strong polypropylene, will not burn your lips, twelve fluid ounces capacity, 1.7 ounces weight and $1.75 USD: it can't be too bad!
Overall Rating: Highly Recommended
A combination of a light weight, unbreakable construction, good capacity, easy to clean and a low price, plus it is easy to hold and can't burn your lips.
by Roger Caffin |
Overview
There is no end to the cups offered for outdoor use, but many of them have faults of one sort or another. We will skip the traditional enameled steel ones without comment. The titanium ones are terribly trendy, but at nearly $30 USD each, they are hardly 'lightweight' on the wallet. Their weight isn't bad, at 2 ounces (56 g), but despite what they say about the poor conductivity of titanium, I still burn my lips on them.
There are mass-market cups made of hard plastic and sold at supermarkets: lighter and cheaper, but many of them have the standard '1 cup' (250 mL) capacity, which isn't really quite big enough for a walker. I often have to 'top-up' half way through a cup of coffee. The hard plastic can crack if hit hard too, then they leak. Good, but not quite good enough.
The common wisdom has been that the mass-market companies cannot produce anything worthwhile for the lightweight crew. Well, that may have been true in the past, but the times they are a' changing. GSI Outdoors has come out with this Cascadian brand cup: cheap, light, slightly flexible but robust, non-cracking, and with a decent capacity. The handle is quite strong and dead easy to pick up, even with a gloved hand. If you have a couple of them, they stack quite nicely. Cleaning is pretty easy: a rinse and shake works most of the time.
The measurements on the GSI Outdoors website should not be used: the Backpacking Light ones are more accurate! In particular, note that the claimed twelve fluid ounce capacity is nice and generous. You might also like to check the inside of the cup very carefully: there is a faint scale on one side showing cup measurements, up to one and a half cups. For reasons which utterly pass me by, the text on this scale is in mirror image: perhaps someone made a slight mistake here in making the mold?
Specifications
- Manufacturer: GSI Outdoors
- Year/Model: 2007
- Manufacture: China
- Material: Polypropylene
- Capacity: 12 fl oz (340 mL) quoted, but nearly 13 fl oz (460 mL) to the brim
- Size (diameter x height): 3.75 x 2.95 in, (95 x 75 mm), but the handle is extra (BPL measured)
- Weight: 1.66 oz (47 g) (BPL measured)
- Colors: Red, orange, green, and blue
- MSRP: $1.75 USD
What’s Good
- Light
- Cheap
- Almost unbreakable
- Easy to pick up, even with gloves
- Suitable capacity for walkers
What’s Not So Good
- Cannot be held over a stove
Recommendations for Improvement
- Fix the lettering on the scale!
Citation
"GSI Outdoors Cascadian Cup SPOTLITE REVIEW," by Roger Caffin. BackpackingLight.com (ISSN 1537-0364).
http://backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/gsi_outdoors_cascadian_cup_spotlite_review.html, 2008-05-20 21:45:00-06.
Related Articles
Vargo 0.9 and 1.3 Liter Non-Stick Ti Pots (Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2006)
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Reader Comments
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Forum Index » GEAR » GSI Outdoors Cascadian Cup SPOTLITE REVIEW
(ryan) - BPL Staff - MLife
Locale: Greater Yellowstone
Companion forum thread to:
GSI Outdoors Cascadian Cup SPOTLITE REVIEW
(Ramapo) - F
You know what's nice about Titanium though? It isn't plastic.
Is there any reliable information out there regarding the safety of drinking hot beverages out of polypropylene?
Personally I don't mind paying extra for a titanium mug. It affords me peace of mind!
(rossbleakney) - MLife
Locale: Cascades
At least it is designed to be heated and used to hold water. The biggest danger from plastics is that people use plastic that isn't food safe or hasn't been designed (or tested) for hot food or water. I've made this mistake before, when putting food directly into a (non-food safe) grocery bag. I know that isn't a direct answer to your question (sorry).
(rmkrause)
Locale: Pacific Northwest
According to current research and analytic techniques, polypropylene doesn't appear to leach.
http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NEWSCIENCE/oncompounds/bisphenola/2003/2003-0205howdeshelletal.htm
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/101/plastic
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200311/lol5.asp
Glass transition temperature: -10C
Melting temperature: 173C
(PedroArvy) - MLife
Locale: Melbourne
Why do you need a cup?
I drink out of my cooking pot.
Scotch, coffee, soup it handles the lot!
(gmatthews) - MLife
How about this...
Two hikers. You both want a cup of tea, but are sharing one stove. Two cups faciliate your efforts.
(rcaffin) - BPL Staff - MLife
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe
Hi Petras
> Why do you need a cup?
> I drink out of my cooking pot.
On day walks, of which my wife and I do many when we aren't off on a longer walk, I carry a Trangia kettle for morning tea. It is ancient and much loved, albeit a little heavier than some Ti versions. (No problem - keeps me fit.) And it has a wide base which means it is efficient in heating.
