Best pot size for boiling water

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
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Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
Your 200ml container when full of alcohol will weigh 170g. The 100g gas canister weighs 200g when full. But then you have to add the weight of all the essential accessories you need to use an alcohol stove safely and efficiently outdoors, that are unnecessary with the BRS, such as some sort of heat shield to put under the stove, a pot stand to hold the pot over it, a windshield etc, and more often that not, the alcohol stove setup becomes heavier than a BRS and a 100g gas canister. Also, the 100g gas canister will last longer.
My BRS is almost useless outdoors without a windsheild, let alone efficient. Yours must be very special.
My entire alcohol setup including the cooking pot, stove and stand/windsheild weighs less than half your empty gas container.
Works fine in subzero temps when I'm low on fuel too.
 
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Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
You should have joined the scouts as a kid for an opportunity to see the effects of a gas stove tipping over... :wink: It bears little resemblance to the rosy scenario you describe. If you want to safely experience the effect, use a remote-feed stove and hold the canister at right angle without letting the pre-heat tube warm up. All mishandled stoves are dangerous.
As are misguided opinions about stove safety, sleeping bag ratings and rain wear.
I was a Scout actually, and no, I never saw a canister top gas stove tipped over back then...Just because we were younger did not mean we were less careful.
Thanks for the warning about dangerously misguided opinions on stove safety, sleeping bag ratings and rain wear...I haven't seen any yet, but rest assured, when I do you will be the first to know. :wink:
 

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
My entire alcohol setup including the cooking pot, stove and stand/windsheild weighs less than your empty gas container.
But minus the cooking pot, does your stove and stand/windsheild weigh less than a BRS3000T? I recently saw an alcohol stove users lighterpack list and his stove set up weighed a total of 54g...28g heavier than the BRS, or more than double the weight!
 

Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
But minus the cooking pot, does your stove and stand/windsheild weigh less than a BRS3000T? I recently saw an alcohol stove users lighterpack list and his stove set up weighed a total of 54g...28g heavier than the BRS, or more than double the weight!
Yes. 3g less.
Are you really still claiming you don't need a windsheild for your BRS setup?
 

dovidola

Thru Hiker
Of course all stoves have their inherent dangers @tarptent , and it's a wise policy to avoid tipping any of them over, particularly when using inside a small tent (which I readily concede is an unsafe thing in itself). Small alcohol burners, however, are lower intensity than gas burners, hold far less fuel, and are unpressurised, so don't instantly turn into violent blowtorches (as did my Pocket Rocket) when knocked over. And, far more significantly, I don't think I could knock over my cone/pot setup if I tried!

Yes, I subsequently purchased one of @Nigelp 's tripod canister stands which pretty much sorts the issue, but by then I'd had a chance to try (and fall for) meths, so there was no going back. Gas still has a place in my lineup, but it's a remote stove now (and seldom used).

The Pocket Primus Paraffin of my youth produced some pretty spectacular flare-ups in my novice hands too...
 

SteG

Thru Hiker
I had a good shock when I first got my Optimus svea 123. Stunk of white fuel and singed eyelash.
 

Padstowe

Thru Hiker
Can we all just agree that the brs never flares up if accidentally toppled over, is inherently safer from toppling over than a lower height alcohol stove or any stove of lower height, wind nor cold temp ever has any adverse effects on its performance, it is in fact a fantastic magical stove with miraculous properties, and move on.
Am as guilty as anyone else at this stage. It's like a certain pot is great and nothing beats it till another pot is got and all of a sudden that pot is better. 😇
 
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Charlie83

Thru Hiker
Can we all just agree that the brs never flares up if accidentally toppled over, is inherently safer from toppling over than a lower height alcohol stove or any stove of lower height, wind nor cold temp ever has any adverse effects on its performance, it is in fact a fantastic magical stove with miraculous properties, and move on.
Am as guilty as anyone else at this stage. It's like a certain pot is great and nothing beats it till another pot is got and all of a sudden that pot is better. 😇
yes, this 100%

(other than the BRS 3000 is p̶*̶s̶h̶ an outstanding piece of kit, which most folk had figured out anyway)

i have amended my previous post on the subject, apologies to all, it was a failed attempt to mislead and appear clever.

in the spirit of reconciliation, i vote anyone mentioning boil times, flame height, water viscosity etc are sent to live in fife
 

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
Yes. 3g less.
Are you really still claiming you don't need a windsheild for your BRS setup?
Yes, I don't carry a dedicated windshield with me anymore. If I stop for a tea break I just tip my rucksack on it's side to block some of the wind, put the canister on the Cascade Wild and use my sit pad to block the rest of the wind.



Else I cook in the vestibule of my Mountain House, out of the wind.

 

Jon Fong

Ultralighter
FYI - A vast majority of my customers are in the United States. A good number backpacking locations are in bear country. Depending upon who you talk to, your kitchen, sleeping area and food storage should be 50 feet to 100 yards away from each other. Cooking in your tent vestibule or using your pack as a wind block is highly discouraged. All of these rules are designed to protect the bears. No bears, different rules.
 

Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
Looks fine for dry sunny days. I like to be able to sit on my sit pad when the ground's wet though. Still it's good your sit mat has dual purposes. My windsheild gets dual use as the pot support and weighs 15g.
 

TinTin

Thru Hiker
yes, this 100%



i have amended my previous post on the subject, apologies to all, it was a failed attempt to mislead and appear clever.

in the spirit of reconciliation, i vote anyone mentioning boil times, flame height, water viscosity etc are sent to live in fife
Can it please be Anstruther.
 

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
Looks fine for dry sunny days. I like to be able to sit on my sit pad when the ground's wet though. Still it's good your sit mat has dual purposes. My windsheild gets dual use as the pot support and weighs 15g.
As Balagan said...Take an U/L chair with you and you can use your sit pad for something else. I sit on my Chair Zero while I'm boiling the water. :wink:
 

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
So what's the sit pad for?
My sit pad has lots of uses...
It's serves as the pad between my back and the pack, held in place with shock cord on my pack.
When I get to camp it is used to give me clean floor space to put my gear on when I'm pitching, and once pitched it becomes a kneeling pad or additional mat space. If it's cold out I can put it on the Chair Zero to either keep my behind or my back warm. and I can even use it to bump up the height of my pillow.
It really is an indispensable bit of kit...
 

WilliamC

Thru Hiker
The Toaks 550 is a nicer package in a way, but the cone has to be a part height one to pack in pot, (or split cone for full coverage, which seems OTT for such a small pot).
Toaks 550 and cone with a suitably sized* mug from a reused PP container (an ice cream tub on our trips this summer) works well when contained in a Treadlightgear Toaks 700 (or is it 750?) stuff sack. It packs neatly and feels robust.
Of course, with the Toaks 550, you may not want or need a separate mug.

*Sized so that it slips over the cone upside down.
 

Bmblbzzz

Thru Hiker
Anywayz, I've been using a 1-litre "Alipot" from Alpkit's sale. It came as a set with a 1.7 litre pot, which I've found to be much bigger than I need. I'm also not too happy with the lid – it's fairly loose, so comes off when not in use unless in some sort of bag (Alpkit supply it with a mesh bag for this purpose) and because it fits round the outside of the pot, condensation drips out while in use. [Ed: I think maybe the idea is that you can use the lid as a frying pan. But I never do.)

Before that, I was using a smaller pot with a great lid, I think it's made by MSR, but it's steel so is heavy. The other advantage of the larger pot is things (mug, tea bags, stove, sometimes food) can fit inside it.

In terms of boiling once or twice, I tend to boil for each use. So boil a mugful for tea, then however much needed for food. The only exception is if I'm boiling eggs, I'll use the water they were boiled in to make tea. This means my tea contains extra calcium, which is good for bones and teeth (yeah, great justification!).
Last night I got around to measuring that MSR steel pot: 700ml. It's always been just about big enough for me. A bit small for something like pasta but I rarely take pasta (eat enough of it at home anyway!). And the 1 litre pot is larger than I've ever needed. So I'd say my ideal would be something like 800ml to 900ml. Your needs will vary, but this is useful for me to know (see criticism of Alipot lid!).
 

TinTin

Thru Hiker
My Alpkit 900ml Mytipot has always felt like a bit of overkill. It is 139g with silicone tube handle covers. I usually only bring water to the boil for tea and rehydration and almost always 600ml.

I've just bought a Toaks 650 light which may result in me reducing the volume boiled slightly or doing a 300ml boil and refill. It is 89g similarly equipped with silicone tube handle covers.
 

Bmblbzzz

Thru Hiker
Wow, that makes the titanium version only just over half the weight of the aluminium (1000ml) one! It looks like it has a better lid too (have I complained about the Alipot lids before? Oh yes I have!)

Smaller tends to be lighter but is not always less packed volume, if you can't then get other things (mug, gas cartridge, whatever) inside. But that's going to vary so much with the shape and size of what you personally have that you can't make a rule of it.
 

TinTin

Thru Hiker
Smaller tends to be lighter but is not always less packed volume, if you can't then get other things (mug, gas cartridge, whatever) inside. But that's going to vary so much with the shape and size of what you personally have that you can't make a rule of it.
A 100g gas canister fits in the Toaks Light 650ml and you can fit a lighter and a trusty BRS3000tin as well. The Alpkit 900ml fits a 230g canister but there's not much room for anything else.

For alcohol both would take a MYOG titanium windshield/pot-stand, stove, lighter etc etc but you'd have your fuel in a bottle elsewhere.

For me the 650ml is dialled in as the smallest size that does everything I want it to.
 

Bmblbzzz

Thru Hiker
My Alpkit 900ml Mytipot has always felt like a bit of overkill. It is 139g with silicone tube handle covers. I usually only bring water to the boil for tea and rehydration and almost always 600ml.

I've just bought a Toaks 650 light which may result in me reducing the volume boiled slightly or doing a 300ml boil and refill. It is 89g similarly equipped with silicone tube handle covers.
How did you get the handle covers on? Or maybe it came with them when you bought it (they're not visible in the photos on the website now).
 
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