MSR Alpine Stainless Steel Stowaway Camping Pot

The MSR Stowaway Pot 1.6 L is the largest stowaway pot that MSR offers. For a backpacking pot, it's huge, but by home cooking standards, it's fairly average/medium sized in diameter and slightly short in height compared to most kitchen pots. It's very well made from high quality stainless steel with a terrific locking design that ensures the lid stays on tight and anything stored inside stays put. Since I enjoy bushcraft and often cook over an open fire, I settled on stainless steel for its ruggedness. (Titanium leads to annoying hot spots and poor heat distribution--especially in large pots like this one--and aluminum always seems to warp and lose its non-stick coating over the heat of a campfire.) With a short length of wire such as a coat hanger, you can also rig the folding handle so that it can be used like a bail handle to hang the pot over a fire, as several folks have demonstrated on YouTube.I bought this pot to build a cookset for my family of five. I am combining this 1.6 L stowaway pot with the (excellent) MSR Alpine fry pan and the (excellent) GSI Glacier Stainless Kettle. All three go together so well it seems like they belong together. The fry pan nests perfectly around the bottom of the 1.6 L pot, and the smaller (1 L) GSI Kettle fits inside the pot nicely, with a little room around the perimeter for small and flexible items (a scrub pad, some small utensils, etc.). The metal tabs that hold the bail handle on the GSI Kettle do press against the underside of the stowaway pot's lid, but if you use a needle-nose pliers to bend the tabs downward about 1/8", the kettle fits inside perfectly with the lid locked down securely.These three pots have been a superb campfire cookset for our five-person family. The 1.6 L pot is large enough to cook a full box of Macaroni and Cheese (or a family-size stew, etc.) while we brew coffee in the GSI Kettle. The fry pan is not essential, but it's so convenient for cooking bacon, eggs, fish, burgers, and other delicious items. We could probably use the stowaway pot (or its lid) as a makeshift fry pan, but I don't like frying in a deep pot or on a curved lid with no handle. Instead, I'll carry the extra weight to have a proper fry pan. And at a total weight of 2.5 lbs., that's only 0.5 lbs. per person for the entire cookset.If you're assembling your own group cookset and you need a solid large stainless pot to contain most of the kit, this 1.6L Stowaway pot is an excellent choice. For only one or two, I think most weight- and space-conscious hikers/campers will find this pot to be too large, and would likely prefer one of the smaller sizes. Regardless, the quality and function are great! Highly recommended![UPDATE 3/4/2014: For experiment's sake, I tried using the lid of this 1.6L pot as a makeshift fry pan as some others have suggested. Size-wise, it's a great size. However, without a handle, it is virtually impossible to cook delicate foods (eggs, pancakes, etc.) over an open fire. You need a good glove/oven mitt to protect your fingers and then either cook on a nice bed of hot-but-not-too-hot coals and watch very attentively, or over a cook stove with a nice low flame setting; otherwise, get used to obnoxious scorching. But it can be made to work. So, for further experiment's sake, I tried removing the handle from the pot, then screwing a stainless loop onto the lid to reattach the handle as a fry pan handle. That worked much better because I could easily remove/replace the pan from the fire without risk of burning my hand, controlling the heat much better. However, it's still a far cry from the more pleasant and predictable cooking of the MSR Alpine fry pan. Lid frying in this pot is workable in a pinch, but demands all your attention and certainly, without a handle, exponentially increases your risk of burnt food or a burnt hand.][UPDATE 7-7-2015: Still loving this cookset. With my modification so that I can attach the handle to the lid, I now use the lid as a frypan fairly often, allowing me to eliminate the weight of the separate Alpine Fry Pan when I'm backpacking with my family. Having a self-contained cookset with a lid that locks on is so very convenient, and after a LOT of cooking over the fire, my pot is none the worse for wear (except for some blackening of the metal, of course, which gives it character). These pots are bombproof; they will last you a lifetime of normal camp cooking. Great stuff.]

