Titanium cooking pots are they a waste of money

[Tony]

Now that I have your attention.

Like a lot of other bushwalkers I own a set of expensive Titanium cooking pots and in the past I was convince that this was the only way to go, I have even pushed this view on forums, but recently I have changed to some cheap aluminium cooking pots and I am now convinced that Titanium pots are a waste of money.

Example

My Snow Peak Titanium pot set which with two pots, lids and bag weighs in at 316.7g, I recently borrowed a set of lightweight MSR Titan pots, this kit includes pots of 1l and 1.5l volume, the two MSR Titan pots came with one lid, a a pot grabber and storage bag comes in with a total weight of 306.6 grams, this set retails in Australia for A$189. I have done a search and most pots around these volumes weigh around these weights.

My two cheap Al pots that I mostly use in the field, a 1.5l pot and a 1.75l pot, with two lids, pot grabber and storage bag the total weight comes to 312.2 grams, 6 grams heavier than the Titan pot set, the pots cost me $24 and all up with pot grabber the cost was $31.00. Like the Titan pot set if I only use one pot lid, I can save nother 30 grams this makes my pots set 24 grams lighter with 750mls more volume.

If I use some the cheap aluminium pots with the same volume as the Titan Ti pots a 1l pot and a 1.5l pot with one lid the total weight is 219.6 grams, this is a saving of over 30 grams for the pots alone and the two Al pots with my lightened pot grabber and storage bag from the Snow peak Ti pots, the saving is even greater, at 255.2g this is a saving of 51.4 g over the 306.6g Titan Ti pot set, the 1l pot cost A$8 and the 1.5l pot costs A$10 so this two pot set costs $18 and with the $7 for the pot grabber the pot set comes to a total of $25.

Efficiency of Titanium vs Aluminium.

Alunimium has a thermal conductivity of around 15 times that of Titanium but in my tests, two pots of the same size but the different materials are very close in performance. Why? I am not quite sure but one influence is that thermal conductivity is factor of thickness and Titanium pots are thinner than aluminium pots, another is the emmisivity of the Titanium pots is better than the shinny Aluminium pots and another reason could be because of the thermal conductivity and emmisivity the heat loss through the side walls are less in the Titanium pots.

We will now look at the advantages and diadvantages of Titanium and Aluminium pots

Advantages Titanium
Titanium is tougher than aluminium and therefore is more resistant to denting.

Disadvantages Titanium
Poor heat conductor, food burns easily.
Very expensive
Hard to find

Advantages Aluminium
Good heat conductor
Very light
Very cheap easy to obtain

Disadvantages aluminium
Can dent easily

Note: some people will not use aluminium pots because of the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease, from what I can find out this is a myth, there is no evidence that cooking in aluminium pots has any link to Alzheimer's disease.


Conclusion

I am unable to find any reason why Titanium cooking pots should be preferred over Aluminium cooking pots, my view is that Titanium pots are a waste of money.

Tony

[Macca81]

aluminium can dent easier, but how rough would you have to be with them? my trangia pots get thrown around, i have used one to knock in tent pegs, throw them im the back of the 4wd, throw them at my mates when they are being smart *&^%$#@!, drop them on the rocks and loose my dinner while watching the sun set over the water... they still look like pots and are still the same shape! i think i have a cpl of dents in the trangina 'windshield' part, but thats thinner and cops all the abuse when packed up... my scout group has had the same trangias for 15+ years, and there is nothing tougher on gear than a 13 year old scout who doesnt give a toss!


so yes, titanium is more resistant to denting, but aluminium is not so prone to it that it should be a major factor in your decision making IMHO.


i will say, that if you accidently jump on a aluminium pot, you will squash it flat...
on the same note, if you jump on a titanium pot when you weigh 115kg, it prob wont come out unscathed either...
moral of the story, dont jump on your pots.

[ninjapuppet]

my plastic fork broke so I needed a new fork. Didnt want to carry my full sized kitchen fork because it was too heavy.

Looked at some light foldable metal forks, and titanium seemed to be the only thing sold in most camping stores for about twenty bucks.
then saw a folding fork set from rays outdoors for $2. to be honest, it does its job just as good as a fork 10x its price equally light.

when getting my recent pot, i was after a certain base width preferably in aluminium, or anodised aluminium. titanium seemed to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but aluminium was much more limited. The shape i wanted was only offered in Ti so thats the one i got but i do sometimes wonder if it is because of increased profits on manufaturer's behalf, that they push titanium sales

Medical tests so far are generally inconclusive. The link is less than the mobile phone to your brain. if aluminium was positvely correlated with alzheimers and confirmed around the world, they would be banned by now.

[Franco]

Tony
I generally agree with your comments.
Recently I had to buy a larger pot to melt snow (my 3 Ti pots are 1L or less) for $9 I purchased a 1.5L pot that I could use with a caldera Cone with a small modification.
It is only 125g for the pot and 30g for the lid (I i could lighten that...) and worked well for me.
Apart from denting, Ti can have the advantage over aluminium of not reacting to acidic food. Some can detect an acidic change in the taste of tomatoes for example.
(ask any Italian mama )

Franco

[sthughes]

I agree titanium cookware is a waste of money.
Having said that I always use a Snowpeak 600ml Ti mug, mainly because I got it sort of free, I doubt I would have paid full price for it - certainly not locally anyway. The biggest thing I like about Ti is how easy it is to clean compared to aluminium. When I need a bigger pot I still have my aluminium set, which I have no desire to "upgrade".
Ti is much heavier than aluminium and although it is stronger, in most cases this is not (or can not practically) be taken advantage of in bushwalking gear. Take the Sea to Summit long handled spoons. The Ti spoon weighs more because it is identical to Aluminium one in dimensions, but both are more than strong enough, the Ti one excessively so in my opinion.
With pots, making use of the Ti's strength means making them thinner, but in doing so 'hot spotting' becomes even worse, combine that with Ti's poor heat conductance and you have cookware that is practically useless except for boiling water! Hence they get manufactured thick, and hence they are heavier than Aluminium stuff, and still worse for hot spotting.
So in my opinion unless you are after out and out strength or slightly easier to clean cookware, aluminium is the way to go, especially on a budget!

