Valtcan Titanium BBQ folding Plate 2.0mm Thick Sturdy Half Open Grate design

I really liked the finish and the quality, only issue I had was that it is sooooo tiny.

Exactly what I was looking for. My son wanted something he could use to cook on but was packable into his Bugout bag. Plus the lightweight and durability of titanium makes it a better choice to carry

There's an old adage about bicycles which is often apt when reviewing outdoors gear as well -- "Lightweight, Strong, Affordable -- Choose Two." This Valtcan is strong first, affordable second, and lightweight, third. Though there are lighter options, it deserves a look if you're in the market for a premium wilderness cooking tool that is substantial in quality, value, material, utility and durability. I think it has design excellence. Allow me to explain more, if you have an interest in trekking grills, wood stoves and remote cooking. This Valtcan grill is not inexpensive at 2 to 6 times the price of some backpacking grills. It's not unaffordable, or overpriced. It is in a different niche than the ultra-lightweights, and costs less than more expensive products which would be much less suitable or successful in remote areas. It is more special than an average ultralight grill. It is a middle-weight champ or depending on what you're comparing it to, a giant-slayer. Considering you could replace a 10-20 pound or more portable barbeque with this, and get excellent results, it is a David, or Hercules. It might confer pride of ownership for years or decades. Unexpectedly, It might perform multiple useful roles -- as field cooktop, kitchen counter, minimalist woodstove, dining table, barbeque, sideboard, cooking rack and drying shelf, food dehydrator/smoker, personal effects and camp gear valet, lap desk, workstation. It is beautiful and strong. I'm a fan of Snow Peak gear, and only recently discovered Valtcan. This grill looked so compelling, I had to check it out. I was surprised to see no one had written an in-depth review here. I will add to this, if needed, here are my initial findings for those who feel the need to cook in the great back yard: 1. When you're out in wilderness, strength is a virtue and utility is king. Valtcan weren't kidding when they said it's a sturdy grill. The word is even on the shipping box label. I loaded one up carefully with 14 pounds of fitness weights (~6.35kg) and it did not blink, sag, bend, lean, cry, or fold. I think it would support 8kg+ of cookware and/or food. That's more than you'll need, perhaps. From my photos you can see that with 14lbs atop, whether evenly spread or concentrated at the very center, the grill is just barely compressed. A full complement of drumsticks or burgers will not phase this grill at all. I questioned Valtcan whether the legs are made of titanium -- if so they should do very nicely for years to come; from where the leg surface is minutely scratched as received, they really do appear to be of nice, solid titanium). 2. It's got loads of utility. Get this if you'd love to do some true camp cooking and not just rehydrate wonderful pouch meals, for which you don't really need a grill. Get this if you won't mind the extra weight because of the utility and flexibility it will provide. Camp cooking and dining may be one of the happiest parts of a day hauling gear, and preparing for the next day's adventures, so choose your battles and prioritize -- this grill may be your best friend, or the one piece of gear you don't want to carry another step. It doesn't apologize for what it is, and doesn't have to. The first time your dinner goes into the fire with a less sturdy grill, you may understand why I say this is like a woodstove. It's solid. Just do not push on it from either side in the directions the legs fold, while cooking. I made a little discovery concerning the legs: Depending on which way you install the legs, they will deploy more vertically, as seen in Valtcan's photos -- or more angled, which you can see in my pics. Make sure you have the legs set up so that they are in the more angled position esp. if you are going to cook with anything heavy. The grill is much more stable in the wider stance. The legs look identical to the eye on either side, but there is a subtle difference, and vive la difference. The height of the grill will not change noticeably either way. Please refer to my photos and see for yourself. I've received a grill assembled with legs oriented both ways -- hence the discovery.) Getting back to cooking. It may not be obvious from the photos or measurements, so I can say with confidence you would be able to cook one, even two decent-sized whole fryer chickens atop it at once, with the right utensils, maybe some chef's twine or foil, patience and basic cooking and campfire skills. It would hold a turkey hindquarter or 6 chicken breasts just as well. 2 big steaks or one which weighs much more than the grill. You could fit multiple large sausages, rolls/buns for them, even more hot dogs or polish sausages, large stuffed peppers and portobello mushrooms, good sized fish fillets, salmon steaks. If you were thinking of cooking ribs without also lugging the 100lb barbeque to the campsite, this could be your ticket too, but measure to match. If you love teppanyaki, lobster tails, surf and turf, grilled pork chops, large stuffed grilled half avocados, giant and double burgers, bacon and eggs, grilled sandwiches, skewers and toasty sub sandwiches then this grill is just the thing all by itself -- or add your preferred camp cookware and cook up more. The (not included) Valtcan bbq tongs look useful and durable. You can park those atop things like slender branches or tent poles or pack them over the grill storage sleeve or banded to your tent stake bag. **obligatory reminder: please be careful of hungry bears and wildlife if you're within their roaming range and cooking up a meal in the woods or planning to. Please know how to stay safe(r), while on the move with your moveable feast! I also bear no responsibility if you attract hungry backpackers grilling your steak and lobster and loaded baked potato halves at 1900'.