Last week I ordered a BCB Integral Survival Unit from Best Glide plus the lid, pot hanger, and carrying bag...should be here this week.
http://www.bestglide.com/integral_survival_unit_info.html

It's designed to work with solid fuel tabs or cans of gelled alcohol. I hope my Triad stove fits...should be the perfect combo. Plus it will let me retire some of my other gear, saving space in my pack.

Might be worth another test with some proper Esbit fuel once it does get here.

Let me know if a US canteen will fit in the cooking unit please, the amount they want for the water bottle is rediculous.

That's a good question. The canteen isn't what goes into the cooker, the cup is...but they're a similar size and shape so it's possible.

The price and availability of surplus around here has gone to crap since the latest war in the middle east. Ordering from the states has been the best way to go...especially with the Canadian dollar doing so well. And since I was ordering stuff from them anyhow, I got the whole gamut as it's cheaper packaged.

The difficulty is that you are comparing a bicycle to a moped. Neither is optimal, but they don't fill quite the same role either.

To get the Hexi lit, scrap some of it into powder on the top of the block. I've never seen that in any directions or manuals, but it makes it so much easier to light them- just throwing sparks at a fuel tab is like trying to light a full size log on fire by holding a match under it. Keep in mind that triox and hexi/esbit are NOT designed to boil water, just heat it to the point where you can make tea/coffee with it, or heat a C-ration so it isn't cold, just nastily lukewarm.

The problem with alcohol stoves is very simple: they don't like cold. I was was testing some add-ons that I've been toying with to try to get them winter ready, and my trangias just sat there and pouted. It was right around freezing. Ethanol just doesn't have a low enough vaporization temperature for it to be any good in winter.

To have either of them be anything more than a bad joke, you need windscreens.

Best bet- carry the Vargo, with fuel, AND carry fuel tabs.

I was looking up the specs on the Vargo and noticed the new XE which can burn alcohol or solid tabs...too bad they didn't have those at the MEC when I bought mine.

I've definitely heard about the shortcomings of alcohol in the cold. Now that I'm getting the canteen cooker from Best Glide I should pick up some proper Hexamine tabs and cover all bases.

Ironically I usually just light a fire and cook over the coals when I'm camping or hiking...but sometimes you don't have that option.

Where is the best place to pick up good Hexamine?

Thanks for the information Am_Fear_Liath_Mor about British Military Hexamine stoves, I do not know if the Canadian Armed Forces supplies anything like this?

Mike

Hacksaw:

You can carry a 3-inch wide strip of aluminum flashing, rolled up inside your GSI cup for a windscreen.

Here's the best commercially-available alcohol stove rig I've ever found.

http://www.clikstand.com/home.htm

I've never had much luck with the Vargo stoves. They burn unevenly and don't seem very efficient to me. I recenly read that they were designed for ethanol only, which may explain why my experiments with methane were so lackluster. Personally, I still wouldn't rely on a Vargo stove.

Bear

I like the look of that Clickstand.

Tonight I'm going to experment and make some Pepsi can and Redbull can stoves to compare to the Vargo just in case the Vargo won't work with the canteen cup cooker.

Well laziness got the better of me and I never did make the Pepsi stove.

I did however just do an outdoor test with the Triad. It's about 30 degrees (just below 0 C) and I did the same test with the exception of adding a wind screen as it's a bit breezy tonight. The water boiled in about 15 minutes though it never boiled as hard as it did inside. The stove petered out after 19 minutes.

I had no trouble lighting the stove and it primed just fine without the wind screen. With a lid on the cup, performance would have been much better.