In recent years, with the influx of competition to the market, and explosion of cheap chinese manufacturers selling through Amazon and suchlike, titanium camping pots, pans and cutlery are now everywhere. Titanium cookware is pretty much the default in wild camping kit lists.
Titanium is an amazing material and there is a good reason why it is used for instance for high end bike parts etc. With better strength to weight ratio than steel and super corrosion resistant there is a strong argument for using it for many purposes. But for camping cookware is it worth it? In my opinion no in most cases, for three key reasons.
1. Light but not the lightest metal
If you don’t care massively about weight. i.e. you when bushcrafting, than you are generally better off with stainless cookware. Tougher, easier to clean and cheaper than titanium its a no brainer. Classics like the Zebra stainless billy cans will give years of effective service.
If you do care about weight, i.e. mountain hiking and wild camping or long distance trekking, than titanium seems more attractive. However when it comes to making a lightweight choice aluminium has it beat. Titanium is a full 65% heavier than aluminium. The increased strength does mean you can make titanium pans thinner to match aluminium weight, but that has real disadvantages with cookware. And the increased strength? Ask anyone who has used an aluminium trangia for 20+ years. Strength is really not a genuine issue with aluminium pans.
2. Poor heat conductivity
There is a reason why professional pans often use copper bottoms, and aluminium became another popular pan material. Good heat conductivity. Thick pans (these create more consistent heat across their cooking area), made from highly conductive materials are simply better to cook with. Aluminium has fourteen times the heat conductivity of Titanium, steel five times. Thin, poorly conducting pans are a recipe for hot spots. Fine for boiling water but for anything else a recipe for burnt food. And that includes cooking trail staples like porridge or instant macaroni cheese.
3. Darned Expensive
When it comes for bang for buck a quick look at some of the options for titanium pans versus anodised aluminium show why titanium is an expensive way to save grammes. Trying to keep close to a like for like comparison (cheaper brands are available) The titanium MSR Titan Kettle of 1.4l weighs in at 150g. The MSR Trail Lite 1.3l (Anodised aluminium) weighs in at 200g. Price wise a quick google shoes a Titan Kettle typical cost of £59, Trail lite pot cost of £36. Typically 50-80% price difference. So a £0.46 per gramme saved!!
So there we have it. three reasons why I personally don’t think titanium cookware is worth it, unless you are after ultimate lightness and just interested in boiling water.
As ever this is just my opinion and always love to hear an alternative point of views.
What are the health risks of aluminium cookware?
There is a key reason why some people steer clear of aluminium. The potential for increased aluminium ingestation. There were some old studies that linked high quantities of aluminium with health issues. However the science on this suggests that if you are using anodised aluminium this is really not an issue. The real risk of significant enough ingestion to cause a problem, if it even exists, is really with old non anodised aluminium, and cooking with acidic foods day in day out.