58 pattern Brittish Army water Bottle + mug

[Josey Wales]

Hi Guys!

I had been thinking about getting one of these for a long time and when I saw how good they were when on a Hiking trip in Derbyshire, I decided to buy one.

I got one real cheap on Evilbay for a mere £4.99 which was a real bargain considering that Mr Mears sells them for over £20 (Mug inc.)

But unfortunately instead of being made from stainless steel, the mug was made from plastic (Half the reason that I wanted it was because the mug can double up as a small billy can for boiling and purifying water.

I do not want to pay RM's ridiculous prices - does any one know where I could source one of these new?


Cheers,

 

[Stuart]

they are manufactured by BCB international.

www.bcbin.com

 

[innocent bystander]

Gary does them for about 16 squid with the cooker unit. The plastic mug is the one that comes with bottle as standard, the s/s one is the bit that you pay more for...

 

[leon-1]

As Stuart said BCB they sel them for about a tenner

 

[innocent bystander]

Do they still sell online ? Must admit i thought someone mentioned they had stopped ??

 

[leon-1]

They still have a shopping cart, go to thier site do a search for crusader and it should pull up about 5 items

 

[innocent bystander]

So they do !!

 

[nickg]

Get a cheap crusader mug and cooker unit for ebay at cheap price but dont junk the mug. If you drink from a metal cup that you just boiled water in youll find out why. Drinks also go cold much faster from a metal mug even on quite warm days, The crusader will fit into the 58 pat pouch under the water bottle and the plakky cup will sit on top just the same. You can make a brew in the crusader tip it into the cup to drink and cook up food in the crusader whilst drinking it etc. Also the residual tase of many foods can remain in your cup so reserve it for drinks and the crusader for grub. The additional weight of the cup is really no problem but its convenience is high for all sorts of tasks eg transporting water that you dont want to taint your water bottle with (river water for a wash etc), bailing out canoes, carrying collected forage shellfish etc. Ist a good bit of kit.

 

[AJB]

Hi,

£11.99 from Soldier of Fortune.

http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/military/index.htm

 

[Great Pebble]

If you drink from a metal cup that you just boiled water in youll find out why.

While I take your point the SS Crusader is a lot less problematic in this respect than aluminium or enamelled mugs.

 

[CLEM]

While I take your point the SS Crusader is a lot less problematic in this respect than aluminium or enamelled mugs.

Anyone care to expand on this as ive only ever drank from the issue plastic jobbie mug.

 

[Goose]

Anyone care to expand on this as ive only ever drank from the issue plastic jobbie mug.

Metal transfers the heat from drink to lips ouch!
You can get a plastic rim that fits over the cup(after it is off the heat) it works but they are easily lost.

 

[CLEM]

Metal transfers the heat from drink to lips ouch!
You can get a plastic rim that fits over the cup(after it is off the heat) it works but they are easily lost.

Oh yes of course,i thought it was perhaps something less obvious.

 

[whitebuffalo]

BCB price I calculate to be £14.50 without postage which is a lot when you consider they make the blessed things.

As for the hot lip problem I have found that the crusader and the 1 quart canteen cup both have a splayed lip and this doesnt seem to get hot.

Of course a little common sense (that thing so lacking these days) goes a long way when using your cup to heat water in an open fire.

 

[pumbaa]

Metal transfers the heat from drink to lips ouch!

I have Gaffa tape around the rim of mine and that works and the tape makes no more difference to the taste than the handfull of twigs , dirt and leaf litter that somehow make it to the bottom of the mug !!!
Pumbaa

 

[jamesdevine]

Have been using mine quite a bit lately and I haven't expereinced a problem or burnt lips.

It's mostly bin heated using the BCB cooker unit and either green heat or meths not a open fire so the heat doesn't seem to reach the top (not that I would need to drink a full mug of hot fluids in this heat).

Obviously using it on/over a fire the outsides will get hot so having a bowl/mess tin or a small cup makes sense. I just find it hard to bring myself to carry the plastic crusader mug as well.

James

 

[nickg]

OK I mostly find the problem when using the mug on an open fire or gas cooker, BUT in the snow- especially if your lips have picked up some chill sore, windburn etc and youre keen to get some heat in you a seconds lack of forethought can have some lasting aggrivation. Same situation you can be drinking hot from the plastic mug whilst melting more snow etc and not wasting fuel time etc. All my other points still stand;-)

 

[jamesdevine]

Not disagreeing with you. I have in fact only used mine to bowl water for a brew and only had it since April.

I would totally agree with you that a second cup makes sense and to use the plastic one that came with the bottle is pure logic especially in winter when the need to keep warm is a must.

Personally do if I needed to melt snow for hot/food and drink I would probably have a Billy or Swedish army trangia with me. On a winter walk I find a flask even more convinent as it instant. I would have course have the Crusader + cooker and fuel just incase.

I have never been outside Ireland in Winter conditions so I am very open to being told I am wrong.

James

 

[Gary]

Not disagreeing with you. I have in fact only used mine to bowl water for a brew and only had it since April.

I would totally agree with you that a second cup makes sense and to use the plastic one that came with the bottle is pure logic especially in winter when the need to keep warm is a must.

Personally do if I needed to melt snow for hot/food and drink I would probably have a Billy or Swedish army trangia with me. On a winter walk I find a flask even more convinent as it instant. I would have course have the Crusader + cooker and fuel just incase.

I have never been outside Ireland in Winter conditions so I am very open to being told I am wrong.

James

Wise words James. I norway we had a two litre poy on the go almost constantly melting snow - but it was also easier and quicker to fill a crusader with snow and shove that into the fire - that way you had a hot brew much quicker and the melted snow in the pot was used for food ect.

I dont think I have ever burnt my lips on a metal mug - as pointed out above common sense dictates you check the lip of the mug before use!

The swedish army carry those little folding cup (not just the officers as someone said?) this way when the merciry plunges they can have the coffee pot on the biol all the time and also drink a little and often rather than one big mug for 11's and tiffin!

Question is, like the debate on knives, what is applicable to your eviroment - after all when was it last minus 15 in Kent and as such when did you dig a snow hole and live in it!!

The ideas of other cultures are great in there enviroment for us brits as James points out a 1 litre flask of hot water is probably a better option than carrying a stove, fuel and pots! Even in cold places like Norway a flask of hot liquid is still a good idea - at minus 20 theres nothing better than having a hot flask of water to crack open in the morning so you have a hot brew before you crawl out your sleeping bag!

Courses for horse!

 

[Josey Wales]

Sorry guys but I did not get a chance to thank you for helping me find the mug!

I was away on business in Sweden - and did not get a chance to do any bushcraft

I plan to get one of these mugs as soon as I get myself sorted!


Cheers,