Esee Knives Aluminum Mess/Survival Tin

I have been making little survival kits and stashing them in my gear for years. After watching the Dave Canterbury bushcraft videos on the 5 Cs in a survival situation and watching survival shows on TV, I decided to upgrade my kit where I would have a metal container you can boil water in. These tins are a little thin but they get the job done and you could boil water with them. My current kit uses one of these packed to the limit with useful survival stuff. I put it in a 2 liter dry bag with one of the durable SOL space blankets. It is a very nice, compact, kit that I have some confidence that I could survive in the woods with. The only negative with my new kit is it is surprisingly heavy. Still, I think this is the best way to do a survival kit is to use one of these tins. Another alternative would be to use a tin cup or canteen as a container.

I’ve had this mess tin for almost 2 years now, and I’ve used it to cook in multiple times. It’s lightweight, fairly durable, and it has a lid. My only complaint is that I wish the lid 1). Had a handle or something to help me take it off while cooking, and 2). I wish it sealed better on the tin itself. I’ve normally used this with an emberlit fireant stove (which will fit inside of the mess tin) and over a fire on a grill, but never directly in the fire itself. It comfortably holds 2.5 cups of water, but you could probably get about 3 cups in there if you really filled it to the top. The rectangular shape also helps with pouring water out of the mess tin. At first I thought the handle felt a little flimsy, but it hasn’t broken yet, and I don’t think it will under reasonable use. Overall, I think this is a good mess tin, albeit a little pricy.

I like esee products I have several knives, pouches, tins from them. I have 2 of the small tins. But I wanted something a little larger with more room. This one fits the bill you can fit the items you can fit in 4 altoids sized tins. It also serves as a pot to boil water or heat up food. There were some things that prevented me from giving it 5 stars. One was the aluminum is thin I would have liked a little bit more thickness and two the lid is kind of loose. You flip the handle and it keeps it in place but still a bit loose. I decided to put a bungee cord to keep it shut. It feels good quality other than that. It serves different functions.

MAKES A FANTASTIC SURVIVAL KIT: The handle is nice if you need to cook with it. You will still need to wear a leather glove because the handle gets hot. It is very light weight. You can boil water in it, and it is durable enough to dig with. There is not an airtight seal on this tin because it would melt if you cook on it or make a sticky mess if you dig with it. It is an ideal size at 32 oz for a survival kit.

This actually was cooler than I had hoped. It would make a good cook pot, sturdy and easy to handle. I have not used it yet over a fire. It actually was cool as it was big enough to hold my cookstove (Firebox Nano) and all my stuff for my get home bag. So I like it a lot.

Smaller than I expected, sizes in the descriptions are correct. Handle works and the tin is think enough. Bought this as a fire box that can double as a cook pot. Plenty of room for 3 types of fire starters and some fat wood.

A bit overpriced for an empty Tin, but, being new at bushcraft I purchased the item as it seemed good to use in the pinch. As many have said on youtube find a multipurpose item and learn to make the most of it. So I did, oh well hopefully someone will drop the price and I will get two more-

This tin is large enough to house quite a bit of small emergency survival gear while being compact enough for a personal EDC. It held up well to my Sterno and backpacking stoves. It a great gift for any prepper you may know.