Toaks Titanium 850ml Pot

An off-brand version of the typical titanium pot, this version is slightly larger than comparable titanium pots and includes uniquely long handles for this design. I would recommend this 1-person (maybe 2-person) pot to ounce counters or those whose gear may get abused more than others. More expensive than non-Ti options, but the weight and durability have proven its worth to me.

Slowly I have been lightening my pack weight over the past year or two. Before I purchased the Toaks 850, I own (and still own) the MSR 1.1L Stowaway. Made of stainless steel, it is heavy, but is similarly durable to the Toaks.

The majority of the time I hike solo, so I wanted to reduce the volume and weight of the pot, while keeping the durability (I don’t want to always have in the back of my mind, “I gotta be careful with X so it doesn’t break.”). I knew titanium would be a strong candidate and when I came across the Toaks brand and saw it was less expensive than similarly-designed Ti pots, I bought it.

I do not have an electronic scale to confirm weight, but the Toaks website states the following specs:

• Pot: 3.0 oz
• Pot with lid: 3.6 oz
• Height: 4 ¾" (confirmed)
• Diameter: 3 ¾" (confirmed)
• Handles measure a total length of 3 ¼" away from the pot edge

During my research I noticed that the Snow Peak Ti Trek 700ml weighs a total of 4.8 oz…wait, but this 850ml weighs 3.6 oz? The only difference I can think of is that the wall thickness is thinner on the Toaks.

I primarily use this for heating water to mix in dried meals or for tea. It heats up quickly and also dissipates heat quickly, being cool to the touch after a minute or two. I use it in conjunction with my Snow Peak GigaPower stove and have even used in it my house on our gas stove.

I haven’t used it directly on a pit fire or laying it on top of coals, other Ti pots have proven to do well in this case. The reason I haven’t done so yet is the coating on the handles which haven’t performed well over direct flames, though I think I’ll remove the coating sometime soon (more under Other Features).

Capacity

The pot states a capacity of 850ml, but the picture below shows exactly how much that is compared to the actual volume of the pot. My MSR is measured in a similar way in that cooking 850ml of water is not really a feasible option. The picture below has 800 ml of water and there's no extra space. Visually my pot appears larger than other pots I’ve seen, but I’d be interested to hear how much, say, a Snow Peak Trek 700 can actually fit.

My 850ml pot topped off with 800ml of water

For me, this can solidly fit and boil 20-22 ounces (~591-650ml) without becoming unstable or boiling out. With that, I’ve noted it as being a generous one-person, possibly a skimpy two-person pot.

It can easily fit a bandanna, Snow Peak GigaPower stove, and hand sanitizer inside and still have room to spare if I wanted to include a lighter and perhaps a foldable utensil. A 110G fuel canister is able to nest within. As the lid doesn’t lock, it is necessary to make sure the storage sack sufficiently encompasses the lid edge and dump out your contents.

Construction

The lid just barely nests on top of the pot. I wish the lip of the lid was slightly deeper as I have had it slip off with a light touch. While the top of the lid does have a vent, when the water boils it does make the lid jump around a bit as expected.

There are graduated markings, both in milliliters and ounces, on the inside of the pot. It only goes up to 500ml and 16 ounces, but I would have like to see up to 650ml and 22 ounces. There is more than enough space.

Durability

Other than slight discoloration on the bottom/lower sides due to regular use, I have not noticed any durability issue when it comes to the Ti. Although, I have noted an issue with the coated handles below under Other Features.

Slight discoloration on the bottom half

The attachment of the handle hinge hasn’t shown any sign of detachment.

Cost

I purchased this from Amazon for $38.95 in December 2014. Compared to the Snow Peak, which is $44.95, the cost savings and increased volume made me give it a whirl.

Other Features

Handles

Toaks has both small handle and long handle pots. I decided on the longer handles which were coated in…something. I wasn’t sure what the material was, but I thought that it’d surely be resistant to direct flames like silicone. Over time of having the handles extended and pressed together, the coating has melted (see pic below).

I also still grab the handles with my bandanna as the coating doesn’t really provide any temperature control either; the longer distance from the pot body, does make them cool quickly though. This feature seemed like it’d work out, but just hasn’t worked for me. I’m likely just going to remove the coating and then I’ll at least be more apt to use it directly on top of coals in the future.

I will say this in favor of these handles is that I don’t run the risk of burning my knuckles like some of the other coffee mug like handles of the Snow Peak.

You can see how there is plenty of room for additional volume markings too.

Locking Lid Handle

The lid handle is only made up of a small, triangular piece which can lock (push it to one side) vertically into place. Most of the time it stays in place, but a small tap can push it back down. See the pics below for clarification.

With the vent right near the handle, it can get pretty hot picking it up by the handle, so I’ve become accustomed to using the end of my spoon to lift it up. I like the design of the Snow Peak with its vent on the lid edge doubling as a colander of sorts to drain liquid. At the same time, a lot of folks just use tin foil over the top saving weight and the worry of any of these features.

Mesh Storage Sack

The mesh storage sack is nice, but it’s slightly bulky. Sounds weird for mesh, but I wanted a plain, thin storage sack. The one it comes with can nearly hold its vertical shape without anything supporting it. I ended up sewing a DIY sack. It completely covers the pot in case I use it directly on a fire and any soot builds up, this way it will keep my other gear clean.

Orange (Toaks) storage sack and my DIY one

Conclusion

While there are a few features which I would like to see changed (actual silicone-coated handles, move the placement of vent, deeper size of lip on lid, capacity), the cost, durability, and weight have made the purchase well worth small nuisances.  

Great pot for solo hiking. My only gripe with this stove is that Toaks no longer makes it. I find mine to be right in the sweet spot size-wise for one-person cooking. I have made soups and noodles in it but would not use it for any more in-depth cooking.

As stated in the previous review, great for boiling water for coffee/tea and dehydrated/freeze dried meals.

When I first started getting into ultralight backpacking upgrading my cook-kit was one of the first things I looked at doing. The Toaks 850 ml pot meet the criteria I was looking for.

It will hold a small 100-110 gram fuel canister with small canister stove. It takes up very little space and actually fits in the side water bottle pocket of my ULA Circuit. It is very lightweight and durable. Very well made.

I have hiked approximately 800 miles using this pot and so far it looks brand new. I only use it over my alcohol or propane stove and has never been used over wood fires.

Background

I have used this pot for the last 4-5 years as my primary solo three-season backpacking pot. For winter backpacking I like having a large pot for melting snow and will be looking at getting a 1100 ml Toaks pot in the near future.