Titanium mugs, and problems thereof

[Toddy]

We're clearing out the loft and apart from going through the normal cache of stuff in a loft there's all my camping kit too.
We've hauled down the rucksacks (mind Himself and Son2 have theirs in the pile too) but there are twenty rucksacks and some of them are full of kit.
One of mine has my Ti stuff in it. From cutlery to mugs and lids, I've been doing this for a long time, I end up with a lot of good kit, but the Ti mug was always a bit hit or miss. In the end I think I preferred the old Crusader cup, but the Alpkit Ti mug is a lot lighter to lug around. The handles, well all of it really, got uncomfortably hot, so I unhooked them and slid on a couple of long-ish springs. At least it let me pick it up without being scorched.
Looking at it now though, is there a better way ? I wondered about padding the handles, but with what ? I use the mug as a lightweight cook pot at times, most often on top of a hobo stove, so it would have to be something that didn't burn, or at least burn easily.

Any suggestions ?


M

 

[BigMonster]

Titanium is awesome because it's light, durable, nonreactive, pretty, space efficient, quality made. Also very cool with good bling factor.
It's bad because it's expensive (relatively) and useless for cooking. Because of the thinness for anything else than boiling water you need to use pita tricks like cooking on slow stoves, making your meals as soupy as possible, stirring pretty much non stop. Some people in UL world even use a "coaster" made from welding felt as a diffuser under the bottom of the pot.

For the handles you can simply unhook the wires and slip on some silicone or heatshrink tubing "Evernew" style.

For me it's great for hiking "cooking", but the moment I go stationary and want a proper meal I switch to anodised aluminium.

 

[Toddy]

I like the idea of the welding felt coaster. I'm going to pinch that one

I agree that it's great for the lightweight carry and the quick stop kind of thing.
I bit the bullet on the weight issue though; a sandwiched base to a cooking pot is well worth the extra.

Depends what I'm cooking but things like flat breads of all ilks, from oatcakes to naan, work fine in an non stick frying pan. The cheapo ones from Ikea have been excellent and very lightweight.

 

[TLM]

Phenolic resin tubes, pine bark is a natural phenolic material that could be formed into one. It is be the way a very good heat insulator. Does not burn easily.

 

[BigMonster]

Some more ideas here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/slkagi

 

[TLM]

Some silicones can take a lot of heat without too much damage, not the cheap ones though.

 

[TLM]

Triple

 

[TLM]

Double

 

[Toddy]

I figured out a long while ago that using the radiant heat from a fire is better for cooking than using direct heat. Doesn't quite work on a stove though. It allows me to use Ti pots and the like effectively however.

Archaeologically there are 'sort of' figure eight shaped hearths. The fire is one 'circle' but the cooking area is the other where pots are nestled in the ashes and embers pulled forwards from the fire end.
It works really well, especially if you have a low earth bank around the cooking area. Snuggles the pots in safely and keeps them cooking even when the embers die back.
Really good to safely dry off newly made clay pots too.

M

 

[Jared]

Could try wrapping with self fusing (amalgamating) silicone tape. It's supposed to be good up to 260C.

Or Sugru supposedly good to 180C and doesn't readily combust.

 

[Toddy]

I know that a campfire can easily enough be brought up to about 600C.
It can be pushed higher, but that's the rough figure for a 'hot' normal kind of fire. I think among the embers is more likely around the 250 to 300 range though.

I know about this from a clay ceramicising viewpoint, and some metallurgy. Around 600 we can get fairly decent firing of pottery, decent enough to make lasting cookware anyway. It's not the kind of firing that makes stuff like Denby, but it's hard enough to last the millennia and still be recognisibly pottery.

There are some really interesting sites out there on campfires, pottery, metal working and temperatures required.
For instance, this one even lists when the stuff like quartz and copper are affected.

Ceramic Temperatures

In firing traditional ceramics you need to understand the many milestone temperatures during firing where changes in body and glaze happen

digitalfire.com

 

[Billy-o]

Never really understood the logic of a mug which you have to plaster with gaffer tape in order not to burn your mouth off I like the GSI steel mug. Tatonka do a better one, but it is not always easy to find. Or a $3 enamel cheapie.

 

[Robson Valley]

As kids, we were taught to make "keyhole" fires. The archeological "figure-eight" that Toddy describes. The bigger round place was for heat and light and a source of coals to be dragged down the slot part for cooking. Dad always produced some sort of a kitchen oven wire grate to put the pots on.

 

[Toddy]

@Billy-o

Depends on how hot you take your tea

I like the crusader, but it's heavy compared to my Ti mug. Big too.
Also, the Ti mug is really cool if you use a lighter to 'draw' on it. Turns it sort of petrol on water colours. Years ago a bunch of us labelled ours with our names like that. Over ten years later mine still clearly says Toddy

 

[billycoen]

These are ok..https://speedsterstoves.co.uk/pot-rests/pot-handle-insulation.html

 

[Lean'n'mean]

At least it let me pick it up without being scorched.
Looking at it now though, is there a better way ?

A glove ?

 

[Toddy]

I've wrecked two pairs of really decent gloves doing just that. If it's hot enough to burn skin, it's hot enough to damage leather.......

 

[SaraR]

I've wrecked two pairs of really decent gloves doing just that. If it's hot enough to burn skin, it's hot enough to damage leather.......

Maybe a piece of sacrificial leather?

 

[TLM]

I used to have "camp gloves", very cheap ones that would take the damage, they usually lasted for about a year.

 

[Toddy]

@SaraR

It'd just be more hassle. The springs I have on it work, but they're metal and they do heat up too. No where near as hot as the Titanium though.
I have an interesting selection of ideas for new covers to try though

M