Gear Review Old school, best school? The Swede SS mess kit

Discussion in 'Functional Gear & Equipment' started by DKR, Sep 26, 2018.


  1. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    Here we go, the Stainless Steel Swede mess kit. - a gear review of old gear by an old guy....

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Photo 1 and to the right is Photo 2
    [​IMG]
    Photo 3
    [​IMG]
    Assembled kit showing the bail/hook
    *******
    Pic 1 is the kit spread out. - looking at the top tier of items.(L to R)
    There is a soft cup holding a container of alcohol.
    It has an upper and lower half (or pot and lid if you wish)
    The pot holds 5 cups of liquid with a bit of room to spare. The Lid? Two cups.

    These nest in a wind screen (far right) that also severs as a pot holder. This keeps the pot a specific distance above the alcohol burner. The nest pot fits inside of the windscreen. Very neat,. but heavy.

    In the next tier (R to L) is a Trangia military burner. These fit a Sterno stove - just like they were made for the Sterno unit. The lid next to the burner is the bottom of a soup can. This severs as a snuffer, the military unit does not have a snuffer like the commercial burner unit.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    You can see the burner is the same size as the large Sterno can.

    The hank of 550 cord is for use with a tripod for cooking over a fire - more on this in a bit. There is a Swede military nesting utensil set and a soup spoon. Note the Bund (German) nesting utensils are far superior as a work set. I keep a couple of packets of green tea and a MRE coffee/whitener/sugar packet in the set as well.

    In photo 2, you can see the burner and utensils loaded. Normally, I keep the burner in a ziploc bag to avoid dissimilar metal corrosion. In Photo 3, you see the cup and the remainder of the items loaded. With the 550 cord, there are no rattles.

    Fun facts:
    The pot (bottom unit) comes with a bail. The bail has a hook attached,. Maximum flexibility for suspending the pot over a fire, or you can place the pot on a rock or two or even on the burning logs - with care.

    The lid (top half) has a handle. The handle has a pair of D rings. You can jam a stick in the D rings to allow holding the lid while keeping your mitts away fro the fire. Nice touch.
    [​IMG]

    I'm not a fan of campfires. Too easy to see, too easy to smell, don't work in the rain, etc, etc.
    When I want hot water, I fire up the burner. I also carry a couple of bottles of HEET in the car, they make for great storage for alcohol and HEET will burn much hotter than Sterno fuel.

    You can boil water in the pot and loosely nest to lid like a double burner. A bit of water in the lid, and you can use the boil water for heating MRE ration if you don't have any chem heaters. Ditto for the pot.

    Now, the bad news. These have become crazy expensive (like $65 to 199). I bought mine a few back from Sportsmans Warehouse for 5 x for like $6 each. Gave one to each of the kiddo with a carry case so they can have a mess kit, alcohol (HEET in the yellow bottle) Bic and some CHOW.

    If you find one of these - at a reasonable price ($20?) esp in stainless steel, snap it up. If nothing else, you can flip these on Ebay for a quick buck.

    These make a great 'truck kit', something you don't worry about under the seat of the truck and can quickly be used for hot water or a hot meal.

    As they say, keep an eye open at thrift store or yard sales - you just might hit the jackpot - the Swede military cook pot that is!
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2018
    Brokor, HK_User, Motomom34 and 10 others like this.
  2. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    All, Please put out a post asap if anyone sees a good deal on these in the near future. Many times, I have got great deals due to someone here posting so please shout out if you see them. I would like a couple.
     
    Zimmy and HK_User like this.
  3. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Could you please expand on this. HEET like the stuff from car stores?
     
    HK_User likes this.
  4. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    There is nothing fancy about “ HEET” as it is just Methyl Alcohol in a Yellow Plastic Bottle... It is used to make water in you Gasoline tank mix with the gasoline mix in bwimth the Gasoline, and be burned up rather than sit on the bottom of the tank and rust it out....
     
    Brokor and oldawg like this.
  5. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    HEET (yellow bottle) is anhydrous alcohol. As @BTPost noted, it is Methanol, with a single additive.

    MSDS - MSDS for HEET yellow bottle - bpLite

    The peak flame temperature of ethanol is 1,920 degrees Celsius (3,488 degrees Fahrenheit), while the peak flame temperature of methanol is 1,870 degrees Celsius (3,398 degrees Fahrenheit). Ethanol also has a higher flash point than methanol: about at 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 degrees Fahrenheit) to methanol's 11-degree Celsius (51.8 degrees Fahrenheit) flash point. A volatile liquid's flash point is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in the area.

    This means methanol burns at a slightly lower temp than ethanol. However, methanol (AKA wood alcohol) is less expensive to produce, so the small 'loss' is made up in the lower price.

    I have purchased methanol in bulk at Home Depot, but putting the liquid in small container is a PITA. So, for the few times I use it in my stove, the yellow bottle HEET makes sense for me.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  6. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    Worthy of note - the Swedish military nickname for this (M-40 cook kit) is "Stink pot" - the paint retains the smoke smell, hence my aversion to using this over a fire.

    You could remove the paint, but then you lose the anti-rust function of the paint plus, the now shiny bottom will reflect heat from the fire - counter-productive. If you only use the alky burner, this isn't an issue.

    Additionally - there are some 'surplus' kits floating around that use some original parts but the cook kit (pot and lid) are Chinese knock-off made from (D'oh) cheap aluminum. If you buy on-line be careful.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2018
  7. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    @DKR do you have a container the you put the HEET in or directly in the bottom? Wondering regarding staining, residues stuff like that.
     
    Zimmy likes this.
  8. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    I keep it in the yellow HEET bottle. Once opened, it may (very slowly) evaporate. If it looks like I'll have any 'leftovers, if goes in the gas tank.... Never had one leak, have had a pair in the 'throw it out the window in case of fire' ruck in my closet with no problems. HEET uses a quality container.
     
    Zimmy and Motomom34 like this.
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