Outdoors

Vargo's Titanium BOT combines cooking pot and water bottle

Vargo's Titanium BOT combines cooking pot and water bottle
Because the BOT was designed for cooking, it's easy to pull off the heat
Because the BOT was designed for cooking, it's easy to pull off the heat
View 6 Images
The BOT's top is both a screw-on water bottle top and a pot lid
1/6
The BOT's top is both a screw-on water bottle top and a pot lid
Because the BOT was designed for cooking, it's easy to pull off the heat
2/6
Because the BOT was designed for cooking, it's easy to pull off the heat
It's wider than the average water bottle, but still slim enough to fit in a backpack's water bottle pocket
3/6
It's wider than the average water bottle, but still slim enough to fit in a backpack's water bottle pocket
The BOT's wide, stable build is designed for cooking
4/6
The BOT's wide, stable build is designed for cooking
Carry water; boil water; and cook dinner with one piece of gear
5/6
Carry water; boil water; and cook dinner with one piece of gear
The Titanium BOT is a one-liter cooking and water-carrying solution
6/6
The Titanium BOT is a one-liter cooking and water-carrying solution
View gallery - 6 images

Why carry two pieces of gear into the backcountry when you can carry one? That's the question that Vargo answers with the new Titanium BOT. The vessel combines two backcountry essentials - cooking pot and water bottle - into a single, lightweight package.

When it comes to backpacking, less weight is almost always better. But while a backpacker can cut a spoon handle in half and sleep under a canvas sheet, there are certain things he can't live without - like water. A water bottle is great for carrying water, but not necessarily so great great for cooking. Cooking pots tend to lack the fully securing tops needed to transport water. So, assuming that a backpacker wants to both carry and boil water, he needs both a cooking pot and a water bottle or bladder.

Or he needs the Titanium BOT. Vargo solves the water-carrying shortcomings of the cooking pot with a dual-purpose top. One side screws in and employs a heat-resistant O-ring to secure a full liter of water without any spillage. The titanium top flips over for cooking mode and functions like a standard pot lid, unlike the plastic tops on regular water bottles. Also unlike a regular water bottle, the pot is designed to be stable for cooking and removed from the stove with a pot lifter.

The end result is that a backpacker gets the full function of a water bottle and cooking pot from a single device that weighs less than 5 ounces (4.7 oz/133 g, to be precise). Its tall, thin design should fit in most backpack water bottle pockets.

The BOT's wide, stable build is designed for cooking
The BOT's wide, stable build is designed for cooking

The main drawback here is the price. The Titanium BOT comes with a pretty steep buy-in of US$100. You could buy an entire titanium cook set plus a separate water bottle for well under that price. And it appears that some backpackers have had success cooking in a regular single-wall stainless steel bottle, which is even cheaper.

If you don't mind paying extra for a lightweight, purpose-built model, the Titanium BOT appears to be a solid option. And there's an entire market of high-priced ultralight gear that testifies to the fact that some backpackers don't mind spending extra for the lightest solution.

Source: Vargo Outdoors

View gallery - 6 images
3 comments
3 comments
waltinseattle
looks like pure titanium from the lustre, not the machine grade. thus I must ask how long before it oxidyzes to beyond usable, britilyzes as Ti is well known... ...oh, it is the waterbottle? what do you do with the water while cooking?
still in the cast iron age personally, so maybe I am biased toward muscles not money in the back country search for a "simpler life."
Nantha
There's a reason why cooking pots are shallow. Try washing this water bottle after you have used it to cook something. Your hands wont be able to get into the bottom to remove the grime. And outdoors, you'll most likely have sand as your scrubbing medium. I wouldn't want to scrub my USD $100 titanium thingy with sand.
Besides that, you'll most likely need water in your bottle while you are cooking something in your pot. This is like speaker docks for your smartphone. Do you answer the call or do you listen to the music and let the phone ring?
oldhacker
Nantha, a lot of backpackers only boil up water to hydrate freeze dried, or dehydrated meals...especially in bear country. Those of us who do that, typically use something like a 750ml or 900ml ti cup, and cook near a water source. (Thus eliminating the need to purify the water first.) This looks like a cool idea, but there are 2 other issues I have: 1.Tthat $100 kind of turns me off. $50 seems a lot more reasonable, unlesss it includes the alcohol stove shown. 2. The actual water bottle weight is a small fraction of the weight of actually carrying water. Water weighs 2.2 lb per liter, even if the bottle weighed nothing. Still, it would likely be one rugged water bottle, and if I see it on sale somewhere...who knows? :)