Cookware: Titanium, Aluminum, or...Paper?

This thread is for comments on the article "Cookware: Titanium, Aluminum, or...Paper?"

Would you buy a foldable, disposable cooking pot made out of... paper? Alex Lee hopes so. He designed the 100-percent paper, origami-inspired Hexa Pot for boiling water indoors or out. The idea came after watching his wife carry paper plates to the family campsite while he hauled pots and pa...

Full article at http://www.trailspace.com/blog/2012/01/10/hexa-pot-paper-pot.html

NOT for me.

Ounce-for-ounce, and for long-term durability, as well as ease of cleaning, ALUMINUM has been, and will be, my choice in cookware.

Titanium IS lighter, but not by a great margin. But, so what? It is expensive.

BTW -- Those who shun aluminum cookware, because of ingesting trace amounts of the toxic compound are ill-informed. Underarm deodorants inflict about 10,000 times more aluminum into the human system than cookware.

Paper, as this article features, has a major limitation ... that being the flame must be precisely positioned ... not to mention its single use application.

ANYHOW ! I use copper cookware at home, almost exclusively. Aluminum just for outdoor activities.

~~ r2 ~~

Don't see this as a useful idea aside some very, very specific usages maybe around disaster relief efforts either. Surely not something I would support for the "normal" hiker. Either a real pot of if you are into the Origami style you can use Orikaso or similar products (o.k., you can't cook in them)... Doubt that they will reach their 25k funding goal anyhow.

I think I'd be more inclined to invest in this project if you could eat the pot after use. I think they should try making it out of fruit leather. LOL!

In Boy Scouts in the late 60s to early 70s we used to demonstrate that water could be boiled in a paper cup. The water inside the cup even after boiling is cooler than the fire beneath allowing the inner paper not to burn until the water boiled away. Would not work in a styrofoam cup!

I would have never though tho that someone would take this trick and make cooking pots out of it.

philipwerner said:

I think I'd be more inclined to invest in this project if you could eat the pot after use. I think they should try making it out of fruit leather. LOL!

Look at this site!

E.A.T. Edible camping and hiking equipment
This company claims to make camping gear you can eat...Funny!
http://www.ediblegear.com

philipwerner said:

I think I'd be more inclined to invest in this project if you could eat the pot after use. I think they should try making it out of fruit leather. LOL!

 I'm eagerly awaiting Philip's Fruit Leather Edible Pot on Kickstarter!

Alicia check this out: http://www.ediblegear.com

Wow - I haven't seen that site for a few years. It's a funny spoof on UL backpacking and well deserved. 

Writing my kickstarter business plan now....Just you wait!

Yeah its a great site, be nice if it was for real!

I wouldn't trade my titanium kettle for anything! It makes a perfect portion of cous-cous, filters cowboy coffee, and fits a standard gas canister perfectly.  I'm eager to try the paper though - I just can't believe it works.

Well....you can get an aluminum grease pot, strainer, and lid from WalMart for around  6.00 USD. They make good economy pots.

I use pots as the hardy storage compartment for my cooking kit.

I have earned quite a few beers over the years proving you can boil water in paper & styrofoam cups. Some people just don't believe it until they see it. I didn't either, the "proof" cost me 10.00 IIRC.

Best of luck to them, neat concept, but not for me.

Mike G.

I am using 1950's boy scout mess kit. $1.50 at a garage sale. I had to rivet a handle once but it's pretty indestructible. It's very light, I think it's aluminum. You just can't go wrong on the price.

That Eastern Active Technologies (EAT) gear site is hilarious.

Here is my favorite question on their FAQ page:

Question: Aren't animals attracted to equipment made of out food?

Answer: No. Animals aren't stupid. Animals don't consider Edible Gear food. You on the other hand, are clearly smart enough to understand that weight saving takes precedence over everything. As you're choking down your sleeping pad just think to yourself how easy it'll be to heft that pack tomorrow morning with two ounces less weight.

Then, I tried to place an order for 10 Pesto Pasta flavored "California Roll" Sleeping pads, but there was an error telling me to either:

• Print your order form, tape it the back of a mental patient and hope that he/she wanders near our offices; or
• Go away angry and frustrated.

Good Stuff. Thanks Gary.

