Halulite Minimalist

I bought this at the same time as a GSI Soloist cook set. This will nest inside of that system and provide an additional cooking container and insulated drink cup. This will maintain a hot liquid beverage at drinkable temp for up to an hour. This should be included in a set along with the GSI Soloist.

I used this on a 4 day motorcycling and tent camping trip as a test for my upcoming Yosemite backcountry outing. Primary use was heating water for my morning coffee (with instant packets) and oatmeal.

The GSI mug is big enough to hold a MSR Pocket Rocket stove and storage box along with the supplied silicone gripper and telescoping foon. Also a 4 oz fuel canister will slide to the bottom but not leaving enough room for a stove.

Some reviews mentioned the lid was tight and difficult to get off. Initially that was a problem but after a couple on/offs it loosened up and is not an issue for myself.

There was some concern that the telescoping foon would not last but it seems to work fine. However, I will put ounce markings on the spoon so I can measure the fluid level in the mug.

The insulation sleeve is a great feature and allowed me to hold the mug with boiling water. Also, the lid can flip over to cover the mug as the water was heating up and is easy to remove with the gripper.

As you can see, I am very happy with the GSI Halulite Minimalist and consider it a great value. For myself, there is no need to purchase much higher priced titanium products since the Hard Anodized Alloy heats up and cleans very well.

This makes a perfect small set when you want to travel with a minimum of gear. I carry this set when I want to backpack with an ultralight cooking setup when all I'm heating is water, or I simply want to make a hot drink when hiking or hunting. For a heat source I will use either an Evernew Titanium DX alcohol stove/windscreen set, or a Trangia burner, a windscreen, and a hardware cloth pot stand. Either combination will fit inside the GSI Halulite Minimalist along with the supplied "Foon" and silicon pot gripper, and you can still get the lid on the top. A standard 4-inch Trail Designs windscreen won't fit inside with the lid on. You can cut a bit off the bottom of a 4-inch windscreen and it will work, but it leaves you with a useless strip of aluminum. I took an 8-inch Trail Designs windscreen and cut it lengthwise so that the shorter half would fit in my GSI Halulite Minimalist. This left me with another slightly taller half which is very useable for other purposes. To make a pot stand for use with the Trangia burner, I used a piece of hardware cloth that measured five squares by 20 squares. If you are using this setup simply for making a hot drink on a day hike, the Trangia burner, hardware cloth, and separate wind screen setup has the advantage in that you can put the amount of alcohol you need in the Trangia burner and screw on the lid. When using the Evernew burner, or for longer trips with the Trangia, you will need to carry a separate bottle containing your alcohol supply. The supplied silicon gripper isn't the greatest thing in the world for handling the pot when it is hot, but it is useable if you are VERY careful! I prefer to use a regular pot gripper or the pliers on my multitool for handling the hot pot. When using an alcohol stove the lid can't be used when heating the GSI Minimalist because the flame usually licks up the edge of the pot and you are likely to burn the lid. After heating your drink in the Minimalist, the cozy and sippy lid keep the drink hot for a very long time. Even when the pot is very hot immediately after it comes off the stove, you can slip the cozy on right away. It doesn't melt, and it keeps your hand cool while keeping the contents hot. If you choose not to carry the GSI Minimalist with stuff stored inside, you can remove the lid and it will slip right over the bottom of a 32 ounce Nalgene bottle. It fits perfectly! As long as you don't need to heat more than 500 ml of water at one time and don't mind drinking out of the same pot in which you heat your water, the GSI Minimalist is all you need!