Now, have you tried to drink out of a Trangia kettle? Remembering it is aluminium, which is an excellent heat conductor too. And what does my wife drink out of?
Cheers
Roger
(sarbar) - F
Locale: In the shadow of Mt. Rainier
If you all haven't noticed, GSI has quite the new line out this year. They also have two style of nesting mug/cup sets. One is 20 ounces and round, the other is 14 ounces and triangle shaped. They are of the same material as the Cascadian mug.
For those concerned, Polypropylene is used in many items these days. It is what Fozzils and Orikaso dishes are made of. It is recyclable as well.
(Danepacker) - MLife
Locale: Mojave Desert
Been using a nearly identical cup for decades. It has 1/4 cup marking rings around the entire inside of the cup.
I use the cup for measuring water for putting into freeze-dried food bags, drinking coffee or tea etc. and I couldn't get along without it. Best type of cup I've ever used for backpacking.
That cup, my Cool Whip bowl and a long-handled Lexan spoon are ALL my utensils. (Yeah, a Cool Whip bowl - used 'em for decades also.) In winter I bring the Cool Whip lid to keep food warm whilst I'm chewing, drinking & attending other cooking chores. BUT, in winter I drink from a closed top insulated mug.
Eric
(TarasBulba) - MLife
Locale: Rocky Mountains
"For reasons which utterly pass me by, the text on this scale is in mirror image"
Um...'cause it's made in China?
I'm glad you reviewed this item! I've been using a similar cup that was included in my Boy Scout mess kit for years and my only complaint is that it holds only 8 oz brim full, so a 12 oz capacity cup would be worth having 'cause I do enjoy a slug o joe in the morning.
(flyfast) - MLife
Locale: Oklahoma
Monty, I have the exact same comment as you. I can finally replace my 8 oz. BSA cup of the past 40 years. I just haven't taken the time to find where to locate a $1.75 cup without paying $8 in shipping.
(sarbar) - F
Locale: In the shadow of Mt. Rainier
I had to laugh....the sad thing is paying $8 shipping will soon be cheaper than driving to a store to find one if you drive a typical American style vehicle.
(rosierabbit) - M
Locale: Pacific Northwest
A well-known outdoor retailer is selling these in multiples of 4, with cups, bowls, and plates. However, I'd rather wait to see if Sarah will stock them on her freezerbagcooking.com site. For longer treks, it would actually be easier to use the non-zip sandwich bags to package the meals and then dump one into the bowl or cup to rehydrate, assuming it can handle seriously boiling water.
(retropump) - F
Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna
I have something similar as well, only it holds 450ml and only weighs 37 grams. Cost me NZ$5 from Bivouac. I added my own measurement markings with an indelible pen on the outside...the cup is yellow so is JUST transparent enough for this to work. I don't go anywhere without my yellow cup, nor does my partner with the red version.
Why carry a cup?? As above, I mostly hike with my partner. Often when we stop for a brew, I'll have soup and my partner will have tea. In the evenings my partner might have some icky sweet orange drink while I tend towards whiskey while cooking dinner in the 2L pot. In the morning its coffee for me and tea for my better half...it would be world war III without our own mugs!
(sarbar) - F
Locale: In the shadow of Mt. Rainier
Kathleen, I think I will pick them up on the next order, which I will do after Memorial Day :-) GSI is pretty cool with I can pick and choose what I buy. So I have to ask - if I carry them, what is the color choices you'd love? ;-)
Btw, thanks for the idea of getting them!
(Everitt) - MLife
Locale: North of San Francisco
why assume titanium is safe to eat out of? It's not been around that long and many other metals have proved only years, or centurys later to be harmfull or deadly. If peace of mind is based on high cost is the space shuttle safer than my bicycle....Everitt
(retropump) - F
Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna
I know of very few (OK, I can't really think of any) materials to make a food container/cooker out of that have been 'proven' to do no harm over the long term...living is just plain deadly and we may never know if that ceramic casserole dish, the clay grain storage, the cast iron pan or even that lovely glass drinking utensil are truly doing us no harm.
(ben2world) - MLife
Locale: So Cal
Aren't titanium mugs lined with some sort of chemical coating as well?
This thread may be the first one about plastics where David and Sarah aren't fighting each other. :)
(Danepacker) - MLife
Locale: Mojave Desert
A pox on Titanium backpacking vessles (likely carried by Titanium-loving, latte-sipping, carbon fiber pole-using, effete backpackers)!
Coated aluminum is better in virtually every way.
(Now lessee, where'd I put my Ti BushBuddy stove? Oh, there it is, beside my Ti Caldera Cone and my Ti Vargo burner.)
Eric
(rosierabbit) - M
Locale: Pacific Northwest
Sarah - The red looks cool. Or anything but orange. If you get several colors, I may spring for 2 in different colors. Mr B's birthday is coming up, and I would be willing to spring a few bucks on him! Who knows, if you design a cozy for the bowl and/or mug, I may go really crazy and get that, too!