In bushcraft a knife and a billy pot go together like peanut butter and jelly. A billy pot is just something that you are going to use a lot, so why not having something that is really good quality?

If you prefer watching videos, I also made the video below. However, this article contains more detail information, so it is still worth a read.

If bushcraft is what you are into, I have still used a billy pot for cooking on propane stove while camping and on the stove top indoors. From cooking rice, boiling water to making hot chocolate and cowboy coffee, there are just tons of outdoor uses for a billy pot.

I have a billy pot addiction like I have a hat or knife addiction. So, to say that I have tried a few different ones would be an understatement. From coffee cans, aluminum, titanium and stainless steel ones.....I have tried many.

Today, I don't plan to tell you all the uses for a billy pot. Instead, I want to tell you all about my favorite one, and why. I am going to do that by looking at the following details.

Material
Construction
Size
Features
- Lid ring
- Bail
- Long handles
- Pour Spout
- Measurement markings
Bonus - The Titan Stove

To just go ahead and let the secret out, my favorite billy pot is the Solo Stove Pot 1800.

And here is why.....

Material

For material, I just prefer stainless steel. This is not something that I use for ultra light backpacking, and shaving ounces is not as important to me as having something that is functional. I have used anodized aluminum pots, and have never had an issue with them. However, I still always feel like I have to be careful with them, or I am going to destroy them.

I have also used stainless steel pots that had more of a "brushed" finish and they seemed harder to clean and easier to rust. I have also used others that just didn't seem to look and feel like they were the same quality.

The solo stove is made of 304 stainless steel, and everything about it just feels like quality to me. It is just a joy to use every time.

Construction

I am going to address individual features later. I just felt that commenting on the overall construction was still important. A lot of pots and lids seem slightly out of round, and not the best fitting combination. That is not the case with the solo stove. The lid has a deep ring that fits in the pot for the most secure fit that I have ever used, and in any orientation. Things like that are one of the things that make me grab this pot first every single time.

Size

Luckily, the solo stove also does come in other sizes. If you wanted a smaller one for just one person, or perhaps a larger one for more people, you can get that. But, I find the 1800, with its 60 oz capacity is for me the best all around size for practical use.

With those items out of the way, let's get into the feature that really make this thing stand out from the rest of the billy pots I have used. Just to note, I have found some of these things in other billy pots, but I have never found another that had ALL the things I wanted wrapped up into one pot. I literally couldn't make a better one if I wanted to. So, while I am talking about the "features" I am really talking about all the features combined into one pot.

Lid Ring

A lid ring comes in really handy. If you want to cook something with the lid, and occasionally want to check inside, a lid ring is a must. It is very common to carve a "lid stick" to slip under the ring so that you can remove the lid without burning yourself.

A lot of billy pots require modification to do this, because the ring sits flush with the lid. You can attached another ring to lid ring so that it easier to fish the stick under. Other billy pots I have used have a bent feature that allows you to slide the stick underneath and get a hold of the ring. But, both generally flop from side to side, and can be a bit of a fishing game to hook the ring.

On the solostove, you can stand the lid ring up, and it stays there. Not only does it make easier to grab it with a stick, but it also doesn't get as hot because it is not sitting flush against the metal lid heating up. In fact, with the silicone/rubber material on the ring, most times no stick is needed at all.

Bail

Most billy pots have a bail. It can be used for handing the pot over a fire, and transporting it from place to place. Many billy pots have the same flaw as the lid ring, and either flop from one side of the pot to the other. If you are not suspending the pot, this makes the bail as hot as it can possibly be.

The solostove bail, on the other hand, can be put into many positions and it will stay there. If you are boiling water on a propane stove and want to move it by the bail, you can leave it in a position away from the fire and the pot so that it will be easier to handle when you are ready.

I have used other billy pots where this is achieved with metal "ears" that work, but can be easily bent in handling or stuffing into your pack. They always require bending, tweaking and adjusting. Not to mention that many are riveted in place and can be a source of leaking.

On the solostove, the bail indexing is achieved with very robust pieces of metal welded to the pot.