I'm sticking with my Snow Peak Ti.  7oz for two pots that will last a lifetime, and then some.  

My wife and I are still loving our Bugaboo skillet set. I've had it for over a decade and we love baking in it. Titanium is really nice, but costly. I'd really like to find a lightweight titanium skillet set that I could bake in, but I doubt I'd want to pay for it. But, paper? I have to deal with enough disposable stuff in regular life.

Welcome to Trailspace, JasonLooseArrow! 

Do I see you are wearing a kilt in your profile photo? I do not own any hiking kilts, but I would like to get one someday. 

Still like my converted Foster's can for a cook pot, but if the going might get rough I'll still take my MSR ti kettle.  Paper is interesting, but just doesn't appeal to me.  I have cooked bacon & eggs in a paper bag & boiled an egg in a paper cup for new scouts on a fire to get their attention.  I love to see their reactions.

Well to me if I wanted something new and light I might go with a paper pot, but the list price for these are way to costly.

I am trying to create less recycling and trash already.  I'll pass.  I'm not that green, but it just seems wasteful.

Thanks for the welcome, gonzan. I've been wearing kilts, especially for backpacking, for about four years. I love backpacking in a kilt and have probably done 90 days on the trail with one. I know that they're expensive, but shoot for a birthday prize!

JasonLooseArrow said:

Thanks for the welcome, gonzan. I've been wearing kilts, especially for backpacking, for about four years. I love backpacking in a kilt and have probably done 90 days on the trail with one. I know that they're expensive, but shoot for a birthday prize!

"Utilikilt" ??

~ r2 ~

I've been wearing Sport Kilts from SportKilt.com. The first one was the Original kilt. It's very nice, but a little warm around the waist band and a tad heavy. A year or so after I bought it, SportKilt.com had a photo contest. I probably had about 100 photos at the time of me and the kilt. So, I sent a bunch in and won a free kilt.

This time I chose a lighter kilt, the Hiker. I also added pockets and sewn-down pleats. These options worked out wonderfully, although I later removed the stitching in the pleats along my sides, increasing mobility, but retaining form in the rear. The Original's fabric is far more breathable, but heavier while the Hiker fabric is not very breathable, but much lighter. Both, of course, have an enormous amount of air circulation from below. To anyone who asks specifically, I recommend the Hiker, with sewn down pleats and pockets in a neutral color. I sewed in my own 'rock pockets', but you can ask them if they'll do it - or ship it to me and I'd do it for you for free.

To both kilts, I added 'rock pockets'. In these, I place small stones to weigh down the hem of the kilts when it gets windy and we're around other people, such as when crossing the dam at Hetch Hetchy. Obligatory disclaimer: I wear nothing underneath. I have, but it really detracts from the experience.

I wear a kilt backpacking unless the bugs are brutal or it's snowing. I've worn a kilt in the rain, during wind storms, sleet, and under a lot of other conditions. The flexibility, the ventilation, and the feeling of simply wearing less is simply outstanding. I avoid wearing anything else.

I marry the kilt with sandals unless I know I'll spend a lot of time in snow. The combination of kilt and sandals is exceptional. It also seems that the chicks dig 'em and are a real conversation starter. If you're brave, picture what it would be like hiking down the windy Yosemite Falls trail when groups of people are hiking up. Note: 'rock pockets' mandatory.
I can't endorse kilts enough, or SportKilt enough. Know also that I do not work for them or receive any compensation in any form.

I, too, welcome you, JasonLooseArrow ....    Nice to have you aboard.

Congrats on the affection for,  and use of kilts for hiking.   I reckon I'll be giving them a try, in the near future.  

I happened upon kilts, when I visited Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, in Charlottesville, Virginia.   I fellow that works there wears them.   He uses the "Utilikilt"-branded versions.    Heavy, also ... and 'pricey' ($200 + ).

He intimated that when asked, "What do you wear underneath those?" ... he replies, "Shoes" (or "boots").

Thanks for the info ....

~ r2 ~

Stainless for me 

Callahan said:

Stainless for me 

 As long as it isn't from CHINA !

I have some "stainless" odds-'n-ends from China, and they are no longer "stainless".

Crappy alloys, with a lot of impurities.

"Junk is junk ... the world over".

   ~ r2 ~

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