** Valtcan's grill laughed at my heavy 14" cast iron grill pan which weighs less than 6kg all by itself. I would never carry that into wilderness, but you should be able to safely and reliably put a 4qt cast iron dutch oven with lid, full of stew or soup, atop this Valtcan, just don't bump or lean on the pot. High winds are always a special case. The design of this grill will allow you to stake the leg bottoms into the firepit ground before buildling a fire, or just move some 3 - 6 inch stones atop their bottom portion for added stability. Two personal-size cookpots or pans can fit atop half of this grill, will leave you room for veggies or sides while your main dishes cook. Four sierra cups or compact cookpots for example will fit readily on this grill. You could perch four Keith multicookers or Snow Peak 900's or larger Valtcan pots on it. You could boil water and brew coffee in your Ti french press or stainless Stanley even as you cook breakfast. Try your hand at cooking a stack or two of mini pancakes in your Ti backpacker cookset or even short mini muffins, biscuits or cornbread, cookies or energy bars. If you invert your empty compact cookpot or lid over foods atop the solid grill surface, with practice you can slowly bake and warm stuff in a splendid oven style. True, you don't need a grill to cook outdoors, but it can be a lot harder without one, and titanium has a natural way of taming flare-ups so they don't singe your food, it's like cast iron in that respect just much lighter. 3. Don't think of this as an ultralightweight backpacker's grill a la Vargo's (which is in a different league objectively for light-weight and compactness, but can't match the sturdiness and stylishness and luxurious presence of this Valtcan) or the Woodsman Ti (it's very competitive with the Vargo for weight and size and price, but it doesn't have integral legs, which may or may not be a problem depending on where you're setting up). I asked myself why Snow Peak did not make a grill like this and the answer is, it might be too expensive. Valtcan took a chance producing this and I think it is a winner. Look at this as a minimalist cooktop woodstove without the floor, sides, walls, or door and door handle and hinges. It's closer to nothingness, and yet what's there is super strong and useful and packs down nice and flat, and lets you cook stuff -- hands-free. You can cook directly atop the solid or perforated portions, negating the need for a frypan or frypan/lid -- and it stores more flat than compact cookpots and cups. Yes, you can buy stainless platforms from Redcamp and Coghlan's and others that will support your cookware flawlessly and work reliably for years, and provide unsurpassed value. I recommend them too, but this is different and nicer. The Valtcan will store in its sleeve under or behind a typical carseat I suppose, a typical drawer or suitcase, too. It's big enough that it won't work for small daypacks and lumbar packs or hydration packs, but who goes backpacking over distance with those? This isn't for ultra-endurance races or climbers, perhaps. You CAN strap it down above, below or behind some smaller packs -- where there's a will, there's a way. Folded up, it will fit in a bicycle touring pannier and would be great for non-mountain touring. You want this to be well secured within or to your pack for safety, while traversing terrain -- same for water bottles. 4. More on cooking. Due to its dual-cooktop-type design, you can put half the grill (usually the solid portion) right over or next to hot coals and leave half (the perforated portion) further from the hot zone, to have a more convenient/safe lower temp area to cook and warm things on without risk of burning things. Reverse it if you want the food to drip and smoke over the fire and cook faster. You can test if your grill is hot enough to sear something by dropping water drops on it -- when drops bead up from the heat and/or sputter, it is *hot*. Your flat-bottomed cookware will be right at home; in the long run cooking food directly on the grill will be kinder to its nice finish, which can get scratched and worn out from contact with cookware. Depending on what you cook, seasoning this grill may help, as you would season a new cast iron pan. The fine textured surface works well. I received mine fresh from Valtcan via Amazon, with some very tiny surface scratches to the cooktop and legs which are of no real significance. I see shiny Titanium under there. The total absence of a teflon / non-stick coating is a health benefit for you, in open flame cooking and over time. It's also a major long-term durability plus, like the extreme high-temp resistance of titanium. These features mean the grill will have a longer useful life, and not be as likely to be discarded, and that's more environmentally green. if the time does come to retire a titanium grill (100 years from now?) then let's hope it can be recycled into moon rocket engines or new camping grills. With true high-grade titanium, years of use in salt air and even cleaning in seawater til freshwater is available, should be no problem. Ti cookware can last many years and this grill looks like it will. 5. Why I think it's a giant-slayer. Compared to almost any other mini tent stove, backpacker portable grill, or backpacker woodstove you can find, this seems stronger, more failproof and more simple. And there