Reader Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5

I have owned this cookset for about 2 years, helping me lower my packweight, and it is the first ti product I've owned. It is well made, and has stood up to lots of use very easily.

The set comes with 2 pots, one much larger than the other, and a ti lid. In my experience, I have rarely used the smaller 'cup', in which the larger pot fits for easier storage.

The large pot holds enough water for 2 cups of water for meals, and when stored, it easily holds a small esbit stove, some tabs, and a folded windscreen. The 3 pieces of the set come to 5.6 ounces on my scale, which enables one's kitchen to weigh under 1lb or less.

It isn't a light as the new BPL stuff, but using a foil lid and taking only the bigger pot, it can weigh 10 ounces or so with a few esbits tabs.

Overall I'm happy with the Mini Solo. The markings on the pots for measurement could be more clearly marked, but this is my only gripe.

Rating: 4 / 5

http://www.snowpeak.com/gears/scs004.htm

I have only had my set for a year now.
The pot which, I belive is 900ml or 2+ cups, holds what I bought it for. The smaller pot / cup holds a tea nicely or two packs of oatmeal.

Primarly bought it to boil water for freeze dried food.

I am still getting use to cooking with Titanium. It is not like stainless steel or aluminum, at all.

The small little triangular lid holder is flimsy to use. It flops over after using it. It would be nice if there was a friction fit so that it would stay up for the second time use.

The set nests well together.

They clean fairly well, but they are still new. A non-stick version would be nice.

I wish they where a little wider to fit a larger canister. But I belive the Snow Peak Trek 900 fits a lager canister.

I like the pot handles, they fold flat to the pots. Dare I say they take up no space at all. They are easy to use and they don't get lost, like a separate pot holders do.


Doug



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Edited by Hustler on 01/23/2007 17:14:21 MST.

Rating: 4 / 5

It's been about three years now since I picked up the mini solo, and it has served me well. I started out by using it with a Brunton Crux stove, which stows nicely inside along with a canister. Then last year I decided to give alcohol and esbit a whirl and was pleasantly surprised; the esbit residue on the bottom easily cleans off after a little soaking. Other positive features are the gradient markings on the drinking cup and the folding handles that are not at all flimsy. The only drawback is the small diameter - 3.75" - which is what peaked my interest in the first place. On all three of the stoves the mini solo was used on the flame lapped up the sides, so I suspect a considerable loss of heating efficiency. A windscreen was also used, so maybe the loss was mitigated somewhat. All told, it met my expectations for compactness and lightness, so it gets a 4.

Rating: 4 / 5

I have had this cookset for about a year. The form factor is similar to the popular jetboil; an aprox. 1 liter pot, separate 300ml cup, and a lid. Add an MSR PocketRocket and a windscreen and you are at about 300grams, compared to a 450gram jetboil with the same cooking/serving capacities. (both not counting the canister weight or considering efficiencies)

I like the fact that this cookset has that cup. you can boil enough water to re-hydrate a double meal, and have enough water for drink a hot beverage while you wait for the meal to rehydrate.

The small diameter of this pot is an intentional design feature, so as to perfectly nest a 100gram canister, or two, inside. It perfectly nests one canister and a Snowpeak Gigapower stove into a compact cylinder you can drop into your pack.

I give this only a 4 for a couple reasons related to the lid. First, I wish they designed the lid with a wider lip, and secondly, gave it some depth so it could be used as a frypan. Currently the lid has to be inverted to fit onto the small cup in a stable configuration. And having some depth to the lid would allow the user to effectively have a pot, a pan, and a cup, with a very small weight penalty.

Eventually, I stopped carrying this set. The requirement to carry a separate windscreen, and it's associated weight/fiddle factor, made me reach for the jetboil set instead of this cookset. Any piece of gear should be analyzed in relation to it's competitors, especially in the pre-buy research phase. That is why I mention the competing product in this review.

I think the only situation when I would carry this set now is if pack space is extremely limited and I needed the smaller package size this Snowpeak cookset offers when compared with the jetboil.

