Toaks 450 ml Titanium mug.

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Before we get to the meat of it, just a couple of quick notes. This is just a copy and paste job from my personal EDC thread, which, I imagine is not read and beloved by the masses; I don’t blame y’all. it’s a train wreck over there.

Anyway, I figured some of you who don’t regularly read through all those individual EDC threads might also enjoy seeing the mug and hearing my subjective two cents, so I’m posting it here.

Also, all the Toaks titanium stuff is made in China, so if that is a big deal to anyone, don’t get all lusty with cheap titanium, OK?

So every year I start a bookmark folder where I put stuff I think I may want to purchase. I tend to put a lot of stuff in there even when most of the time I’m not even sure I want it.

It’s from this list that the wife pulls stuff to get me when there is an occasion. I think she also assists other family members when they ask what her husband may want or need. It allows for some surprise but avoids total unsatisfaction even if I personally would have never gotten around to buying whatever for myself.

So, sometime in the last year, I found a Ti mug that, given the dimensions found in the spec, seemed like it would be a good match for the 27 oz. Kleen Kanteens that I mostly use these days. Nesting mugs for this size KK are impossible to find, but I thought I was on to something, so into the folder went the link for the Toaks 450ml titanium mug.

Where it is promptly forgotten about since I don’t really need, or, for that matter, even really want nesting mug. Well, let’s just say it wasn’t a priority.

Then, my birthday rolls around and one of the gifts is… you guessed it… the Toaks mug. Like I said earlier, the system allows for a surprise without total disappointment. It came with a little stuff sack too, though for what purpose I couldn’t imagine as it will be nestingafter all.

Since I have it, I figure I’ll try using it, and into the water bottle pouch on my bag it goes. The problem is, the KK is just a wee bit too small to get a snug and, more importantly, quite fit.

Bummer.

So, in my spare time, I search for solutions. As luck would have it, REI has a sale that includes KK products and I see that the 20oz. insulated WM is among the sale items.

Now, we have maybe twenty wide mouth KKs in use here (which may seem excessive, but we all use them regularly and I personally need to take 6-8 of them to work everyday) and I feel like I need to justify getting yet more stuff that isn’t really needed.

Hey, I see that the 20oz. insulated wide mouth is ever so slightly wider than the 27 and I think I am well on my way to solving the noise issue. Ya, I can rationalize this. They are, btw, pretty close in all other dimensions. The insulation works great, but you give up the ability to boil water and, more importantly, 7 ozs. of capacity. Such is life- a world of compromise.

Turns out it is indeed wider, but not by enough to make it a snug fit. And, so, the rattling continues.

Then, at some point, a find the stuff sack lying around and the light bulb goes off. Use that as a sound insulator. Sure the hydration system is getting ever more complicated, but, at least, there is no more noise.

What else can I say about that mug? It turns out 450 ml is pretty darn close to 2 cups which makes the mug pretty useful for prepping freeze dried food; that is to say it makes a darn good improvised measuring cup, even for, say, 1 cup, which would, obviously be about half a mug.

And while is a little too small, imnsho, to be a stand alone pot, it is ideal for a solo day hike where you may want to stop for some tea or hot chocolate as most alcohol stoves and a CF wind screen will fit nicely inside with a small fuel bottle (not pictured). And before SAKp asks, not all those stoves can fit in there all at once… one at a time, bro.

Depending on the style of stove and the size of the fuel bottle, I think you could get a couple of tea bags in there as well. BTW, the stuff sack would be handy to have in this application.

Now, if for whatever reason you wanted to make this the basis of your cook system, I guess you’d need to find a lid; what do you mean you don’t use a lid? I haven’t looked, so who knows if one is even available. Also, it seems like it will also work well with canister stoves.

That’s right, there are no canisters attached to the stoves and the pictures are upside-down- just use you imagination, why don’t ya?

I have a Whisperlight, but for the last year or so I can’t find it, so I could only speculate on the compatibility. For other stoves, all I can say is the mug has 3 1/8″ diameter.

Now, the Toaks 450 ml Ti mug will add a 2.7 ozs. to your system and take about $20 out of your bank account while not being able to nest efficiently in any of the normal bottles that I have or you are likely to find, including all manner of Nalgene, some Siggs, and any size wide mouth KK that I tried. Whether or not it is a good value depends on the end user’s intent, I suppose. As for me, it is still riding in the bag.

Later Edit- I did find that Batch Stovez makes a reasonably priced aluminum lid that fits the Toaks 450 ml Ti mug (as well as some other 450 ml mugs). It seems like they are the only ones. I have purchased stuff from Batch Stovez before and they do a fine job manufacturing aluminum products and ship fast.

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