Stephanie,
I LOVE coffee. I drink it all day long. We use a drip system -Melitta pot with a paper filter holder. I feel that the less moving parts the easier it is to keep clean. I also do a lot of camping and use the same aluminum pot you are talking about. You have lots of options depending on the time and mess you want.
Most coffees sold in regular grocery stores label their pkgs with the type of grind and brewing method that its best for along with a suggested amount of coffee to use. Also check out the instore do-it- yourself coffee grinding machine for grind/method suggestions.
For the aluminum pot you put in cold water up to the line indicated on the side of the pot, fill the basket with a coarse grind of coffee grounds, and place on a medium heat until it comes to a boil. Then turn down the heat so the coffee doesn't boil over. Then wait while it brews. The clear glass knob in the lid allows you to watch to see when the coffee is brewed to the desired strength. When its cool enough to handle you can take out the basket and clean it out.
When we camp and use the Percolator pot we use the coffee "sachets" from Folgers. These are like a large tea bag and you toss a couple of them in the cold water, don't need the basket and eliminate cleaning up coffee grounds. I have even made my own muslin "sachets" bags. Its a clean piece of muslin made into a 2" x 4" approx. drawstring bag. I use plain white cotton embroidery floss for the drawstring. The advantage is you get to use your own coffee, they are washable/reusable, and cost a lot less than the store bought sachets. They are about as messy to empty as the basket unless you let the grounds dry up so you might want to make 6 or 7 for a weeks worth of coffee.
Phew!! I'm all tire out now!!!
I know it was long but if you need any more ideas you could also look in a Joy of Cooking. I use it as a reference a lot.

Julie