Rating: 3 / 5

I bought this set a year ago and used it twice and here's why: For the weight and function it's just more than I need. I boil and freezer bag cook so all I need is something that can effectively boil a couple cups of water. I replaced this set with one MSR Titan Cup. I never carried the cup that came with this set because I never had the need. The larger bowl is decent except that, because of its rounded bottom, it isn't very stable on my homemade potstand. The "frying pan" lid is really not big enough to fry anything substantial in it; however, I did like that, by inverting it, I could use it to warm up additional water while boiling in the bowl for clean up. The handles are sturdy and the whole kit packs away nicely. My alcohol stove setup doesn't fit inside it well and so that is another down side.

Rating: 5 / 5

I got this to replace the Trek 700 pot. Then I became briefly enamored of the Jetboil PCS, which is well-designed but heavy. The Snow Peak Mini-Solo with a spoon and the Snow Peak Gigapower stove weighs half what the Jetboil does, and provides nearly the same cooking functionality. (The Jetboil neoprene sleeve and plastic lid keep food or drink hotter for a longer period of time - but at a cost of general grubbiness after a few days.)

The Mini-Solo fits my style of cooking and eating as well as the Jetboil. I like oatmeal and tea for breakfast, and in cold weather a hot beverage with supper. For that, I need a pot and a cup. I could do that with the Jetboil, but ended up drinking the beverage before the food had rehydrated (you can't cook in the Jetboil's small plastic cup.) With the Mini-Solo, I can boil water in both pieces, which means I can arrange things so the food and beverage are ready to eat at the same time.

The Mini-solo, stove and spoon store nicely: the small cup fits onto the bottom of the pot; the stove and a fuel cylinder store inside the pot, and the spoon handle fits snugly between the two pots - eliminating the slight rattle by locking everything together.

All in all, coupled with the stove, I get the same functional features as the Jetboil, at half the weight. A side benefit is that the titanium is less fussy to keep clean. (The Jetboil PCS system and collapsible spoon have lots of nooks and crannies to clean, and the pot cozy tends to hold dried liquid residue.)

Edited by garkjr on 02/03/2009 21:46:31 MST.

Rating: 5 / 5

As a cookset goes, this one does everything it's supposed to: It holds water, it transfers heat, it has a handle so you don't burn yourself. So it passes the test.

It's extremely light, so that's one place it surpasses the competition (looking at you, titan kettle.)

But the real reason it kicks butt is the form factor:
- exact right size to hold two snow peak 110 gram fuel canisters.
- exact right size to hold one 110 gram fuel canister and a snow peak stove
- exact right size to slide over a Nalgene water bottle (and insulate it too)

Those folks at Snow Peak approached this pot with the precision of a Toyota engineer, and it shows.

Rating: 5 / 5

During my conversion to the lighter side this was one of my first purchases. It works for perfectly for solo cooking and can also be used for two when planned properly, it's just big enough for two packs of ramen, and barely big enough for only the largest of freeze dried meals which require additional cooking (chicken with dumplings comes to mind). It has been used in campfires, with esbit, alcohol, and canister stoves. Can't beat it! The only time I leave this pot home is when I am going as light as possible or I need to cook for three.

Rating: 4 / 5

I used the Ti Mini Solo POT (left the cup at home along with the lid) for all 5 months of my 2011 A.T thru-hike. It still looks great and works well. I added RC car gas-line tubing pieces onto the handles ($2 from Amazon) which allowed me to pull it from the stove without needing a bandana. Its compact - so don't expect more than two ramens to cook in it (if you're very careful). A great lightweight option for boiling water, and small quantity in pot cooking. Used it with a Packafeather XL stove (fits in side the pot) and it worked well. For my larger appetite I'm going to try the MSR Titan kettle and see if the lower / wider profile suits my needs for this coming season.

Rating: 5 / 5

I chose this cookset after a lot of research. I have now used it approximately 30 times. I find it a perfect ultralight cookset for one, with a couple of extremely small grumbles. I agree with the reviews above.

Likes:
- nests well
- handles fold completely flat
- holds enough water for a dehydrated meal and drink
- well-made (well-fitting lid which is easy to pick up using the tiny handle and a twig)
- light
- sturdy
- price is OK for titanium
- great brand with whom to deal
- fits two nested mini-canisters or a canister plus a stove in it
- provided stuff sack has a little additional space at the top for rest of kitchen kit

Minor grumbles:
- could have better markings for measurement
- could have a wider base (spills heat when cooking; makes it harder to clean as it is narrow)

Overall, I am pleased with my purchase, and I like the fact that I can have a drink while my meal is cooking. I would recommend this product to others.