Vargo Stainless Steel BOT Bottle Pot

I bought this for backpacking and cold soaking. All the wide mouth jars I could find, Nalgene or peanut butter, were all made out of plastics that are not recommended plastics. This means you shouldn't ingest the stuff. I don't worry when buy almond butter, scrape out the last bit and then use the jar for nuts and bolts--it hasn't been scraped and gouged, but on the trail for a week or two.... Now you're eating the plastic. Not much, but best avoided. Screw on top containers that are safe? Glass and Vargo, stainless steel or titanium. Titanium is three times the price.After three months: I didn't use this as much as I thought I would, but I did carry it, jammed it into my pack, sat on that pack, etc... It held up great. There's some discussion about the cross threading, and the lid getting stuck, but you'll always be able to get it open--sooner if dinner is inside. It's just a bit slippery in the hands. A couple of rubber bands would help, but you'll never need a wrench. It's well made.I did make a handle for it, by wrapping a couple of loops of SS piano wire around it and adding a thin stick as a handle. It ain't pretty but it works.What I did notice is that backpack space is an important consideration. This is rigid, takes up some space. My JetBoil, a little bigger--but I used that every day. My pack is a large 65L Osprey, but you can't just stuff this into a corner like you can do--even with a tent (minus the poles). It's not a negative, just a consideration. I should've sent this home, but I'll never get rid of it. Also, I never cooked in it, so any issues with that I don't know, but I can't see any.

I bought this as a nesting pot for my 10" x 12" Maxpedition bottle holder kit. My lightweight pot was the Snowpeak Solo kit. I wanted a pot with more volume for cooking. But recently, I discovered there was not as much of a difference in the volume between the 2 pots as I had originally thought. Still, I prefer my BOT over the Snow Peak Solo kit.Titanium or Stainless Steel? Advantages and disadvantages of each. I'm saving up money for a 1 liter Titanium Bot, which I just purchased.A disadvantage is my Snowpeak cup will not nest outside/inside my Bot. My solution is to put it on top of my Bot/ Nalgene bottle, inside my bottle holder. But there are problems, like the cup will fall off when you unzip the bottle holder! And you might not ever see it again!My solution. Attach the cup to inside the bottle holder top! Several ways to do this, but quick and easy way is to sew or safety pin cordage to the inside of the holder lid. On the cup end of the cordage, attach another safety pin, S-biner etc. Attach this to the cup handle so the cup will dangle securely outside the holder when unzipped.About the lid, useless weight for me, but nice to have. I leave it at home. The lid is only 1.4 ounces in Titanium and makes an OK bowl. If you want to use a BOT for your primary water container, don't. Taking the cap off and putting the cap on and is too much of a hassle. The water is too easy to spill also.The 1 liter capacity is useful for parboiling wild game, also slow cooking. A lid is easily improvised from light foil or heavier foil from baking tins. Might be good for baking also. The Snow Peak Solo silicone bowl will fit on the bottom of the BOT if desired.Drill holes in the side for a bail. I carry a few inches copper wire for this. Multitool pliers, or lightweight pot holders, etc move the pot outta the fire. Also pot grippers work. A note about drilling holes in the BOT for a bail. I tried that and found out my BOT would leak thru the holes! No biggie for me since my BOT is my pot.People swear at this pot because it tall and unstable. Others praise it because it can make a small, lightweight and compact kit, nesting outside a water bottle. Think and overcome its disadvantages and praise its advantages! This seems to be the only 1 liter Nalgene bottle nesting pot on the market! Its the backpackers vs the survivalists vs the bushcrafters! LOL This time there's at least some agreement betwix us all............

I've now used this equipment on a camp out. It worked fine as a water container. The seal worked fine and it didn't leak. When full and used w/ a Solo wood burning stove, it took 13 min to bring it to a rolling boil. This was under calm, static conditions. Normally, I wouldn't fill it to the top and it would certainly boil faster.It is not a be all, end all. It is not the fault of the bottle but, a poor decision on my part. When spending $35 on a unit I expect more. It has the same problem as using a Kleen Kanteen or other metal bottle - the water boils just fine and then you need to pour its contents. Yes, I should have bought a handle and I shouldn't have bought it without one. But I did. Now to use it, I need to take steps to avoid scalding my hands. A handle from Vargo is another $24 and the reviews say its flimsy. I don't plan on spending more on this item anyway. So I'll fashion one out of wire. I do plan to use it. It is a good, multi-purpose piece of equipment and on a future hike, I'll leave other water and cooking containers at home and see how it works out. At this point, I don't know that it is any better than regular stainless or military style canteen cup and a water bottle. Or perhaps a Stanley cup which comes w/ a handle and lid. We'll see.My point is, I bought this bottle in large part based on other reviews and didn't adequately think through the alternatives before buying.

I've been using this item way more that expected in daily life and have yet to take it on an outdoor adventure! Opening it after becoming pressurized has been a virtual non-issue (easily resolved by a small flat metal object). It's really ideal to bring to a restaurant to have water for the meal, and then use it for leftovers instead of all the plastic. I use a lab hotplate and the lid to make Turkish coffee. Today I dropped an organza bag with (fish tank) activated charcoal into my water and it has removed most of the funky tap water taste. I've also noticed that my vintage brass stove fits perfectly inside. Last but not least, I know from experience that if I'm bush-crafting I'll use this for water collection & purification, cooking, collection of nuts and fruits,ensnarement, char cloth & char coal...I'm gonna have to start looking for sources of replacement O-rings soon.