I was curious if anyone has ever seen an aluminum device. Aluminum is much lighter. Wondering if someone knows why it isn't widely used?
Yes it is For the size I'm not sure the weight savings over stainless is worth it. That said, it's possible to forge aluminum, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to make smooth enough to not cause problems. I'm also not sure how easy it would be to control the oxidation and be sure it's safe to wear for extended peorids. I say that as I know cleaning it results in lots of black "stuff" from the oxidation
Aluminium will be more likely to corrode from oxidation than stainless steel , particularly in acidic or salt situations in this case bodily fluids and sweat , also due to its relatively rapid oxidisation properties it can give rise to skin discoloration and or irritation , with prolonged contact , For this type of application if a lighter material than stainless steel is needed then titanium although more expensive is a better choice and far safer ,
And I think aluminium or its oxides are not a good thing to absorb into the body. Aluminium is now rare in cooking pans and utensils for the same reason. Gerecke makes titanium cages which are very light and very strong, but also very expensive.
Yes, my grandfather was a prospector, who'd been to the bauxite (aluminium ore) areas there. He wouldn't eat from anything cooked in aluminium pan, as he'd noted everything downwind was dead for hundreds of miles. If you try to grow seedlings in an aluminium container, they will die. So when I found all the aluminium pots, pans, jugs and mugs, serving and eating utensils in my current place, from the days when it had been a cafe in the 1960s, they all went straight in the scrap bin.