Nice pan, well worth the extra cost over an el cheapo brand

I've bought several of these over the years, not so much to cook in but as a ruggedized storage container for MSR Whisperlite stoves. These stoves get carried in the backs of pickup trucks for use in some remote locations, so they need more protection than the factory carry bag. The large Camping Pot will hold the MSR Whisperlite Universal stove, wind shield, butane canister stand, spare parts kit and instructions. It can even hold the liquid fuel pump, but I leave that in the fuel bottle, which is carried separately. Of course you can cook or heat water in the pot, but I usually have a separate cook kit along for that task. When you consider the price of something like the MSR Whisperlite Universal stove (over $200), this is cheap and effective insurance.

had to revise my rating, updates below...great for camping, backpacking, bug out bag, or emergency kit!the integrated handle/latch setup is killer!they can hold stove, fuel, food, etc. making them a great self contained mess kit!i primarily use these with alcohol stoves... for me the smaller ones, 475ml & 775ml, work best with stoves that jet the flame upward like the vargo triads or trangia spirit burner... the bigger ones, 1.1l & 1.6l, work best with stoves that jet the flame out to the side like the vargo decagon, go bag, white box, or similar... at first i was a bit thrown by the large size of the 1.6l, then i got a go bag stove with very aggressive side jets, & i was like - eureka!but back to the 1.1l size, great mid to large size traditional wide/flat style camping pot, would work well with just about any style camping/backpacking stove i think, & will work over the campfire or with wood burning stove too...i have even seen where folks bake bread over coals in a sealed up stowaway pot, can't wait to try that!a couple other great things about stowaway pots... they are reasonably priced, & they are durable quality stainless steel... not aluminum! heavier than yes, but comparably priced, & no aluminum toxins messin with the brain! of course, they aren't as light as titanium, but look at the price! & i don't think there is a titanium pot with the same integrated handle/latch setup design, so nothing really compares!all the photos i've added are mine except for the one that shows how you can rig the stowaway to hang over fire, ingenious!update: 04/14/17still have all the sizes & they still get used, but one thing i have to add is that i've discovered what could be the only flaw with this alpine stowaway design, & that is i cannot get a good pour out of these, meaning when i have boiled water & hold pot by handle, then slowly try to pour contents out of pot, it always runs down the side, always! that is a bummer since i like to do exactly that to make my coffee or tea, so that is one strike against these MSR pots for meupdate: 02/13/18i was tired of the sloppy pours out of these msr stowaway pots.so i tried some other products with similar design.between the msr stowaway, zebra 14cm lunchbox, & comfort loft bento, it was the Zebra 152314 Stainless Steel Food Box and Pan with Snap on Lid, 14cm, Silver that had the best pour.the msr stowaway is the best of these in every other regard, however the sloppy poor is a total deal breaker for me when i know there is a pot that won't spill all the time. unfortunately the zebra is only available in one size, but i'd rather have that one than 4 different sizes that make a mess if i try to pour from them.the zebra 14cm lunchbox fits my silverfire scout wood stove etc. & is comparable in size to the msr 775ml.added a new pic showing the 3 pots, msr, zebra, & comfort loft in that order.update 11/27/18:well the stowaway has redeemed itself a bit for me. i had mentioned using the pot like a dutch oven to bake, & i finally got around to trying it with excellent results! i've added a picture that shows the only stowaway i have left, a 1.1 liter, in the firepit as a dutch oven, elevated a bit above the really hot coals underneath & with a few coals sitting on top. i inverted the pot so the flat bottom would be the top & coals would stay on there. i baked IPA cornbread in a greased msr alpine bowl that was sitting in the lid of the upside down pot. the bowl was raised off the inside of stainless lid with this little gem, the Ilsa 5" cast iron reducer.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007ZHQ1Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1basically like a cast iron trivet that kept the bottom of bowl from getting too hot & burning the cornbread, as well as acting as a heat sink to dissipate heat more evenly.the baking worked so well i am considering getting a 1.6 liter stowaway to also use for campfire baking since it will fit a larger baking dish of some kind.so yeah, while these stowaways do still spill every time something is poured from them, they are nonetheless very useful & i'll have the 2 bigger ones in my kit specifically for baking, as well as cooking anything i don't have to pour!added 1 star for the baking possibilities, but still loses a star for the silly spilly pours!

Alpine Stowaway S.S. Camping Pot 1.6 Liter--Have bought two of these over the past few years. They work great and are almost indestructible. Probably too heavy for extended backpacking but perfect for camping. One minor improvement to make it even better-Would like to see this company mold a pouring "spout" into the lip. Would keep things cleaner when pouring liquids. Overall, highly satisfied with this product.