A blog called Source to Sea offers step-by-step guidance for making a pot cozy. A pot cozy saves fuel and creates and alternative to simmering when you’re using, say, a one-burn, one-setting alcohol stove, but I’d take one along even I had the snazziest new Jetboil just to keep my oatmeal warm on cold mornings, when the slightest breeze can turn everything tepid before I’m done eating.
If you’re not feeling industrious and don’t mind sending a few bucks to a boutique retailer, AntiGravity Gear will do the gluing for you and custom-fit one to your pot. Once you have one it’s a snap to reverse engineer it and figure out how to make your own to fit various pots.
I use Reflectix, which is sold in hardware stores as pipe and water heater insulation. Think of it as a combination of bubble pack and a couple of emergency “space” blankets. I assemble the thing with aluminum flue tape. This is exactly the construction that AGG uses.
Steve: I’ve made one that way too. I think the foil makes the insulation less likely to melt when you drop a hot pot into it.
I made mine from a car window shade that I got at the dollar store and packaging tape (the large cellophane type).
I’ve been using it for quite awhile now and haven’t ever had any melting problems.
Disclaimer: The pot I use in the cozy is made of polycarbonate plastic (like a Nalgene). I boil the water in a metal pot and cozy it in the plastic container.
I also use the plastic container for any pre soaking of ingredients.
If you want to see what I did, I posted a thread (w/pictures) at Sgt. Rocks site about it in the Homemade Gear topic: http://hikinghq.net/forum/