Tim Tinker has once again come through with a great idea. This time he has alerted me to where you can purchase some pretty good ultralight pots. A set costs as little as US$10 on Amazon, Aliexpress & Ebay. They are usually advertised as ‘mixing bowls’ and come with plastic lids for fridge storage etc. Of course you will have to add the (5-10 grams) weight of an Ultralight Pot Lifter to the bowl. There appear to be a number of different manufacturers. Some feedback is requested (below).
We are talking about 1 litre pots which weigh as little as 56 grams or 1.4 litre pots which weigh 63 grams. You can’t beat that with any of the commercial hiking cook pots and they cost many times more.
Tim has a series of interesting posts about them including:
Four Nesting Backpacking Pots for 300 Grams
Light Cooking Pot Lid/Frying Pan from the Opportunity Shop
He always has something for you to learn.
Not all the pot suppliers have the same pots so you might needs some ‘tinkering’ yourself to come up with the correct suppliers for the most desirable pots. We would both be interested in what you learn.
Here is a graphic from Tim of some pots he has bought.
| A series pot (inside) | B series pot (outside) | Difference (B-A) | |
| Pot1 | |||
| Base rings # | Two | One | |
| Pot weight (g) | 69 | 89 | 20 |
| Pot height (mm) | 66 | 63 | -3 |
| Pot capacity (cc/g)* | 1450 | 1409 | -41 |
| Pot2 | |||
| Base rings # | Two | One | |
| Pot weight (g) | 66 | 73 | 7 |
| Pot height (mm) | 60 | 56 | -4 |
| Pot capacity (cc/g)* | 1029 | 1010 | -19 |
The Ebay suppier (above has the following quoted diameters for the nesting pots.
“Size: 10cm / 12cm / 14cm / 16cm / 18cm (Approx)”
It occurs to me that a couple of them might even make a lighter (larger?) version of the DIY Tent Stove I have been working on (based on Tim’s ingenious designs). I have been using parrot bowls at 154 (diameter) x 53 (high) and 82 grams each). These pots of Tim’s at eg 180 wide and 66 high and 66 grams will make a larger, lighter stove. I will save an ounce (32 grams – or more). I will have to buy two sets. The sub 200 grams tent stove (including chimney) comes closer and closer.
See Also:
Lay Flat Kettle and Pudding Bowl Stove
Howdy Steve!
Been talking back and forth with Tim about tents and stoves. Was aiming to start my first stove build this week now that all my materials have arrived and while I’ll still be going ahead the end result is going to be very heavy. I bought these as the postage for the Aliexpress pots you linked to was over 45€ to Sweden (amazon and ebay links didn’t deliver to Sweden at all) which is a little much: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002273753475.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.70fc6cb18TP001
Just received 4 sets as I was planning on making mistakes and several prototypes, but to my dismay they weigh in at 103g for the 1L pot and 134g for the 1.5L which is a tiny bit more (Double) than expected. Like you said “Not all the pot suppliers have the same pots” and I really should have ordered 2 sets from 2 different links. or perhaps even 4 different from 4 links. Disappointed for sure but none of these initial builds will be brought on any long expeditions anyway, they’ll become gifts for friends when I get the nice light pots and guild the build quality improved later on.
Cheers
Paolo
Hi Paolo, Thank you for your message. Did you try a pet store first? I found the stainless steel bowls available widely (at such $2 stores) here quite good for such experiments. Likewise I have sourced the stainless steel foil I needed from eBay and Aliexpress quite cheaply. It does take a while to assemble the bits and pieces before one can begin. I intend to renew my own stove efforts again soon. I am so close to a useful tent stove I really must do so. I am also pretty nearly settled on a ‘final’ tent design to match the stove to, (though I must say I have been thinking again at my first Deer Hunter’s tent and planning an improved version of it which while it cannot be used with a hammock will be lighter than my Grey Flyer. They will both be about the same height (and similar sizes though) which is the main consideration when designing a stove system to ‘fit’ them. I have also acquired the materials needed to make my Peltier charging system utilising the stove, so expect some progress ‘soon’. Of course all my tents lend themselves to being heated by a small fire out front which can be protected from the rain by a ‘Fire Umbrella’. As I already have this system and have sued it successfully for years and usually camp/hike/hunt in forests nearby where there is ample firewood etc there is just not enough incentive to drive me on to other things. I hope your own ‘experiments’ meet with success and hope to hear about your progress. Cheers, Steve.
I swear you and Tim reply faster than any other people on the internet!
I’ve got everything I need now except the 35mm hole saw, rivet setter and SS rivets which I’ll be getting this week. With 30x500cm of .1mm SS foil I’ll have enough for 4 chimneys and some scrap pieces for flame guides, guard tubes and side feeding slots. Once the design is finalised I’ll be doing the same as you and replacing it with .13mm TI foil (and .2mm for the flame guide/guard tube) and some day making the bowl out of .2mm titanium with some very ugly welds. I’m copying your UL Chimney Rings, what an absolutely brilliant way to save a few grams. I might want to add something colorful to them, maybe some orange paint on the Ferrules, feel a bit too easy to lose, but at .2g each might as well carry a dozen spares!
I’ve only had a look in one or two local pet stores and the parrot bowls didn’t quite work, the large ones had uneven bottoms and the small ones were too small. I’ll have to order some online to see if I can find an improvement in weight and dimensions over these Aliexpress ones. They’re more like 7-9€ in Sweden unfortunately but in for a penny…….
I’ll be using it with a modified MSR Front Range which I’ve added a 30cm bell wall/snow skirt to for more liveability, stove jack wont be installed until the stove is done and I’ll be making a similar tent from scratch at some point in Silnylon and Silpoly, and some day in DCF, It astounds me no one makes a square pyramid tent with a snow skirt and stove jack, no one has bridged the gap between Mountain Laurel Designs and Seek Outside yet.
Thanks for all your posts! You and Tim are unappreciated innovators in this wide ultralight world!
Hi Again Paolo, I wish you every success. I wouldn’t go to DCF. I just don’t think the weight savings as compared with durability are there. Ripstopbytheroll have a .77 oz/yd2 silpoly (which I haven’t tried yet) but I know I can make a better tent than the bought ones you mention which will weigh well under 500 grams including floor, guys and stakes and big enough for two (and can also be used as a hammock tarp. see my Grey Flyer prototype) in a heavier silpoly I already have. I’m surprised you couldn’t buy a set of (suitable) hole saws from your local hardware store for A$100 or so. Likewise the other items. Sweden must have different supply chain issues from Oz. I am also ‘working on’ a new version of my original Deer Hunter’s Tent, and a DIY backpack (which will work, unlike every other backpack). My mind does not work as quickly as it did when I was younger, but fortunately it does still work, so expect to see these things in the not too distant future. Being overmedicated with opiates on account of the total knee replacement has slowed me up a bt too, but I am coming good. Good luck, Steve.
Oh and I am VERY excited to see your Peltier charging system! I lived a winter in northern Sweden in a tipi and looked into getting a TEG for my wood stove but they were total overkill in size and seemed very antiquated in design, been wondering when someone will start to produce a usable one with for ultralight wood stoves, more reliable electric source than solar for people doing back country trips in rainy and dark parts of the world.
There is already a charging cooking pot you can buy from Amazon. It would likely suit most people but I do have a larger charging ability in mind – besides I think I can make a lighter method. Anyway I have bought the bits so I will see how I go. Cheers, Steve.