Long Handles

To have a good functioning bail AND a set of handles on a pot is a really good combination. The long wire handles on the solostove are my favorite over any I have ever used. I have used shorter ones, and ones that fail to hold position well, and flop all over. But, the ones on the solostove stay in position well. The longer length keeps them as cool as possible, and makes it really easy to pour from the pot. Which brings me into the next feature.....

Pour Spout

A lot of bill pots have a pour spout, and it is not a very unique feature all on its own. But, it is worth nothing that having this, along with the long handles makes this overall one of the easiest to use billy pots that I have ever used.

Measurement Markings

This is a pretty big bonus for me. On other billy pots I have scratched lines into pots, or tried to remember from memory how much a certain volume was. It is a nice feature to not only have them on the pot, but they are indented in the pot so they are still visible on mine after years of use, and without me having to continually clean the outside of the pot to see them.

Big Bonus - The Titan Stove

Most times when you stick a billy pot in your pack, the space inside is wasted. So, it is typically filled with dried food, hot chocolate, coffee, snacks.....whatever you can fit inside of it. But, one of the most useful things you can fit inside a pot is a twig burning stove. And, the titan stove is the nicest and most efficient twig burning stove that I have ever used. It is just bonus that it perfectly slides inside the Pot 1800 to have one useful package.

I have made twig burning stove from two cans, utensil holders, and just about anything that will fit the pot that I am using. I have also bought ones such as the military canteen cup stove. None of them work nearly as well as the stove from solostove.

A lot of people may be familiar with the larger solostove bonfire pits for larger fires in your yard. I have owned this pot and stove since before those were even a thing. Those larger pits are designed to give you a smoke free campfire experience, and I can not personally say how well they work or not, but they should work on the same principle.

That principle is that it is not simply a container to hold fuel to burn. It is technically a "gasifier." With the sticks in the middle of the stove, they burn like a normal small fire. Then, fresh air is brought it through draught through the outside rings on the stove. The fresh air combined with the smoke of the fire produce a mixture that can also be burned. When the fire is running properly, you will see fire inside the stove, as well as ring of fire that looks like a propane burner coming out of the top of the stove.

The end result is many things. First, is nearly a smoke free fire. Second is efficiency. Instead of letting the smoke escape into the air, it is combine with fresh air to provide even more heat resulting in a maximum amount of energy out of the fuel that you are using. Finally, everything inside the stove is fully burned. I have never used the stove and had anything but a pile of fine white ash in the bottom of the stove.

For quick cooking this means that your fire is fully consumed. Since the fire is gone, and nothing but ash is left, it cools off very quickly. Once cooled, it can be easily emptied, cleaned, and packed up again.

Overall, it is an excellent system that I have used over an over again.

I have used white gas stoves, canister stoves, alcohol stove, fuel tablets......you name it. They all have their places and uses depending on what you are trying to do outdoors. But, there are two reasons why I really like this setup other stove setups.

Nothing is more bushcrafty, or outdoors like than having a real fire....even if it is a tine one.
No guessing on fuel to bring, because you don't need any. You collect it while you are out. Have you ever had an alcohol bottle leak inside your bag? Or have a canister half full, and not sure if it is going to be enough, so you bring two? Or, if you like me you have a bunch of half cans at the house because you don't want to take two? Or how about wondering if one white gas bottle is enough, so you worry and stress over what to use your stove for?

All in all, I can't say enough good things about this combination...which is one of the reasons why it is the setup that I chose most often.

One extra add-on that I haven't mentioned is a cool carrying bag. My setup came with a nylon carrying bag. However, when I was at the Georgia Bushcraft Fall Gathering a couple years ago, PNW Bushcraft was there selling some of their waxed canvas bucket bags and I figured it was the perfect thing for this setup.

I ended up buying one that barely fit the whole setup, and it is a big of work to wiggle in and out, and does not give me much room for using the outside pockets. I am heading to Fall Gathering again this year, and if they are there, I will pick up the next size up, and repurpose that bag I have for something else.

Solostove Pot 1800 and Titan Stove Review