I hadn’t. I’d always thought the weight saving would be minimal at best. But then I picked up Keith’s Ti6017 Titanium cook set, with a combo 1.25L pot and 800ml pan. I was honestly surprised at how light it was—just 230g. That’s 200g lighter than my trusty 1400ml stainless steel billy. It mightn’t sound like much, but when I held Keith’s cook set in one hand and my old billy in the other, the difference was stark.

That wasn’t the only surprise. Titanium’s strength allows for thin-walled designs, which in turn means better heat transfer, which in turn means—and here’s the important bit—quicker times for me to boil a cuppa while out on the trail. I’m not joking here. I tested it. For my stainless steel billy, the time to bring 250ml of water to boil was 1 minute, 30 seconds. With Keith’s 1.25L pot, it took 1:07. Not only do I get a cuppa in a jiffy, I use less fuel to do so.

Now, titanium cookware’s high heat transfer means it sometimes cops a bad rap for creating hot spots and burning food; as a result, some people reckon it’s only good for boiling water. I disagree. While it’s true that titanium cookware is well suited to people who eat freeze-dried meals or who drink lots of tea (like me!), you can still cook meals in them by stirring judiciously, keeping the stove heat low, and opting for more liquid-based meals. And anyway, if anything does stick, since this pot and pan are made from pure, uncoated titanium, you can always scour them clean.