I first learned on a steel pan so it’s the most comfortable for me, issues are you have to take care of them or they rust away to nothing. They also make a lot of noise swinging from your pack as you scramble through the woods. I prefer a plastic pan when the water is really cold.
GPAA pans like russau mentioned are a good all around plastic pan, I know a lot of folks that use them, I have one it’s just not a daily driver as it’s too small for my tastes. The Proline plastic pans are way too flexible, the 17” pan was such a disappointment as when I got a pan full of gravel in there it would sag into a taco shape and started cracking almost immediately at the grossly undersized lanyard hole, also the plastic has poor UV resistance. Garret pans are the most durable plastic pans I’ve dealt with. If you see a Jobe brand Archer pan just go ahead and run away screaming. It’s interesting to note that the Jobe version of the LeTrap square pan is made of a much higher quality plastic than the Archer pans. Those black Chinese stansport pans are actually very durable but are a shameless knockoff of the Keene black plastic pans. Any pan that has a hokey trap in the bottom is an absolute no go, the roaring camp pan I love the shape and color but the trap in there kills the deal, if they made it bigger with no trap it would be a good pan but alas they also use a brittle plastic. Apart from the Falcon finishing pan I can’t think of a plastic pan without a gimmick of some kind. My favorite pan of all time is this super heavy duty pan that was made by a long defunct south San Francisco company that mostly made commercial cook pots. It’s 17” wide and has a wide base. I don’t take it to the field as I worry if anything happens to it I can’t get another. Keene used to sell a very sturdy steel pan but I didn’t like the dimensions, they had a narrow drop bottom base. The Estwing steel pans are lighter weight steel but the ribs on the rim help make the pan more rigid.
