[at-l] Pot Cozy Question

[bennett.ken at gmail.com (Ken Bennett)]

>
>> I'm getting ready to go on a 4 day hike in April (hopefully) and
>> I am wondering about a pot cozy to add to my kitchen kit. Do they
>> really work that well and are they worth the pack space and weight?

Pot cozies are the best invention since goose down. A cozy can:

-- keep your food warm while you eat eat, and protect your hands from  
burning.

-- save fuel! many recipes which require a long simmering time can be  
boiled and dropped into the cozy, where they finish re-hydrating. For  
example, the popular Lipton's noodles require 10 minutes of  
simmering, but cook just fine with 3-4 minutes of simmering and 8  
minutes in a good pot cozy.

-- a bag cozy can be used for freezer-bag meals. I cook most of my  
meals this way now -- just boiling water and adding it to the dry  
ingredients in my quart freezer bag. Drop it in the cozy and wait  
5-10 minutes, then just eat out of the bag inside the cozy. No clean-up.

I saw a test somewhere on line (maybe at BackpackingLight?) which  
showed that a cozy easily saved its own weight many times over in  
fuel savings. I usually carry a Snow Peak 700 pot/mug with a cozy,  
and a bag cozy. I boil some water, pour it in the bag, put the bag in  
the cozy, then make a hot drink in my pot/mug, put it in its own  
cozy, and it stays hot for a long time. This saves the weight of an  
insulated mug.

Making cozies is easy -- the Reflectix insulation is available in  
rolls at home centers, along with the aluminum tape. (You'll get  
enough for a zillion cozies. Make some for your friends.) You may  
also buy cozies from web sites like antigravitygear.

Happy trails,

Ken B