I'm shopping for a pot and at first wanted an aluminum pot, but I'm not a fan of how they can get damaged by too much heat. We tend to cook on the grill grate more than with a stove. I've noticed that the cheap hand-me-down pots that we have used in the past are usually just set over the hottest part of the fire to get water boiling and left there while we take care of other things. I feel like I would be just fine taking care of the pot and not burning it, but I don't think other people I trip with would even think to be careful about pot in the fire. That's why I started thinking that Stainless Steel might be the way to go.

I saw this pot at REI and thought it looks nice. I have a similar pan from them and like it, Aluminum but pans aren't just left in the hottest part of the fire like pots. It's a little pricy for a single stainless steel pot and it looks new too. What do you guys think?

https://www.rei.com/product/196084/sea-to-summit-sigma-pot-19-liters

I misread your subject line and let's just say I was disappointed at the content of this post :D

thegildedgopher: "I misread your subject line and let's just say I was disappointed at the content of this post :D"

Lol - I had the same thought and was thinking...what is this really about? It can't be about pot?

Speckled: "

thegildedgopher: "I misread your subject line and let's just say I was disappointed at the content of this post :D"

Lol - I had the same thought and was thinking...what is this really about? It can't be about pot?"

Add a third who expected different content...

TZ

Did understand the question. Still the idea is hard to dispense with.
How many aluminum pots have melted, un-intentionally, over a fire?
I know what it takes to do this intentionally, and It takes a bigger fire than most campfires are. Used to specifically build campfires to melt cans, and they were too hot to cook over.
I have even boiled water over a candle in a paper cup.
I do think more aluminum Mirro thin wall pots have hung over fires and sat on fire grates than all other types of metallurgy.
The only way to melt aluminum cookware is to put it in a fire alone no food to cook or water to boil. Aluminum may have it's set of problems but "get damaged by too much heat" no. A wood fueled fire under a grate cooks at lower temps than a burner, measure the temps yourself. Most stoves will heat the pot supports to red hot, when was the last time your fire grate glowed that hot?

The linked pot is a fine pot in SS but the silicone will burn off above 500 degrees, something easily achieved on a fire grate or a stove burner. You mention group and care combined with SS material. Can't go wrong with MSR Alpine stuff. I have examples and set of the full line. Used them for decades. Something I really like is the lids can be inverted on the pot to make a Dutch Oven, I use this method for baking on every trip. If you want to try aluminum within your considerations look at anodized aluminum pots, GSI and Primus make a bunch but several oriental sources supply strong yet lighter gauge that are very sturdy, Alocs, Kieth, Kovea, Fire Maple and others.

butthead

This pot is definitely legal.

That's a fine pot...as long as the black stuff on the handle isn't plastic. I didn't read the description to tell.

I'll add I've used the same aluminum pot to cook on the fire or over 20 years of trips, aside from the fact that it was once blue and is now black, it has experienced no damage.

I was mainly concerned about any non stick liner on the aluminum. I don't think the aluminum would actually melt, but it might warp and the non stick layer could start flaking off.

The non stick will start degrading before the temp temperatures needed to deform aluminum, roughly 550 degrees for the nonstick, 1200 to melt aluminum.

butthead

If I had two options for this purchase:

First, consult the experts at REI

Second, to consult butthead, the bwca.com resident expert on cooking hardware...

Well, I know what I'd do.

Kidding aside - butthead knows.

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I was far too concerned about the warnings I saw in the reviews. I think I'm going to go with the Alpha series pots instead. I like the anodized aluminum. I just need to make sure people aren't using steel wool on it.

Yeah, you're over thinking it.

Just get whatever you like. And spend what you want

For 30 years or so, my cook gear was stuff from Goodwill. Now I have "official" camping cookware, and for no other reason than I wanted to have it. It's your recreation and hobby, so buy stuff that makes you happy when you can afford it.