are some great competitive products. Because it is composed of flat and tubular titanium it looks fairly indestructible in its build (2mm thick titanium top per Valtcan; even the perforated portion resists typical bending and twisting forces you might find within a backpack -- I tried with both arms and it takes real effort to bend this grill at all with your bare fingers and thumbs). The hinges are attached neatly and precisely and rounded edges are found at the corners of the top, the legs and leg hinges. (see detail pics). These make it more human-friendly, and more pack-friendly, though you'll want to take care not to damage lightweight packs and tents and other gear carrying it around without the storage sleeve. Titanium will happily destroy any fabric given enough abrasion cycles, and can outlive any number of tents, packs and boots. The edges of this grill are not polished, not rough but finely textured. It will thus be micro-abrasive if packed in the same pack and position for extended use without the storage sleeve. Stored in its black canvas carry sleeve, it requires less space than a monthly print magazine and weighs about the same, more than the stainless steel rack in my small toaster oven, but i'd much prefer to have the Valtcan along. Solid food won't drop into the fire through this grill. Light winds will not upset it. It is rugged. Speaking of the storage sleeve, it has a loop handle to clip or tie or hang it from so you don't lose it while using the grille, and you can hoist this grill up in a tree with paracord or rope and small carabiner in or out of its sleeve, before you sleep, for more wildlife safety. If you are in really remote territory, this can be secured to a tree etc with a cable lock thin enough to pass through the perforation or a TiGr type lock. You could store it temporarily under a fireside rock or firewood, even under your sleeping pad perhaps. (Black, the only choice, really is the best for the sleeve, considering the grill may be used over sooty smoky fire between cleanings.) It's not the toughest available but it will do and can be readily reinforced with patch material, customized with molle points or velcro, and there's room for your favourite patches. Go wild. As a practical matter, this grill has enough cooktop height that you will be able to cook without undue stress over hot coals or low flames without charring your food to oblivion. 6. Why it's a buy for me. You do not need to baby this while on the move, it is devoid of assembly woes unlike some compact lightweight grills and woodstoves which have interlocking parts which if dropped or stepped on, lost or bent out of shape can be difficult to get assembled, or rust over time particularly in damp storage between uses. Some of those other products are excellent in their own ways too -- so you may want to keep more than one arrow in your quiver so to speak. Ti confers durability and longevity and strength-to-weight performance. You don't need to run around looking for right sized stones or branches to prop this on, unless you want to leave the legs at home -- if not, you just fold them out and they lock in place firmly enough. This grill will resist light and moderate winds, can be secured well in higher winds so you still may be able to cook a meal if it is safe to do so. (Anything windy enough to blow metal objects of this weight away dictates finding a sheltered spot to cook in, and/or using wind screens, stones or tent stakes on the lower portions of the grill legs. fire spread risk also increases in high winds so if in doubt, don't cookout! To convert this into light-weight mode, remove the legs by pressing in on the leg sides just below where they fit into the corners of the grill. (They are tension fit and easily re-installed.) *Please be smart about fire safety out in the wilderness and at home, in this time of fire disasters. Know how to and be ready to extinguish your fire before you cook over open flame or coals in the wilderness. Know and respect your local laws concerning firepits and cooking fires.* The legs add weight, but they also add great convenience and utility. I have not weighed them, but they have good flex and strength. I've asked Valtcan for official weights. This grill lets you decide if you want to pack the legs in and out. When you're not cooking, when cleaned or covered with a bandana or paper towel, the Valtcan makes an excellent small sturdy table, ideal to hold a lantern and essentials bag, campsite items from bear spray to flashlight & headlamp, camp cup and water bottle. An adult or youth should also have no problem using it as a mini-desk that fits over the legs or a leg at least, while sitting on the floor, and it can be used as a lapboard with the legs folded or removed. Great doing simple food prep or sudoku, logging wildlife species, photo notes, location waypoint coordinates of the day's journey on your notepad, propping up your phone & mini tripod or that packable hand-crank drink blender, or scrambling eggs before cooking. With grill legs removed, some steel mini-carabiners or metal split rings at the corners to connect them, 3 or 4 or more of these might be arranged to make a larger woodburning stove / firepit with good ventilation and wind resistance. Over the top? Maybe. Fun and unique, and effective? Yes I think. One of these is enough for backpacker or campsite cooking for at least 3, 4 persons in an outdoor setting, if people can be patient enough for their food to cook. If not, there's always ready to eat trail food, rehydratable or MRE type meals. Get more than one and you can cook more quickly for larger groups, and over both sides of the coals at once. Enjoy.

Thicker and sturdier than expected. Not an ultralight item but very sturdy.