So, backstory:
Many years ago, I had a great camp cup. It was about 16oz, had a nice thick base for keeping coffee/hot chocolate/water hot, and had measuring marks on the inside. I could just set it on my little MSR stove, heat up the water and use it for just about anything...very similar to a jetboil nowadays, except as a cup.
Well, I lost that cup
...and I've been looking for another similar cup since then. At the recent PNW Overland Rally, I looked long and hard at the SnowPeak titanium cups, but they were double-wall cups so I couldn't boil water directly in them.
I've been looking for awhile, but when I got back, I got impatient and decided to just solve my own problems. Luckily, my brother and another guy he works with have access to some cool tools/materials
My build criteria:
What we did:
Took a sheet of 1/8" stainless steel and cold rolled it into a 4" diameter by 4" tube. Then cut a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum to fit in the bottom of the tube (as a heatsink). Then we capped the aluminum on the bottom and inside the tube (now a cup). Added 1/4" hollow stainless tube for a handle. To prevent any gas buildup and potential explosions in the heatsink, we added custom venting to the base
The results:
Overall view of the cup
Inside of cup
Handle
Size comparison
The base
Performance:
Heating
The cup can easily be used on any burner to heat up water, hot chocolate, coffee, cup-o-noodles, etc. It holds almost exactly 24oz of fluid.
When used for boiling water, it rocks! Once the water starts to boil and you take it off the burner, the water will continue to boil for ~1-1.5 minutes.
Obviously, while on the burner, the handle is too hot to touch. It takes ~1-2 minutes for the handle to cool enough to touch barehanded, about 30 seconds or so after the boiling stops. I use a pair of leather work gloves to hold it if I need to pour the boiling water into something (ie freeze dried meal).
Water and the cup will stay very hot for ~30 minutes or longer...in fact, if you finish your glass of hot chocolate, you can almost pour room-temperature water in the cup and have it heat up enough for a 2nd cup of hot chocolate.
The lip of the cup (for sipping, etc) can burn you easily for awhile...I'm thinking of adding a silicone ring around the edge so you don't burn your lips on the cup.
Cooling
You can throw this in the freezer or fridge and use it for a beer stein...it will keep 2 bottles of beer plenty cold for long enough to drink both Not much else needed on the cooling front
Future mods:
Any feedback or suggestions for improvements are appreciated. Given that we've shown this to a couple friends, all of which want one, we might even commercialize it :coffeedrink:
Many years ago, I had a great camp cup. It was about 16oz, had a nice thick base for keeping coffee/hot chocolate/water hot, and had measuring marks on the inside. I could just set it on my little MSR stove, heat up the water and use it for just about anything...very similar to a jetboil nowadays, except as a cup.
Well, I lost that cup
...and I've been looking for another similar cup since then. At the recent PNW Overland Rally, I looked long and hard at the SnowPeak titanium cups, but they were double-wall cups so I couldn't boil water directly in them. I've been looking for awhile, but when I got back, I got impatient and decided to just solve my own problems. Luckily, my brother and another guy he works with have access to some cool tools/materials
My build criteria:
- Big cup - hould be able to hold ~20-24oz (24 would be perfect :beer::beer
- Strong - should be able to be dropped, beaten up, driven over, etc.
- Good heating qualities - should have a very thick base. Ideally built like a top-line pan, with sandwiched aluminum heat sink wrapped in stainless. Able to hold heat for a long time.
- Good cooling qualities - should be freezable so I can pour a beer (or two) in it and have it stay cold long enough to drink the whole cup
- Easily handleable - should have a nice handle that cools quickly after being on the stove
- Wow factor - should be a nice topic of conversation at the campsite
What we did:
Took a sheet of 1/8" stainless steel and cold rolled it into a 4" diameter by 4" tube. Then cut a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum to fit in the bottom of the tube (as a heatsink). Then we capped the aluminum on the bottom and inside the tube (now a cup). Added 1/4" hollow stainless tube for a handle. To prevent any gas buildup and potential explosions in the heatsink, we added custom venting to the base
The results:
Overall view of the cup
Inside of cup
Handle
Size comparison
The base
Performance:
Heating
The cup can easily be used on any burner to heat up water, hot chocolate, coffee, cup-o-noodles, etc. It holds almost exactly 24oz of fluid.
When used for boiling water, it rocks! Once the water starts to boil and you take it off the burner, the water will continue to boil for ~1-1.5 minutes.
Obviously, while on the burner, the handle is too hot to touch. It takes ~1-2 minutes for the handle to cool enough to touch barehanded, about 30 seconds or so after the boiling stops. I use a pair of leather work gloves to hold it if I need to pour the boiling water into something (ie freeze dried meal).
Water and the cup will stay very hot for ~30 minutes or longer...in fact, if you finish your glass of hot chocolate, you can almost pour room-temperature water in the cup and have it heat up enough for a 2nd cup of hot chocolate.
The lip of the cup (for sipping, etc) can burn you easily for awhile...I'm thinking of adding a silicone ring around the edge so you don't burn your lips on the cup.
Cooling
You can throw this in the freezer or fridge and use it for a beer stein...it will keep 2 bottles of beer plenty cold for long enough to drink both
Not much else needed on the cooling front Future mods:
- Silicon sipping ring - designed so you don't burn your lips while sipping your spiked double-shot vanilla latte with whip at the campsite.
- Handle vent holes - We're pretty sure if we drill small vent holes in the handle, it will cool faster after removing from the stove.
- Custom design engraving - I haven't figured out exactly what I want to engrave on the cup, but it will have something cool. I'll design on the computer, print it out on full sheet label paper, attach that to the cup, then engrave through the paper. I've done this on stuff in the past and it works great for uber-cheap ghetto engraving that actually turns out pretty nice
Any feedback or suggestions for improvements are appreciated. Given that we've shown this to a couple friends, all of which want one, we might even commercialize it :coffeedrink:
