Adding a pot cosy to your gear is a great way to save fuel, simplify cooking and protect your precious titanium. Designs can be very simple or more complex but none are rocket science, so even the mechanically inept should be able to produce something that functions okay.
The first thing to do is source your material. You’ll need some Thermo-wrap (silver bubble wrap with the silver on both sides), some thin closed cell foam, a tube of contact adhesive, a couple of metres of adhesive aluminium tape and some self adhesive velcro … a responsible adult to help with the cutting and sticking might be useful too. The first job is to cut yourself some component parts – you’ll need to following bits:
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| Cut out these bits. |
A – Height of mug x total circumference + 40mm (cut-out R/H top corner for handles).
B – Height of mug x circumference of mug from outside of handle to outside of handle.
C – Diameter of mug + 20mm. Add ‘tails’ for hinge and closure.
D – Diameter of mug + 50mm
E – Diameter of mug x 2 (foam)
The next job is to edge ‘A’ and ‘B’ with your aluminium tape … you don’t need to do this but it does make the finished article a bit tougher and much neater … fold the tape over the edges so both faces and the actual edge of the Thermo-wrap are taped.
Wrap ‘A’ around your mug, mark where the material overlaps and glue to form a cylinder(ish) shape.
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| Glue the ‘joint’ to form a cylinder. |
Now find the big round bit, sit your mug on and draw round it. Cut ‘notches’ in the outer circle so it ends up looking something like the picture below.
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| Attack part ‘D’ with your scissors. |
Your new sun shaped bit now needs attaching to the bottom of your cylinder. Put glue on the outer ‘notched’ circle and glue on the outside of the cylinder and fold the notches up so they stick to the outside of the cylinder.
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| Glue ‘D’ to ‘A’. |
Give the joint a wrap of tape to smarten it up.
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| Take your time and you can make it much neater. |
Flip the cosy over so it’s bottom up, place 1 of the foam circles on the base and glue / tape it in position. You should now have a cylinder with double insulated base.
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| Foam insulation glued to the base. |
Next, put your pot in the cosy and fold the handles back (as if you were packing it). Go and find part ‘B’ and glue / tape 1 of the short edges to the outside of the cylinder, it’s going to be your ‘door’ … just make sure it clears the pot handles okay. Once it’s fixed in place, wrap it quite tightly around the cylinder and make a ‘catch’ for it with your velcro.
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| Attach ‘B’ to ‘A’ in this position. |
Once it’s fixed in place, wrap it quite tightly around the cylinder and make a ‘catch’ for it with your velcro.
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| Use velcro to ‘keep the door closed’. |
The lid’s next … put your second foam circle onto C so that it’s in the centre and stick the 2 together. Once stuck break out the tape and tape over the foam.
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| Glue foam insulation to underside of the lid. |
It should look something like the one below. The short ‘tail’ on the lid is the hinge, so that needs gluing / taping to the outside of the cosy.
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| Give the inside of the lid some taping. |
Make a velcro catch for the lid and that’s it – job done.
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| Finished cosy. |
So, imagine you’re cooking some pasta or cous cous … stick it in your pot with the required amount of water and bring it to the boil. Take the pot off the stove and place it in the cosy, fasten it up nice and snug and wait (or do something useful). The cosy will keep the boiled water hot enough that your food continues to cook without the need for it to be simmering away on a stove.
Brilliant as ever, I must get my pots covered pronto! Love it
Brilliant. That solves the in-y vs. out-y question then.
Although at what weight cost from something only single insulated and more basic?
I imagine not a vast amount, as reflectix is so light, and I'm not an obsessed weight weenie (my "personal insulation system, carried at waist level" can attest to that), but as you are the man who sells an 8g stove so I think it's a fair question..!
James, I'd estimate a weight saving of 5g – 8g for a single skin version, depending on how simple it was … I suppose it all adds up ;o)