a discussion of mess kits

[Vlaanderen]

Please do, I've been rather curious about it and other british mess items.

Hi to all,

With being holiday this week I've some time to follow up on my previous posting from earlier in the year, apologies to all for being a little late.

MRE1

MRE2

Pouch, Utility, DPM, manufactured by "Web Tex", front and rear view, rear view showing attachment to equipment.

MRE3

Contents of the Pouch, 1 set of "Brit" Nato mess tins, 1 "Brit" Hexi cooker.

MRE4

"Hexi" cooker, in open position, full packet of burner tablets contained, not to be used all at once , complete with "Drinking Mug Stand".

MRE5

"Hexi" cooker fitted with Drinking Mug Stand". If I remember correctly, our friend Housil queried if there was a special vessel used, this is it, from my BCB Crusader set.

MRE6

You will notice that the stand is "D" or "Kidney" shaped for anything placed in it, the "Mug, Drinking" fits perfectly into it. On the left hand side of the Mug, you will see tape, Duct, Gorilla or Gaffer tape. We use it so we don't burn our lips on a hot vessel.

MRE7

Stamped with a NSN number, made by BCB Crusader, also stamped with the British MOD "Crows foot".

MRE8

Boiling, cooking vessel, with Duct tape applied.

MRE9

Contents of my mess tins, it doe's vary from time to time.
Top, left to right, dish cloth, good for wiping the mess tins clean, also for holding the handles when hot. Please note, these mess tins are original Brit gear, chrome handles, scouring pad.
Centre, Inner mess tin with from left to right, washing up liquid, frying oil, soy sauce and tissues, "Kleenex". Then knife, fork, spoon and a small teaspoon.
Bottom, Outer mess tin with five Nescafe 3 in 1 coffees, coffee, milk and sugar, pre mixed. To the right, six sheets of "tin foil", kitchen aluminium foil, placed on the underside of the mess tins and boiling vessels so as not to stain them with the "Hexi" gung, together with matches, lighter, can opener and cigarette papers, sorry guys.

To be continued later. hope you have enjoyed the photos of my gear up to now, will post more and continue later.

Regards, Norman.

[Norton]

Vlaanderen

That is a squared away looking mess tin, you have it organized. Same with the carrier looks like a good piece of equipment
The British rectangle mess tin is one of the best to eat out of and actually cook things. You have room to stir,
Also as you have shown us , a great deal of space is usable for storage. I have used one before and liked it.
The long handles allow it to be placed next to the fire if necessary. You can also bake in them, as I have seen a WW 1 era field manual show how troops can build a wall of mess tins next to a fire and then cook meat and Vegetable stew with a bread/pie like top. I think they called it a ' Sea Pie"

I like to collect and use mess kits from all over the world. You can see their pros and cons. My next two are going to be the WW 2 Italian kit. It looks like a German but larger
The other is a French Officers mess kit from early WW 2. It is like your Rectangle British kit, but taller

[elandil]

Awesome kit. I've been fascinated by the british cookers, with the cup fitting in it own little topper.

I gotta say, between you and a YT reviewer called FunkyPrepper, i'm really wanting to add some brit gear to my kit. May have to start with a crusader mug and mess kit. And a 24hr rat pack, of course...

[parafireboy]

Wow, you've got a great setup there Norman, with all the essentials, as well as some thoughtful convenience items. Great idea using the foil to keep the fuel tablet residue off of your mess gear!

[housil]

I like it how the Brits have a own pouch for their messkit and how their canteen fits into their stove (I also have).

[Vlaanderen]

Hi to all,

Many thanks for your comments, here are a few more photo's of my bits and pieces.

MRE10

MRE11

Front and rear view of my BCB Crusader pouch. Notice the difference in camo between this pouch and the mess tin carrier.

MRE12

Contents, '58 pattern canteen and "Osprey" mug, heating unit and boiling vessel, "Greenheat" Gel, kitchen aluminium foil, lighter, matches and a couple of light sticks.

MRE13

Not included in the kit, I bought this extra, a BCB lid, helps to speed up the boiling.

MRE14

Left, the genuine "Osprey" canteen and mug. Right, a copy. The "Osprey" is virtually bombproof, and, as always with something really good, someone, somewhere will try and copy a good thing.
Very easy to see the difference, the "Osprey" has a shiney finish and has rounded bases to both the canteen and mug, the copy has a more squared shape, dull finish and the lettering is out of line, also slightly smaller.

Ah, I know what some of you may be thinking,...................where's the tea?. To be honest, I only take the pre mixed Nescafe out with me. Saves time than using tea bags, creamer and sugar. Plus, I drink tea all day long when I'm at home, so the coffee is a change for me.

Regards, Norman.

[Norton]

Here is a Russian Mess Kit I obtained from Prado67. They are called Airborne Mess Kits and I am not 100% who is issued this version.
I have posted photos before but this is a review of after using it for a while.

It is similar to the Yugoslavian as the water carrier is stored inside the main cooking pot. But it is lighter and the water carrier is aluminum and not plastic.
The canteen cap is well made and did not leak one drop. It has a full sized rubber washer and deep cut threads. The cap is held by a metal chain
It holds about one quart
The small pan sets from the bottom around the main pot and clips in. They combined the features from the older European cook set used by Germany and many other nations with the US canteen & cup type storage The advantages of this kit is it very compact when carried inside your ruck sack or dry bag, plus you have a full sized canteen is nested inside. The down side is the main container is slightly smaller as the second pot. I mainly used the Swedish Army Trangia set so that is was my main comparison.
I cannot store a stove or fuel bottle inside the pot set like the Swede. So I have to carry them separately in a small sack. I found the U.S. canteen cup stove will fit over the top around the neck. The Swedish Trangia alcohol stove will slide under. My next problem was the lack of a cup. So I began testing and found a Made in USA Thermos cup will slide in s void over the canteens neck and be held into place by the U.S. canteen cup stove. As for a carrier I found the Dutch Army Mess Kit sack will hold the entire set.
The U.S. canteen stove did not allow it to set perfectly, it has to be tilted slightly. But it did not seem to affect it's ability to heat.

With Dutch Cover

Unit all nested together with cup and canteen stove and large band to hold it tight

nested

Unpacked

unpacked

The lower pan will fit over the main pot to steam or allow things to cook

with lower pan covering main pot

Stove set in place

Stove set in place

Cooking meal of Re-fried beans

cooking MRE pouch

Finished product of Re-fried beans , Jalapeno cheese MRE Crackers for lunch

finished meal

I would like to make a copy of Swedish windscreen from a second Russian pot set cut out to allow it to slide over, then the bottom could be used for storage of the Trangia.
Same with eating utensils

[housil]

Best way to review a mess kit is the way you did it

[rabidwolf]

Was browsing reprorations.com, an they have this strap that goes to the German Mess kit.

I know they are not the most historically accurate. Though if someone was interested. Here you go. All pictures and links are credited to reprorations.

https://reprorations.com/Germany%20WW2/WW2-Germany.htm

[housil]

Thielemann in Leppersdorf-Radeberg is an authentic company still doing leather products today:
http://www.thielemann-lederwaren.de/
He wrote on his homepage he found a company doing these repros so I guess that German company did them so they have their stamping in.
German Military equipment never had their manufactures real name and place marked in, they all had (over 9300) "codes" to avoid spying from 1940-1945. before they had the "s-code" starting with a "s" and a three digit number.
The code was three small letters and the year without the "19", like "scz40".

So the marking with the real name may look good to reenactors but isn´t authentic.