Kettle vs. pot...

[SherpaWill]

I've always used pot for back country cooking but I've been thinking about switching to using a kettle instead. I'm only boiling water for food prep. Does anyone here use one?

 

[skiguy]

Using a kettle instead of pot should make you less hungry. In all seriousness I've used both. I like the flexibility of using a pot as a kettle you can only really boil water and not cook with it. Although the pouring ability of a kettle is nice. In other words you can probably make out with using a pot without a kettle but not the opposite. Comes down to a weight and space saving issue for me.

 

[sierra]

I have a nice Kettle that I use in basecamp, but its not practical to carry in as a pot has a lot more versatility.

 

[Bergamo]

I have a teapot I bought from REI mail order years ago. I would bring my self-designed meals that required boiling water, a sierra cup, a heat resistant medium seized bowl, and an old metal tablespoon. It all worked very well for me for several day trips from early spring through late fall.

 

[TJsName]

I have a nice Kettle that I use in basecamp, but its not practical to carry in as a pot has a lot more versatility.

It depends on your meal prep and stove set-up, but I'm with Sierra on this. I looked into a kettle and some of the drawbacks were:

Can't stick your cat stove inside
Can't stuff a ziplock bag instead (to let your noodles cook with some extra insulation)

If you are using Jetboil and carrying foil food pouches, then it probably doesn't matter much. Going lighter generally means having more versatile gear.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

A slight tangent - another consideration is the diameter of the pot vs the diameter of the gas spud. I seem to get much better boil times with a wider diameter pot.

 

[dave.m]

On my aluminum pots, I fashion a small pour spout on the lip. I own both and find pots more versatile and for me, versatility means lower weight.

 

[Rick]

I carried the Trangie aluminum tea kettle for a few years in leiu of a pot when I was doing nothing but freeze dried food (Rehydrate in the bag)
- but if you were rehydrating anything else, you would at least still need to carry a large mug and/or bowl.
I finally settled on a dentede 2.4 cup Ti pot thatI got in the bargain basement at Cabella's. It was lighter still, than the kettle but allowed more functionality.