P.s. I didn't know that about acidic foods!

[Tony]

Hi Macca,

my trangia pots get thrown around, i have used one to knock in tent pegs, throw them im the back of the 4wd, throw them at my mates when they are being smart *&^%$#@!, drop them on the rocks and loose my dinner while watching the sun set over the water... they still look like pots and are still the same shape! i think i have a cpl of dents in the trangina 'windshield' part, but thats thinner and cops all the abuse when packed up... my scout group has had the same trangias for 15+ years, and there is nothing tougher on gear than a 13 year old scout who doesnt give a toss!

Trangia pots are a bit thicker than most aluminium pots, I would say this is to distribute the heat better.

Hi Ninjapuppet,

wonder if it is because of increased profits on manufaturer's behalf

This is a very good point, and also a gear shop has less profit margins on a $10 pot.

Hi Franco,

Ti can have the advantage over aluminium of not reacting to acidic food.

Another good point, my pots have some corrosion inside but after a couple of years use it is very small.

Hi sthughes,

So in my opinion unless you are after out and out strength or slightly easier to clean cookware

I actually find my aluminium pots easier to clean than my titanium pots.

Tony

[Nuts]

I have a set of the MSR titanium exo pots. While full price they are well named i do prefer them to aluminum, price aside. The main reason I bought this system was mostly size and features. They all nest inside each other so 2/3 people can carry a large (2.4L? and 1.5L) pot set, as well as plates, cups, stoves etc in the one. They also have a great handle system (always the downfall of the non stick pots with grabbers) and not bad lids. Without racing off to weigh them or searching to prove a point;; each pot is Very light! They are still undented and they do not get 'hot spots' though they are about as sticky as aluminum. For what you get I guess the differences are minimal, and would agree, money is wasted (though isnt this often the case?) Now off to pitch that *&^(*^ tent

[Franco]

I have a set of the MSR titanium exo pots. While full price they are well named

I like that...


BTW, did you know that about half of the titanium comes from here ?
(here is Australia, not my desk)
Franco

[Cocksy_86]

I posted this on a forum ages ago...

The car was parked and I was about to hit the trail. While tieing my shoelaces, my pack fell out of the car and onto the road. Luckily not landing on my GPS which was my main concern. Not thinking anything of it I continued with my day.

Around the campfire that night I found my plastic cup (that I got cheap at the supermarket) was broke. I tried to melt it together but with little success. So there and then I decided to get a stronger type of cup. Later that week I went to the store to find a MSR Titanium Cup weighing only 55 grams. It was going for $115 AU which is about $180 US I think.

I went away and thought about it. I then went to Big W and got a steel cup for $6 AU. It weighs 75 grams. I was about to drop $110 AU to save 20 grams. A bit silly I know. I don't think I'll ever pay that money because if I'm that intense about saving weight. I'll just drink out of the saucepan.

[Nuts]

Crazy world Franco! Mined from WA beach sand isnt it? Sent to China to be made into pots, off to the US for marketing, back here for markup and then I get it....

[Nuts]

yer, i wouldnt pay that sort of money for a cup, even gold plated!

[Charlievee]

Yes, I'm still experimenting .... I have both types, but am leaning to the ali "halulite" pot and lid. The pot weighs only grams more, has a mini frypan for a lid (not that I fry much stuff but did have a few small steaks last weekend !) and fits my mug a bit better. I also think we need to keep things in perspective. As Cocksy commented above : is it worth the $110 to drop 20 grams ? I like a light pack, but think my biggest weight savings come from lightening my pack, sleeping bag and shelter. I love my trail food, so it's important for me to have a good kitchen. YMMV. Regards, CV

[Son of a Beach]

Good points, Tony (and others)! I succumbed to Titanium fever last year, and put a couple of pots, lids and knife, fork, spoon and spork on my christmas list. I ended up getting the full set that I wanted, without having to pay for it.

However, I did immediately think that it didn't seem particularly lighter than aluminium pots which I'd always used in the past. It is terrible for frying, I found, and I do a bit of frying (steak, onion, bacon, eggs, stir frys, etc). So I think next time I will buy aluminium again, especially for the frypan (which usually is part of a pot/lid set, anyhow).

I do like my titanium cutlery, however. For some reason, I've always liked using solid (non-folding) cutlery when walking. My complete titanium set is the fully shiny titanium, so feels a lot like the stainless steel cutlery I use at home. I think titanium is good for the cutlery, as it is substantially stronger than aluminium, and this is more significant with cutlery, which can be prone to bending. (I have four pieces of cutlery so that I can choose which pieces to take walking, depending on what I'm planning to cook/eat - sometimes just the spork, and sometimes the knife/spoon/fork set).

I totally agree with others about the mugs. I went in to a local shop to buy a titanium mug once, but when I found it was $60, I couldn't justify that, and stuck with the steel mug, which is not terribly heavy anyhow, and it certainly strong.