TOAKS Titanium Frying Pan (D145) Review

Overview

The TOAKS Titanium Frying Pan (D145) is a bare-bones, uncoated titanium pan built to double as either a standalone skillet or a lid for TOAKS’s larger pots. At 71 grams it’s about as light as a frying pan gets, which makes it popular with ultralight backpackers who want to fry eggs or sear a sausage without adding real weight to their kit — but it comes with real trade-offs in size, heat distribution, and handle durability that are worth knowing before you buy.

Key Specs

Spec	Value
SKU	PAN-145
Material	Titanium (no coating)
Weight	71 g (2.5 oz)
Diameter	142 mm (5⅝ in) internal
Height	31 mm (1¼ in)
Compatible pots	POT-1350, POT-1600, POT-1600-BH (CKW-1600)
Origin	Made in China

Performance

Let’s start with the obvious: this is a small pan. TOAKS lists the 145mm name as referring to the internal diameter of the pan is 142 mm (5-5/8 in.), with the 145 mm in the name actually referring to the diameter of its corresponding pot. In practice, that’s enough room for a couple of eggs or a small portion of meat, but not much more. Walmart reviewers echo this repeatedly — one described it as “small, some may say too small,” but noted that for them “it is just the right size to fry 2 eggs or bacon or a small pan fish.” Another buyer was blunter, saying the pan is a lot smaller in real life than the photos suggest and you might be able to fry one egg in it.

Heat distribution is the bigger issue. Titanium is a poor heat conductor compared to aluminum or steel, and it shows here. One REI reviewer summed up the problem: the pan is “too small to be usable for anything and way too thin to even cook” — you’ll scorch the center without ever heating the edges, because heat transfer within the pan itself is basically nonexistent. That tracks with what I’d expect from a 71g titanium disc — it’s built for weight savings, not for cooking performance, and you have to work with that by keeping the flame low, moving food around constantly, and accepting some hot-spot scorching in the middle.

The uncoated titanium surface also means food sticks unless you’re careful. One reviewer suggested a quick seasoning with olive oil to prevent sticking, which is basically mandatory advice for anyone using this pan regularly — treat it like a cast-iron skillet you’re breaking in, not a nonstick Teflon pan.

The folding handle is the most consistent complaint I found. Multiple REI reviewers reported it failing under any real load: “with any weight in the pan, it unexpectedly collapses,” calling it “poorly designed, even for the low price.” Another used it as a plate and found the handle collapsed once they added any weight to it. A third reviewer put it plainly: “do not buy this pan unless you’re prepared to figure out a hack for the weak handle that collapses when you grasp it.” This seems to be a real design weak point rather than an isolated defect — if you plan to lift the pan by the handle with food in it (rather than just sliding it off the stove or using it flat as a lid), be prepared for it to fold on you.

On the positive side, the pan’s dual-purpose design is genuinely useful. It’s explicitly designed to serve as a frying pan or a lid over the pot, and it’s sized to fit specific TOAKS cookware. Titanium’s corrosion resistance also means it shrugs off the acidic or salty foods that would eventually pit a steel pan, and one reviewer confirmed it held up fine cooking two eggs, half a chicken apple sausage, and a pepper-onion mix in a single session.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Genuinely ultralight at 71g — barely registers in a cook kit
• Doubles as a pot lid, saving you from carrying a separate item
• Titanium construction resists corrosion and handles high heat without warping
• Packs down small and nests with compatible TOAKS pots
• Reasonably priced for a titanium product

Cons

• Folding handle is widely reported to collapse under load — a real durability concern, not just user error
• Small cooking surface limits you to a couple of eggs or a small portion of meat
• Poor heat distribution causes center scorching while edges stay cool
• Uncoated surface requires seasoning/oiling to avoid sticking
• Thin titanium walls mean you need low heat and constant attention, which isn’t intuitive for anyone used to a normal frying pan

Who Should Buy This

This pan makes sense for solo ultralight backpackers or thru-hikers who already run TOAKS pots and want an occasional way to fry an egg, sear jerky, or crisp up a tortilla without adding a dedicated pan to their base weight. It’s not for anyone expecting normal frying-pan behavior — group cooking, big breakfasts, or anyone who lifts a loaded pan by its handle will be disappointed. If you mostly boil water and rehydrate meals, skip this and save the money; it only earns its keep if you’re actually cooking fresh or pan-fried food on trail.

Verdict

The TOAKS D145 pan does exactly one thing well — it adds frying capability to an ultralight kit for almost no weight penalty — but it does it with real compromises in size, heat evenness, and a handle that a lot of users say fails under load. I’d rate it a 6/10: fine as an occasional-use accessory for solo cooking, but not a pan I’d trust for anything beyond eggs and small portions, and I’d treat the handle gently from day one.