Which billy can?

[Dozza]

I need to get a hanging billy can; what are the recommendations for ease of use, cleaning and packing?
Endis have the German 'kidney shape' military ones for £3.50 'New' i.e. almost free! Presumably it is aluminium.
Otherwise there are round aluminium ones for about £12 and stainless steel for a bit more (which diameter would you generally go for with round ones?).
Thanks.

 

[durulz]

You'll need something with a bail arm then, or have to add one yourself.
The obvious answer is to go for a stainless steel Zebra billy - either 12cm or 14cm. These cost about £15.
The other alternative is to make one yourself. A stainless steel tea/coffee/sugar container from Wilkos will only cost a couple of quid. Then drill a couple of holes in it, get a bit of chain or bike brake cable and voila!

 

[keen-edge]

You'll need something with a bail arm then, or have to add one yourself.
The obvious answer is to go for a stainless steel Zebra billy - either 12cm or 14cm. These cost about £15.
The other alternative is to make one yourself. A stainless steel tea/coffee/sugar container from Wilkos will only cost a couple of quid. Then drill a couple of holes in it, get a bit of chain or bike brake cable and voila!

I think making one is more fun i made this one from a stainless steel tea coffee and sugar pot cost £1.50 from a secondhand shop the wire around the lid made the handle works great size is 10cm wide and 120cm deep

 

[rik_uk3]

The best metal for transferring heat evenly is Aluminium, stainless steel and Titanium are nowhere near as good.

The German sets are fine for one person and the round (nesting?) sets are great. If your just having a brew or making noodles etc a two pint pot is fine but for more realistic cooking I think a four pint/two litre is a minimum size for one or two people. I've used the round aluminium sets for forty years but recently got a set of Tatonka stainless steel pans which are very good quality and I think forum member Lurch sells them (mine came from Germany).

 

[FGYT]

definatly think about what size you need to cook the stuff you want

IMO the 10cm sized stuff is to small and i can do all that in my metal mug
so i go fora 12cm as a min and a 14cm zebra as ideal for 1 -2 ish

also remeber tall thin billys burn on the bottom easier than short fat ones of the same capacity etc (which are also better at frying etc as well)

ATB

Duncan

 

[kai055]

i went for a 16cm zebra billy can off ebay

 

[rik_uk3]

Remember, a bigger pot is not wasted space, in one three litre pot I got recently (Primus ETA, fantastic ) I pack a Nova stove, ladle, wooden spoon and brew kit.

 

[crushthesystem]

I use a tatonka 1.6 litre "kettle" which i have found to be a great piece of kit. It has a wide base which seems to boil water and heat food a lot quicker than a zebra but i am thinking of making myself a hobo stove and billy from ikea or asda or wilkos or wherever i end up going when i can get away with spending the small amount it will cost.

 

[Ahjno]

What size are you looking for?

I went from a 12cm Zebra billy to a alu Trangia kettle (0.9 ltr). When I need a bigger pot (billy), I have a 2.5 ltr stainless paint tin with bail arm (new, never seen any pain, cost me about 2-3 EURO from my local DIY).

 

[Dozza]

Thanks all for some great input.

keen-edger: Clever, like it!

 

[oscari]

I have a 16cm,a 12cm and a 10cm zebra billy the ten is not much use as it's a bit small The 12 is great as its big enogh for me but the one that goes out most is the 16cm mainly because it holds enough for 6 people to have a good stew and it'doesn't take up hardly any space in my bergan as it is always filled with stuff anyway.

 

[keen-edge]

Thanks all for some great input.

keen-edger: Clever, like it!

thanks buddy

 

[wentworth]

aluminium is second best in the heat transferance scales but actually bad for humans as a cooking vessel.

The correct answer is...........
Copper as found on the base of the Sweedish Eagle Balkjele

Hi Bert,
are you talking about the old alzheimers/ aluminium myth? That's been pretty much disproven.

 

[Dozza]

Hi Bert,
are you talking about the old alzheimers/ aluminium myth? That's been pretty much disproven.

This crossed my mind. Is this the case now; has it gone the way of CJD, MMR, cellphone rays etc?

I should know - I am a chemist and was in the medical area for years - but I don't!

 

[phill_ue]

Yup, it has been busted.

On another note, if your food is sticking to the bottom of the pan, you have the heat too high. Adjust your stove or raise your pot higher above the fire. If food sticks, such as rice, then leave the pot to one side off the eat with the lid on for five minutes or so and it will unstick itself. The pros and cons of deep narrow over short squat billies is an argument that will go on forever. The obvious answer is to go with what you've got and learn how to use it efficiently. If you want a fast boil in a strong wind, either pot will suffice, build your fire up on the side of your billy and the wind will blow the flame around the billy. You will get a very rapid boil in this way. I can see no complete advantage of one shape over another, so will not be changing my billies to a short squat type. I will also continue to use stainless and my Crusader as I can dig with my crusader mug, loosen up the earth with a digging stick and bail the mud out with the mug.

 

[rik_uk3]

aluminium is second best in the heat transferance scales but actually bad for humans as a cooking vessel.

The correct answer is...........
Copper as found on the base of the Sweedish Eagle Balkjele

Sorry about that, the data I saw put best pot metals in order Aluminium was better than stainless steel and much better than Titanium.

No valid clinical based evidence that aluminium is in fact harmful for us to use. Over recent years I spoke to several psychiatrists (dementia specialists) and asked about the ali/dementia link, not proved was the replies and one called it an urban myth. Lurch has some good links to research IIRC.

 

[rik_uk3]

One thing with pots is to practise at home with them cooking the type of food you will prep when camping, sort of get a feel for them.

 

[johnboy]

I use some excellent pots from SIGG.

Locking bail and a nice tight fitting lid there good on a stove as in the picture or over a fire. Aluminium construction. SIGG have discontinued them but they pop up on US EBAY from time to time... They were the favourite billy of Colin Fletcher who devoted a few pages to them in the 'Complete Walker III'

Also good for melting snow....

 

[rik_uk3]

Best conductivity

Material/Substance
Silver 430
Copper 401
Aluminum 250
Magnesium 156
Brass 109
Nickel 91
Iron 80
Tin Sn 67
Steel, Carbon 43
Lead Pb 35
Titanium 21.9
Steel, Stainless 16

so I was wrong, Titanium is better than stainless steel.

 

[MrEd]

i have a 12cm ( i think) tatonka billy, its lid doubles as a fry pan. its great i love it