Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > AntiGravityGear 3 cup pot & cozy > Owner Review by Andre Corterier

AntiGravityGear 3 cup pot & cozy

Personal Biographical Information:
Name: André Corterier
Gender: M
Age: 34
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 80 kg (175 lb)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany

Backpacking Background:
I started out with backpackgeartest slowly – single-day 24 km (15 mi) jaunts by myself or even shorter hikes in the company of my little daughter. I am getting started on longer (overnight) hikes, as a lightweight packer and hammock-camper. I’ve begun upgrading my old gear and am now shooting for a dry FSO weight (everything carried From the Skin Out except food, fuel and water) of about 10 kg (22 lb) for three-season camping. Not quite there yet.

Note: These items were received in conjunction with a test of the blue cozy cover by the same manufacturer.

Item: AntiGravityGear 3 cup pot & cozy
Year of manufacture: 2005
Manufacturer: AntiGravityGear
URL: http://www.antigravitygear.com/
MSRP: 12.00 USD for the 3 cup hard anodized pot w/ lid
MSRP: 8.00 USD for the 3 cup cozy
MSRP: 2.15 USD for the pot lifter

Weight Comparisons - scale accurate to 5 g (0.2 oz)
(weights were "given" in oz and converted to g, "measured" in g and converted to oz)
3 cup pot cozy listed weight: 1.0 oz (28 g)
3 cup pot cozy measured weight: 23 g (0.8 oz), lid: 4 g (0.1 oz), total: 27 g (1.0 oz)
3 cup pot with lid listed weight: 3.8 oz (108 g)
3 cup pot measured weight: 76 g (2.7 oz), lid: 35 g (1.2 oz), total: 111 g (3.9 oz)
aluminum pot lifter listed weight: 1.4 oz (40 g)
aluminum pot lifter measured weight: 36 g (1.3 oz)
total listed weight: 6.2 oz (176 g)
total measured weight: 175 g (6.2 oz)

The Products in Detail:

The Pot Cozy:
The Pot Cozy consists of some cleverly glued together pieces of aluminized bubble wrap which fit (tightly) around the pot, and a separate round section for the lid. The pot part has a section which is cut so that it can be peeled away from the pot, which allows inserting the pot into the cozy with the pot lifter. That section can then be smoothed back up against the pot. It appears to me as though it would be very easy to elongate the cuts by about an inch (2.5 cm) or so which would allow the use of the pot cozy with an Evernew 0.9 l Ti pot (though this appears to make for an even tighter fit of the pot cozy). I have not made this modification, however. Extracting and even more so inserting the pot is a wee bit difficult as it is, because the cozy fits tightly. In addition, the pot is generally full of boiling water when I insert it. So I felt that a tighter fit would subtract from the usefulness of the pot cozy. The upright part of the pot cozy extends above the height of the pot's sidewall, although this section of aluminum foil does not include bubbles. This allows the foil to be smoothed over the lid once it's on the pot, tightly surrounding the closed pot on all sides (this additional length would also allow a pot with slightly higher sidewalls to be covered - up to a guesstimated 8.5 cm/ 3.5 in.

The lid section of the pot cozy features a small slit in the middle, through which the handle of the pot lid fits. The lid cozy then sticks nicely to the lid. Attached to the cozy is a sticker which reads:

DO NOT EXPOSE TO FLAME OR DIRECT STOVE HEAT. This cozy is only an insulator and will melt if exposed to flame. To use: Place pot with hot food in cozy. Put lid and top disk in place. Seal in heat py pressing top edge inward over top disk. Protect from abraision (sic) and sharp objects in pack.

