I like titanium stuff, I don’t know why exactly. Except titanium flashlights:)
I like knifes with titanium handles, titanium lighters, keychain toys, like rings, bottle openers, bit holders, tape measures.
if there are more like me, let’s share links here to titanium gadgets!
Lol, me too (except i like Ti flashlights :D). I’ve even been known to tell people it’s my favourite metal.
Reeeeaaaaally wanted a Ti mountain bike frame but sadly never had the finances.
I just found this titanium micro flashlight: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003105827155.html
still have not found a small enough and good keychain flashlight, so I am tempted to get it 
That was interesting until i saw the battery form factor
I don’t know how to spot problem/fake sellers on Aliexpress and have noooo experience with any of the following sellers so i’m not recommending them, but these all look like the now discontinued DQG Tiny AAA Ti which is the smallest AAA light i know of, bit bigger and more expensive but i still consider it a proper keyring light:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000055884125.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32863340460.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32864310097.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32863356298.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32864310095.html
or if you’re ok with small li-ion batteries there’s the smaller DQG Spy/Spy-X available from Fasttech:
(if you click on the ‘model’ on the right side of the page you can link to a couple of other colour temps)
There’s also the DQG slim but it’s not a battery size i’m familiar with:
Slightly too big for a keyring but i’m tempted by this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000709386242.html
Edit: Just seen they do all sorts of Ti stuff, how about a ring knife? Tweezers? A comb?
Ooh or maybe even a shovel-shaped titanium spoon: :laughing:
Nice setup! Kinda wish i went camping now, just for the gear
What’s the small bomb container for?
are you happy with the alcool stove ?
is it liquid alcool in that or is there a coton or something like that ?
I’m looking to buy one
or I will try some of this DIY beercan one
super cheap and super light
I lathed myself a mokuti ring. It’s relatively thin at 0.75mm wall thickness but it puts up with a lot of manual labour. Maybe i should rephrase that, it doesn’t get bent out of shape but the colour does wear. I’ve recoloured it once in the two years i’ve had it.
I just realised, my * h-hmm* finger has put on a little weight… 
They’re fun to play with and learn about. This guy has some great designs (almost too many to sift through because he goes back many years with original simple designs and then he became infatuated with design and performance).
Yep, i have a slight SS and Ti virus going on as well, several Tool AA’s Ti, and a couple of Ti Reylights Lan’s and Pineapple’s
Alcohol fuels can mess up the bottoms of your cookware. Everclear 190 proof bought from liquor stores is much better, but do not drink the stuff, it can damage or kill you. It is illegal in some states, like California, so I bought a bottle in Oregon. Had to sign a statement that I was not going to drink any. But works great in the stove.
The hype on concentrated ethanol is slightly overblown but no, don’t drink it straight. Without dilution, it can cause a slight burn to mucous membranes. Most of the time, your mouth will instantly produce saliva upon contact and that helps a little. People seem to notice it more on the lips. (Definitely don’t get it in your eyes.) While significant dilution often occurs by the time it hits your stomach lining, it can still be very irritating on an empty stomach or in larger quantities. It can also produce higher than expected levels of intoxication.
A main benefit to this kind of concentrated ethanol is that it’s mostly ethanol and does not contain toxic additives. It’s significantly less toxic than some of the other common organic solvents and liquid fuels.
Just go to ChinaMart, this fall and look for HEET fuel line additive in the yellow bottle, vs. red and use that.
It’s methyl alcohol and leaves no soot on the bottom of your cookware.
I’ve got 3 Trangias and it works perfectly in those.
Chris
The rice cooker and kettle are pretty bougie, but I like them.
Titanium is somewhat overrated in my opinion. It’s not that much stronger than aluminium, which is usually lighter, and it’s not that much lighter than stainless, which is usually just as strong depending on design.
Where it really does well is any use where it touches an open wood fire or hot coals. Pots and stoves. The extra couple hundred degrees of heat tolerance are nice.
Blackened titanium immediately post-camping:
Yeah I cringe when people cook directly on coals in aluminium. Aluminium’s low melting point absolutely depends on the heat being soaked away by the contents. Steel can warp and lose temper but its melting point is at least still higher than most campfires. I’m probably being too cautious.
Ti is considerably stronger than aluminum, but of course in the products we use the ti is much, much thinner than most aluminum products…it’s still stronger and of course not prone to cracking as hard aluminum alloys can, but if they were the same thickness then the properties of each metal would really show for comparison. Stainless pots are much heavier even though most are still pretty thin (but with the really thin stainless pots they just warp terribly unless you are very careful with them…takes a lot more to warp or oilcan ti pots but it can happen, usually with dry heat/empty pots).
