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Reviews > Cook Gear > Cooking Accessories > AntiGravityGear Pot Cozy Covers > Christine Korhonen > Field ReportAntiGravityGear Cozy Cover Field
Report Name: Christine Korhonen Age: 31 Gender: female Height: 5'4" (1.6 m) Weight: 150 lb (68 kg) E-mail: chris@wormguy.com Location: Western Montana Date: May 3, 2005 Backpacking Background: I'm in Montana where I'm enjoying the summers and becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. My summer pack weight is around 19 lb (9 kg) with a tent, but my winter pack weight hovers around 25 lb (11 kg). Product Information: Manufacturer: AntiGravityGear Year: 2004 URL: www.antigravitygear.com Item: Neoprene Cozy Cover MSRP: US $9.95 Color: Blue Pot Size: 3 cup (700 mL) Dimensions: Listed Weight: 1.9 oz (54 g) Measured Weight: 2.0 oz (57 g) Measured Size: 4" high x 5¾" diameter (10 cm x 15 cm) Field Information: I've tested the Cozy Cover along the trails of Montana and Wyoming. The elevation stayed around 6000' (1800 m) and temperatures ranged from 35-50 F (2-10 C) during my meals. I stayed in sagebrush and forest-covered mountains. Cozy Cover Description: The Cozy Cover is a neoprene shell for protecting a tinfoil and bubble wrap pot cozy and associated pot. This Cozy Cover tested was designed to be used with the AntiGravityGear 3-cup (700 mL) pot and cozy. Use: So far during the testing period, I've kept my Brasslite Turbo F stove, lighter, and pot grips wrapped in a bandanna inside the AntiGravityGear 3-cup (700 mL) pot, the pot inside the cozy, and the cozy inside the Cozy Cover. I haven't stored anything in the upper storage space between the pot's lid and the Cozy Cover lid. For the most part, the pot and pot cozy remain in the Cozy Cover. The Cozy Cover works like a stuff sack, keeping everything together. I only take the pot out of the Cozy Cover when it's needed on the stove or in the sink. It was sometimes a struggle for me to get the pot out of the cozy/Cozy Cover combination, but I never had any problems getting the pot back in, even when the pot was full of boiling water. I held the pot with the pot grips, and it just slid into the cozy. I like the fact that the Cozy Cover lid is attached to its base. This is a convenient place to put the pot's lid when not in use. When the Cozy Cover is unzipped, the lid, though still attached to the Cozy Cover, sits on the ground and protects the pot lid from dirt. It's nice to have a place for the pot lid so I don't forget where I've put it. Even when holding the pot up off the ground, although the Cozy Cover lid droops off to the side, the pot lid sits snugly in the Cozy Cover's lid and hasn't fallen out yet. Zipping: The zipper on the Cozy Cover is slightly lower than the top edge of the pot. I'm able to lower the pot into the cozy using a pair of pot grips without the grips catching on the Cozy Cover. The AntiGravityGear cozy has a 1" (2.5 cm) tab cut-out to allow access to the pot rim, and the top edge of the cozy is about 1" (2.5 cm) higher than the pot. When zipping the Cozy Cover closed, the zipper almost always catches on the cozy's cut-out tab. The lid of the Cozy Cover can also get twisted and caught on the cozy's top edge. Because of this, zipping the Cozy Cover closed is a two-handed process for me. This sometimes poses a problem when I try to hold the pot off the ground and get the Cozy Cover zipped at the same time. When I was cooking, the temperature was cooling down, and I wanted to get the pot into the Cozy Cover as quickly as possible to keep the heat. I had to remind myself to go slow since trying to zip the Cozy Cover fast only made the zipper catch more often. Insulation: The Cozy Cover seems to add a little insulation to the contents of the pot. In tests at home, I poured hot water into the pot covered by the cozy alone and by the cozy and Cozy Cover together. I then measured the temperature every five minutes to see how fast each configuration lost heat. The water stayed a little warmer with the Cozy Cover, but there was less than a 2 degree F (<1 degree C) difference over twenty-five minutes (see tables below). In the field when it was 35 F (2 C) out with light snow, I put boiling water and a rice mix in the pot then zipped up the Cozy Cover and let it sit. The meal was ready to go but too hot to eat ten minutes later and stayed warm until I was done eating. Protection: I used the Cozy Cover as protection for my pot and cozy while in my backpack and during meals. So far the Cozy Cover seems to be protecting the cozy. The cozy is scratched and dented where the top edge folds over the pot, but the part of the cozy covered by the base of the Cozy Cover looks good. Since using the Cozy Cover, I don't worry that the cozy will catch on something and rip or puncture. I feel more comfortable throwing my pot in my backpack. I also like how the neoprene of the Cozy Cover is easy to hold. It's not as slippery as the tinfoil-like cozy material. Wear: The Cozy Cover is showing only small signs of wear. There's a stain on the inside of the lid, and some food or something stuck to the lid top. There's what looks like a water mark along the bottom edge of the Cozy Cover, where some starch water may have gotten between the cozy and the Cozy Cover and then dried, leaving a line. The seams look good. They are not showing any signs of wear yet. The neoprene does take awhile to dry. After spilling water in the Cozy Cover, it took several hours before it dried completely. Likes: Cozy Cover lid design neoprene material protection given to pot and cozy Will Watch: difficulty removing the pot zipper catching on cozy Test Plan: I will continue to test the Cozy Cover along the trails of Montana and Wyoming. I will pay particular attention to the protection the Cozy Cover provides and how it stands up to wear during the long-term testing phase. Temperature Values: These are the values I collected for my testing of the Cozy Cover insulation value. I made all measurements in Fahrenheit, shown in the first table. I converted these measurements to Celsius for the second table. Ambient temperature was 68.6 F (20.3 C).
Read more reviews of AntiGravityGear gear Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen Reviews > Cook Gear > Cooking Accessories > AntiGravityGear Pot Cozy Covers > Christine Korhonen > Field Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||