Like the genius of foldable kayaks, GSI perfected the flat-lying foldable cookpot. If you intend to mostly car camp or dont mind carrying extra weight, its hard to beat the MSR Alpine Stowaway for the price. As this pot is larger than the others we considered, we were pleased to see that it can also fit a 450 mL mug inside. Rounded corners push heat up along the sides for more efficient cooking, the thoughtful kind of feature that makes it a quality product, even at a budget price. Because cookware can afford to get wet (unlike stuff that needs to stay inside your backpack to stay dry, like your warm clothes). My book, the National Outdoor Book Award-winning Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike, has chapters on gear, cooking, and nutrition all of which are relevant to finding a good cookpot. Photo by Liz Thomas. A snug lid keeps heat in better, but some aluminum foil can do the trick, too. What makes the Toaks Titanium 750 mL our favorite of the vast and sometimes overwhelming Toaks Titanium collection is its compact and convenient shape and size. Photo by Liz Thomas. For those cooking for groups, the Halulite pot is available in a 1.8 L size as well as a larger 3.2 L size. But the Snow Peak Trek is in an uncanny valley of more expensive and better featured than our budget/overall pick while also being less expensive but not as featured as our upgrade pick. Note where the water level reaches on your spoon and make a notch on your spoon with a knife or oil-based Sharpie. It has a handy button/switch that locks and unlocks, requiring less finger dexterity than the Halulites system. But when you consider the sheer amount of cookware pieces you get in the set, the price seems more reasonable. Squatter pots like the TOAKS 900 mL D130 wide pot that we tested, can have some benefits.

While at first glance, this could be convenient, in the field we found that its too small to fry up anything but a minnow and too pot-like to snap on the pot like a normal lid. An Amazon reviewer found a quick way to fix thisjust use rubber bands.

The TOAKS 750 mL is the perfect balance of price, weight, and usefulness.

While many of the GSIs benefits are true for all anodized aluminum pots, the Halulite has thoughtful features that make it easier to use than similar pots on the market. It definitely doesnt fit a box of Mac N Cheese. Material: TitaniumSizes available: 0.85 L and 2LWeight: 4.2 ozInsulated handle or lid?

Titanium cookware is about 45% lighter than steel and stronger than aluminum, according to Outdoor Gear Lab (see Sources). 750 mL is right in our target zone for a good volume for a solo trekker (or a group trekker who cooks their own meal). Photo courtesy Liz Thomas. For comparison, the solo titanium TOAKS 750 mL, the lightest pot we considered, is 3.6 oz. Liquid gradation lines on the inside and outside of the pot can help you portion just the water you need to make freeze-dried meals or the perfect cup of coffee. You can save weight with smaller pots, but having carried a 550 mL before, our writers have found its annoying to have to boil water multiple times to get enough water for a full meal. Another nice feature of the Halulite is that it features liquid measuring lines that are visible on the inside and outside of the pot. The most stand-out feature on Evernew pots is that all the handles are insulated (not just the lid like on the MSR Titan Kettle). Its the perfect size to make a freeze-dried meal (plus have extra hot water for hot cocoa). It also is big enough to simmer a full package of ramen noodles, box of Mac N Cheese, or cook up oatmeal, rice, or spaghetti (break the noodles in half!). The entire system is durable enough to last decades but lightweight enough to take on a short family backpacking trip. The professional review sites we analyzed were Adventures in Stoving, Adventure Junkies, Backpacking Light, Bike Magazine, Greenbelly, Outdoor Gear Lab, Reddit, Section Hiker, and TrailGroove. An slight spout at the lip makes pouring from this pot easy. This multi-piece cook set has all the pots, pans, plates, bowls, and mugs you need for an outdoor trip and doesnt require you to choose pots and pans piece-by-piece. In fact, at 7.5 oz, it is 1.2 oz lighter than the Halulite, the other hard-anodized aluminum cookware of the same size. But fear not, we don't allow our judgment to be influenced by these arrangements! Everything is color-coded so you can tell which set is yours and which piece got dragged off by a bear. The only complaint weve seen (and its true for most Titanium pots except for the MSR Titan) is that the lid doesnt snap into the pot. Copyright 2022 Treeline Review LLC. The least sexy part of choosing a pot is actually sophisticated.

If you can get your hands on the Evernew Pasta Pot, its well worth the price and will serve you for decades. Anodized aluminum is, in our calculations, about 150% heavier than a titanium pot of the same size.

Photo by Liz Thomas. Photo by Brian Davidson. It is designed for backpacking, so is more compact and lightweight than other stainless steel stoves we considered including those by Stanley. This is a similar design to the GSI Halulite, but we found the Ceramic Pot was a lot easier to attach and detach. The Ceramic Pot lacks a spout (like on the MSR Titan), but the lid does have an ok strainer for draining out pasta water. It should stay stable on a backpacking stove, avoiding becoming tipping or tall enough to be top heavy. One of the advantages of the Halulite over other anodized pots we considered is GSIs thoughtful insulated handle system. If youre looking for tips on other backpacking gear, check out our: Best Backpacking Backpack guide, our Best Backpacking Tents guide, or our Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads story. Its also a bigger pot than the Halulite, so well suited for two people. What put the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Cookset on top of other cook sets is the thoughtful features to make camp life easier.

