marlin55388 wrote on Dec 26^th, 2010 at 3:36pm:

I have also run Aluminium (Al), Titanium (Ti), and even Stainless Steel (SS) cooking hardware. Ditched the Al cuz I got sick of unbending the folds the pack put into it, and also a little scared of the consumption issues; they say that Al isn't particularly good to eat, and I too created a leaker. So then it was on to SS cuz the boy had a keen eye down at the outlet store. And hear I am at Ti in a weight saving mode. Ti is scorch worthy with its heat conduction characteristics ergo the need for a cozie or a socking cap...thank goodness for good stoves and Outback Oven heat defusers. Ti is difficult to burn holes in too.

I also ran this same sequence .. AL, SS, Ti (with some coated AL thrown in).  As Marlin suggest, if you want to take Ti, then you need to consider taking a heat diffuser if your are doing more than heating water.  They do scorch easy ... Evernew product a bit quicker than MSR version (I guess there is a reason they cost more).

I do generally take my MSR Ti set on trips, but IMHO if you want the best combination of everything (weight, heat retention, scorch resistance, easy clean-up, etc), the hands down winner is MSR Duralite (a coated aluminum product).  It seems to hold its coating a little better than Blacklite (another coating but a Duralite set equivalent).

Also, I'll admit that my heating habits are a bit different on a solo ... I save weight by eating directly from the cooking pot.  Who ELSE on the trip is it going to bother!

BTW:  I only take freeze dried foods on backpacking trips where the weight REALLY makes a big difference (but then only sparingly).  Its not so much of a weight (or even taste issue) with me as much as the rock in my gut after about 4 days of FD food.

However, if you are committed to the Freeze Dried thing, you might want to consider an alternative to the pot cozie, after all you are more interested in keeping the FOOD warm than the pot.  Go to one of your local Chinese food places that have take-out and see if you can get a hot/cold bag.  Its foil lined and designed to keep things hot or cold.  Then after you've added hot water to your food pouch, drop it in the hot/cold bag.  Its probably not quite as good as the cozie, but likely to be close enough with less volume to deal with.  (I guess you could just reuse a foil pouch that the freeze dried food comes in, but you'd have to clean it and it doesn't offer as much insulation.)  If you are uncomfortable raiding a restaurant for a bag, you can buy them or even something better (e.g.   (You need to Login or Register or maybe the   (You need to Login or Register).

dd