resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
So thats how the cup holder works! Thanks for that
Yeah but they get a bit hot, need to work on handaling them.
Crusader Cooker
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Yeah but they get a bit hot, need to work on handaling them.
Got some at home Dave, it's ok but you need the whole packet to get a good boil on mate. The stuff i've got is very crumbly.
Trioxane is amazing stuff! The reason that most of the stuff we have is so crumbly is that it's nearly thirty years old (went camping in Cumbria last year with my eldest and we were surprised to find that the trioxane we were cooking on was older than he is!) but it burns cleaner than hexi, with less smell and it's a nice sexy blue rather than hexi-yellow. The bars are scored into three sections so you can break them into chunks more easily and so ration it out a bit. each bar is about three inches long and about an inch wide, wrapped in sturdy metal foil, I sometimes use the foil to protect the ground if I am having a brew and not using any form of stove, then wrap up the burnt fuel into the wrapper and it leaves no trace. The trioxane blocks can be used in any hexi burner (Esbit, British Army et al) and I use mine in one of those little Swiss Army Gel stoves now that the gel has been burnt off. The other advantage is that trioxane will ignite really easily (I have a sneaking suspicion that harsh language will be enough to set it off) so there's no worries if you are struggling with matches or ferro rods in harsh conditions, something I was VERY grateful for late last year when I was in a horrendous downpour and the trioxane blocks were the only things that would take a light, but once they were going they successfully kicked off the little camp fire that was otherwise very damp and bedraggled.
I belive that the US Army now uses something like a greenheat gel but I have never seen or used any of it, but would be interested to hear of anyone else has.
HTH
Sean
I belive that the US Army now uses something like a greenheat gel but I have never seen or used any of it, but would be interested to hear of anyone else has.
HTH
Sean
Oh yes, Trioxane! Known affectionately as the "little heat tabs" the sun being known as the "big heat tab". While I served, we were issued one box (contains three tabs) per day in the field, when resupply allowed. I was never issued a stove / cooker, though supposedly two types (known as cup stands the Natick and Gould) were in the system. Most troops purchased a very small tri-wing stove or the small Esbit rectangular stove to use with the heat tabs, though some just made a tiny slit trench for the tab, as per training. Most beverage powder packets were issued in quantities to make 1/3 canteen cup of liquid so may be why the Trioxane tab is scored to break into thirds. If I recall, the instructions suggested breaking into thirds and were adequate for those small quantities. If you had saved or scrounged enough to make a full on cup of joe, then a full tab was needed. It is my understanding that the Army got away from issuing Trioxane becuse of the toxicity and soldiers were experiencing nose bleeds from inhaling the fumes. In all my time using Trioxane I never witnessed or experienced anyone have problems from it.
I have some older issue gel fuel, though this version produces a white "smoke" at colder temps and therefore is why it was put on the surplus market. Not good in a tactical environment. Here is a picture of it. The gel is a clear gel and not green. I use them to make brews while out hunting and such.
Crusader with US gel fuel.
US Canteen, cup, cup stand type II (Gould) and gel fuel.
US gel fuel. I keep loosing clarity in the upload, sorry.
In the US Army it will greatly depend on the type and which unit the soldier is posted to, if they are issued gel. A couple of friends I have, that are serving, are telling me they are not issued any type of gel or tab. The newer MREs have a hot liquid (food grade) poly bag for heating hot drinks. The bag is used with the flameless ration heater to heat the water.
The hot liquid bag from an MRE.
The flameless ration heater.
Gordy
I have some older issue gel fuel, though this version produces a white "smoke" at colder temps and therefore is why it was put on the surplus market. Not good in a tactical environment. Here is a picture of it. The gel is a clear gel and not green. I use them to make brews while out hunting and such.
Crusader with US gel fuel.
US Canteen, cup, cup stand type II (Gould) and gel fuel.
US gel fuel. I keep loosing clarity in the upload, sorry.
In the US Army it will greatly depend on the type and which unit the soldier is posted to, if they are issued gel. A couple of friends I have, that are serving, are telling me they are not issued any type of gel or tab. The newer MREs have a hot liquid (food grade) poly bag for heating hot drinks. The bag is used with the flameless ration heater to heat the water.
The hot liquid bag from an MRE.
The flameless ration heater.
Gordy
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My alu lid arrived from Launditch1 today. Great quality and the boil times are even faster now...
Well worth £8 quid of anyones money.
Well worth £8 quid of anyones money.
Wow Gordon, thanks for that info. Do you know if its true that troops used to use C4 to as a makeshift fuel or not?
Both the US and British cooking systems are awesome. Check this out; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-2W_Fwhkag
Both the US and British cooking systems are awesome. Check this out; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-2W_Fwhkag
I heard that troops would sometimes use C4 to cook with, but that it can burn REALLY hot and fast so quite often it would burn straight through the cook pot! especially if it was aluminium rather than steel, but that's all second hand info, does anyone know through personal experience??
resnikov
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Yeah I have heard the same about C4, I guy I used to work for who had an "intresting" past said he had done it a few times more to scare newbies then to cook with. Would scare me if someone threw a lump of HE on a fire I was standing next to.
Wiki have a reference to burning C4 here
Wiki have a reference to burning C4 here
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yes when lit with a flame as opposed to an explosion it just burns
Hexi cvan be used ot make a high explosive
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I saw it burned (with the poison warnings), as an intro to demo training, on a couple of occasions.
Your experience may have been different, but...
Mission dependent, 99% of the time, the NCOs I served with would have "smoked" the troop that showed such a lack of discipline. Engineer units may have been different. But the sappers I worked with were "all business" when it came to their explosives.
Besides, most of the time we had heat tabs to cook our rations.
Gordy
Your experience may have been different, but...
Mission dependent, 99% of the time, the NCOs I served with would have "smoked" the troop that showed such a lack of discipline. Engineer units may have been different. But the sappers I worked with were "all business" when it came to their explosives.
Besides, most of the time we had heat tabs to cook our rations.
Gordy
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Back in Oz an ex soldier showed me a trick - a tray with dry sand, pour some petrol in it (not enough to be visible above the sand) then light it. Sometimes a bit of paper on top of the sand is needed to get it going. The petrol burns without a visible flame. He said that was their standard emergency cooker.
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