Related: Pacific Crest Trail Gear List & Strategy. The MSR Titan also makes ramen, rice, and Mac N Cheese or a freeze-dried meal with some extra cocoa water to spare. Here, the pot is shown on a section of the Pacific Northwest Trail in the Mt. But perhaps most notably, we love this system for folks who live in small apartments or have limited space. Despite the name, this 1.3 L pot is actually a good size for two people at a weight per person that is just as light as the titanium pots we considered. If youre car camping, chances are youll be cooking on a grill or two-burner Coleman Classic Propane Campstove. Sure, you could assemble a set of disposable or Dollar Store plastic plates and cups for a lower price, but the GSI Pinnacle is the sort of quality set that will last a childhood of car camping, backpacking, and canoe trips. The 2020 updated version uses Fusion ceramic is tougher than the previous version. It also works with alcohol stoves, which we didnt cover in our stove guide. Mugs work for left and right-handed people. They can be too tall or tippy when boiling water and have stability issues. Here, the circular stove has become somewhat oval such that the lid doesnt stay on neatly. If thats the case, youll want a flat-bottomed piece of cookware that can afford to be heavy. The downside of the GSI Pinnacle Cookset is its expensive. This pot is a long-time favorite of backpackers including Section Hiker and Greenbelly. If you intend to fish on your backpacking trip and cook what you catch, or just want some breakfast eggs, anodized aluminum will handle subtle temperature differences better than titanium.

Its a top seller at REI and Amazon and a favorite of Section Hiker, Well Traveled Mile, and Adventure Junkies. Strainers allow you to drain that pasta water quickly. This should be enough to cover a family of four on a camping and/or kid-friendly backpacking trip. Additionally, the plastic pieces are BPA-free, which you may not find so easily when assembling your own discount set. In fact, the lid on the MSR Titan Kettle is so snug that you have to hold down the handles to pull the lid off. Photo by Naomi Hudetz. Note that some people with arthritis or smaller hands found this to be difficult. Most users report that the pots and pans work well on Coleman stoves and with the Jetboil Flash and a pot stand. Weve found that squatter titanium pots can also be more susceptible to warping and turning from circular to ovaloid. Its a spectrum.

We gave extra points to pots that had a way to secure their lid to the pot, at least while in transit if not during the cooking process. Unlike titanium cookware, stainless steel pots can go directly over a campfire. Titanium is quite good at cooling quickly, so if you have patience, it shouldnt be a big deal. Because it folds down, the GSI Escape 3L with Frypan works well for car camping, where packing a vehicle full of gear for everyone can sometimes be challenging without a van. If youre bikepacking or bicycle touring: packability will be your biggest priority. Note that like all titanium and aluminum cookware, MSR advises that you dont want to put this one directly on a fire. If you have a pot that does not have a notch system, we recommend this practice at home: fill your pot with desired measurements then put your camping spoon into the pot. Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may receive a small percentage of any purchase you make. Unlike Teflon, the non-stick materials that flake off into your food are inert. The various sizes of the MSR Alpine Stowaway stainless steel cooking pots. A big pot may not fit nicely into the outside front mesh pocket of a backpack, which is our preferred spot to stash cookware. Campers concerned about durability and price may prefer a stainless steel pot. This is because the flame hits a wider surface area of the pot so more heat transfers to your pots contents more quickly. Unlike the TOAKS, its lid handle has insulation so you can peek at your meal as it cooks without having to put on gloves first. We spent 150+ nights testing the best headlamps for brightness, battery life, comfort, and ease-of-use for backpacking, hiking, running, climbing, and camping. Chances are if youre car camping, youll want to show off your backcountry gourmet skills to friends and family.

We recommend a hard-anodized aluminum cookpot as well as a ceramic non-stick pot that can handle subtle changes in temperature for simmering, baking, and sauting. The Halulite is an affordable, reliable, durable option for backpackers who want more versatility in cooking than offered by titanium cookware. Like all the pots that made our winners list, the Halulite fits a fuel canister and backpacking stove inside (see our Best Backpacking Stoves guide if youre looking for one that will fit this pot). Unlike the TOAKS 750 mL, the MSR Titan Kettle lid always has a consistent fit, whether youre cooking a meal or stashing your cook set in your backpack. All the pieces nest together to reduce space in your cars trunk or backpack. This can really drive some people nuts. With the 750 mL, you get a vessel that doubles as a mug and pot. The pot gripper locks onto the side of the pots and pans at an angle where its impossible for it to scratch the pans nonstick coating. To make our short list of cookpots, all the pots had to be of a size and shape that could hold a 110g fuel canister and a small backpacking stove. Then we read hundreds of customer reviews. If you do go with the 550 L to save weight, its important to note it doesnt fit a full ramen packet.

Sign up to be the first to receive updates on gear giveaways, new articles, and live events! The pot lids come with easy-to-lift strainers to make draining pasta water easier. BothLiquid measuring lines: Inside and outside of potWhat we like: even burn that can handle temperature differences for ACTUAL cooking, insulated lid and handle, durability, priceWhat we dont like: pricer than other aluminum pots, heavier than titanium.

Its greatest convenience is that the lid stays flush against the pot, meaning you can use it like a kettle--controlling liquid as it comes from the spout without worrying that the whole lid will fall off and spill water everywhere.