I'll never see an electrical box the same again -- excellent.

Chisel,that is truely outstanding thinking. It is so simple. I smack my head and say "why didn't I think of that"... BRAVO!

BOATMAN
John

Glad you guys like it. However, let me warn you that more experimentation has added to the cost and weight of this stove. It isn't the box alone.

After the initial experiments, I found the pot or kettle had to be raised another half an inch to lessen soot and improve combustion. So I added this raised cover and drilled a few holes on two sides ( they may improve combustion and ventillation although not really necessry as kettles are round and the square corners are good enough for ventillation).



Drilling holes is cumbersome and a better alternative I did : install two parallel pieces of metal wire (coat hanger) across the cover (through the small holes)to raise the pot a little and gurantee more ventillation. These small wires also serve as guards to keep fuel tabs and/or box of matches stored INSIDE the box when not in use.

I ahave used only two diagonal screws to hold the cover to the box and didn't tighten those screws.

After some successful initial attempts, I thought to add 4 screws on the bottom of the box itself to raise it off the ground and allow bottom ventillation, but I got lazy and preferred to spend more time relaxing and drinking tea than inventing and perfecting.

On the plus side, this homemade Esbit stove can store more fuel tabs than the original foldable Esbit stove. Also, it is near indestructible.

Negative side, weight, if you are hiking.

a few years ago i was looking around for a good mess kit stove combo.each of those kits in the photo has some sort of stove inside.
Esbit.small Gaz or Coleman fuel,a Trangia burner were the main choices that could fit.the long box on top is a cooking grate and pots kit made for a open fire.
sorry to say i never took and shots of the stoves with the burners inside! i'll make that a rainy day project.

my car kit for heating water for the Mountain House freeze dried entrees...Swiss Ranger stove with the fuel feed hole opened to accept a Sterno can... still can use twigs, Esbit, and fits the Trangia burner or other penny alcohol stove... smaller diameter cans of Sterno would allow less of the circumference (strength) of the Ranger stove to be compromised

Wildman

I carried one of the USGI kits as a kid and never realy liked it. The frying pan was a good size and easy to pack but the lid was apain. First, who eats out of it? Second the compartments are small and it was useless wieght and a bad desgn, so I went to a clamshell kit.
The USGI canteen and it's accesories are fine. I have mine on a web belt with a knife and food and survival gear in the case. Iit sits behind the seat and is great for fast trips away from the vehicle. I like the new 2-3 piece sets which house the stove, fuel and utensils and small food items yet are ultra compact.
Great question you asked.

Canoe dogs
What can you tell me about your rectangular mess kit? Dimensions, wieght, contents etc?

You just pointed out why they make chevrolets and fords. Everybody is different.

You are right about the plate side's usefulness. I interlock the two for eating purposes and that works great for me. The frying pan side has always been useful to me & which the plate side holds one cooked item out of the dirt while I'm cooking one or two other items.
A big plus for this mess kit is that it's very easy to clean.

The Trangia has some mean grooving in it's construction that can make cleaning it a real chore at times (ie: scrambled eggs). Of course, the bale makes cooking over a campfire easier and it's more versatile being a deep pot. The lid (plate) is very small when it's time to dig in and achieve some serious calorie replacement.

The canteen cups are easy to clean but very limiting in the amount of food that one can cook at a time.

I did finally identify and order canteen cup lids from RothCo (no affiliation) but found that those lids only fit RothCo made canteen cups, properly. I do carry a lid in my dayhiking & backpacking kits to keep bugs and trash out while I'm cooking something on a fire.

Very true, Sir.
My lid was made in metal shop at the high school by a nieghbor boy. His teacher found it a fun project and it fts almost a bt too snugly for removal when hot. I generally use just a titanium teapot when out alone, it supplies water for tea, Freeze Dried meals and other just add water items. Plus I can cook in my metal mug if need be. But if wieght is not a factor, say driving right to the camp ste, nothing beats good old fashioned cast iron IMHO.

Ti teapot?? I have an MSR Ti kettle, is that what you mean? Very useful piece of cookware.

Yup that's the one. Sorry if misspoke.