Same with aluminum cookware on coals. Typical isobutane mix gas cartridges can burn much hotter than wood coals and aluminum cookware does just fine in them (haven’t ever heard of someone melting them even when burned dry, although you can ruin a pot). Depending on the type of wood, ambient temperature and humidity (oxygen content) and the build of the fire, it’s possible to melt an aluminum pot dry but most are thick enough to withstand the temps unless you bury them or treat them like a dutch oven…maybe if you made a fire lay that had added oxygen input and it was set up more like a forge the aluminum would be more at risk (some people build fires like this for open shelter/open tarp use). I think typical wood coal fires are around the 900-1000F range but can be much hotter, like inside a fire lay (teepee or lodge style)…aluminum ranges from 1000 to 1200 depending on alloy. Laying aluminum on the coals has pretty low chance of getting to melting temp in most conditions. I did it for years with a pretty cheap thinner aluminum pot without issues…backpacking pot. Most “camp” cookware has thicker bottoms than backpacking pots. If you really want to melt your aluminum cookware you can probably do it but you’ll have to try harder than just laying it on top of open coals. What’s always been a little curious to me is why those thin aluminum pots don’t melt readily on the gas canister flames since those really are much higher temp and are concentrated. Maybe there are examples out there of people that made it happen on a dry pot or something. For me, if I’m cooking/frying instead of just boiling for rehydration, I like aluminum the best, either hard anodized or non-stick coated (some of those are really good these days). Steel and ti take more finesse and oil. Cast iron is where it’s at.
You are right, but I have backpacked with some fairly sadistic people and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone bring cast iron. I’m not sure titanium and cast iron compete with each other in cookware.
I have certainly wished I could have a cast iron dutch oven air-dropped in after arriving at a backpacking camp.
Also, I believe wood fire vs butane is being oversimplified with those numbers. Burning gas provides a diffuse heat source. Placing a pot on coals causes small hot spots which can exceed aluminium’s melting point in my guessimation.
i was tempted too, you can get it from amazon; the button batteries are meh / not ideal but its a pretty neat little light…i got the warm color and the cct is around 6500 and Ra round 70 (says oppleMan)
I’m mostly titanium these days, just boiling for meals and drinks. Actually there was a fad for awhile where many backpackers were carrying these micro mini cast iron fry pans (4” maybe?) and then the one-egg aluminum nonstick fry pans made a splash (about the same size I think). Either of those are way to heavy for me to consider as backpacking gear. Back in the day in my first backpacking trips (80s) it wasn’t that uncommon to see someone in a group with a full size cast iron fry pan strapped to a pack. lol. I embraced ultralight about 15 years ago and really go quite minimal these days except for winter time if I’ll be farther than a day from the car.
Coals are just as diffuse as a gas flame (or not)…main differences being available oxygen but source fuel does matter a lot (e.g. pine vs oak vs hop hornbeam or locust or something….and on the gas side, fuel mix and jet size and diffuser type). Most backpacking stoves have quite a concentrated flame, even the ones with slightly larger diameter like the FM116-T shown above…it gives a pointed flame, not spread out like one might assume. There is a necessary air gap between burner exit and pot bottom, though (for safe combustion…efficiency, too, somewhat). But the temps we see listed are usually a) guesstimations or b) carefully controlled lab measurements, and out in the real world physics has a lot more to say about everything (and in general removes a lot of degrees from the heat sources). All I can say from my own experience with my own gear and being around lots and lots of others is that aluminum pots directly on the coals seems just fine (but dry, you can ruin it just like you can a stainless pot and to a lesser degree a ti pot). It’d be neat if those infrared thermometers could measure temps like this but the best you can do with the really expensive ones is try the pot surfaces after adjusting emissivity as best the tool can. Bottom line I guess is that if you’re reasonably not-sadistic with your gear and cooking methods, you have nothing to worry about with any metal pot material.
There are a few really neat baking rigs that are light-ish enough for backpacking. The old Bakepacker was really excellent…not sure if anyone picked up that item and is still making it now, though. The Backcountry Oven was more complex but dual-service for some. And some variations on that bakepacker theme. One of the alcohol stove gurus had some neat things going (I can’t remember if that was FlatCat Gear or Batchstovez or White Box or who…maybe Zen Stoves….and one of them did neat home lathe-spun pots as well).
I’ve seen claims / demos that the titanium rice cooker in the kitchen sink pic above can be used to bake by running it dry. I’ll try it one of these days. It’s an expensive contraption and I don’t feel like wrecking the seal with high heat yet. So far, I’ve mostly used it for cooking quinoa, and it works great. Makes fluffier quinoa than I usually do in my kitchen. Backpacking tends to encourage consumption of fiber and protein, and quinoa packs small and light.
small 1 meter keychain tape measure vs pocket knife
it’s pretty well made. only drawback is that you cannot lock it.