The 3 Cup (Hard Anodized Aluminum) Pot (with Lid):
This is a small (boy, it's small) black pot with a silver lid (I take this to indicate that the lid did not suffer the anodization treatment - seems like saving money at the right place). The pot's sidewall turns out at the top, the lid rests on the flat level section created thereby. This flat section is only about 2 mm (about 1/8 in) wide. The listed diameter of the pot of 137 mm (5 3/8 in) was apparently measured at this (widest) section, the inside diameter of the volume used to cook is thus about 5 mm (about 1/4 in) less. The pot arrived without any scratches and has only acquired very few in the course of a lot of use. Again, additional pictures can be seen at the manufacturer's website.

The Aluminum Pot Lifter:
This pot lifter consists of two pieces of aluminum fitted together (they do not come apart). It is just shy of 5 in (12.5 cm) long and easily allows gripping of the pot.

Field Experience:
I have been using this pot and cozy combination for the better part of a year now. I have cooked ready-made noodle dishes from the supermarket with it as well as heated water for instant coffee and to rehydrate dehydrated trail food. Most of my experience with it actually stems from dayhiking, when my daughter and I like to have a break and a hot meal in the middle of it (followed by a siesta in my hammock). I have also used this pot on a number of overnight hikes and a few (three) multi-day excursions. It was used in conjunction with either my Clikstand Universal Stove System or my new self-made "SuperCat Stove" (which I made according to instructions easily found online).

Ease of Use:
Using the pot lifter to put the pot into the cozy is easy enough, though it appears that the lid must be taken off to do this. While I am able to grab both pot and lid with the lifter in a way which does not make me fear that I will drop the package, this makes the lid move up at the other end and does not, to me, look as though this is the intended use. Grabbing only the pot is easy as pie, though it has led to some scratching of the anodized surface of the pot with the pot lifter. In and of itself this does not worry me - the pot lifter touches only the very top of the pot, where it won't come into contact with food. I used to be a little concerned about the windscreen of my Clikstand, however, which I generally transport inside the pot. I used to be careful when inserting and extricating this, so as not to damage the inside or - worse - bottom of the pot. I am no longer nearly so concerned about this.

I can leave the lid section of the cozy on the lid while cooking. This (according to what I remember from my physics lessons) helps to retain heat in the pot while cooking (and, what with heat rising up, does so where it counts the most). It also saves me the bother of threading it over the lid handle each time.

Stirring things in the pot requires holding on to it with the pot lifter. This is a bit of a balancing act, though that is likely more a factor of my stove and pot support than of the pot itself. Still, I have sometimes wished for a handle that affixes directly to the pot. However, I feel that the disconnect between pot and handle also has a benefit in the fact that I can easily store the handle inside the pot. Given how light the pot lifter is, I guess that these factors balance one another. No complaint, really.

Having done this, I place the lid on the pot in a level fashion (after having disengaged the pot lifter) and smooth the upper pot cozy edges over the lid. Now I have about ten minutes (for a pasta dish, more with rice) to clean up my utensils and whatever garbage my meal may have come in and to sit down in a scenic spot. Holding the pot in the cozy allows me to hold it with one hand while I eat from it with the other. My food tends to be hot enough to still require some blowing on it at first, but usually no longer so hot as to make burning my lips inevitable. In my book, that makes it just right.

Durability:
The Ensemble has held up rather well. The bottom (outside) of the pot is smudged with soot to a degree the dishwasher cannot get off any more. This should help the pot absorb heat from the flame below it. The inside bottom of the pot features a few very small scratches in the anodization surface - which are rather obvious because the silvery, non-anodized aluminum becomes visible underneath. I assume that these are from my stirring the contents with my titanium spork (and trying to break overly long spaghetti into smaller pieces with it). The outside edges of the lid section of the cozy have blackened and shrivelled up a bit from the occasional flame licking up the side of the pot, so it definitely looks used by now. But it has lost none of its usefulness and will remain in my pack for the foreseeable future.

Pros/Cons:
Pros: Low weight, low cost. Cozy saves fuel and makes eating from the pot more comfortable.
Cons: None. Still.

Reviews > Cook Gear > Cook Sets > AntiGravityGear 3 cup pot & cozy > Owner Review by Andre Corterier