A Cowboy Canteen........

[British Red]

Always did like a good cowboy film...especially with "the Duke"

As a result of one too many "Saturday morning picture shows" I have always lusted after the cowboy"canteen" type water bottles.

Anyway, a while ago I stumbled across the US Arctic canteens (there seem to be loads about at the moment in surplus shops and on E-bay etc.).Going rate is three or four quid

Add a talented wife, a torn army blanket, a webbing strap from the "box o' bits" and......

The joy being of course that its an insulated flask - cold beer on a hot day whilst out for a bimble anyone?


Now.....I'm off to catch some rustlers......we'll head them off at the pass

Red

 

[Rothley Bill]

looks very good.

 

[bushwacker bob]

Robinsons (equine suppliers) sell the real Mcoys with the indian blanket pattern sides.
Bit late to mention it now you've got one.They are about £18 tho'

 

[John Fenna]

we'll head them off at the pass

Red

Tha Hell you will!
Nice canteen Red!

 

[Dougster]

I can see that swinging off my hip for a bit of 6X after a shoot.

Cracking canteen Red, nicely done by the fair lady.

 

[firebreather]

Right Im off to evilbay

Great looking canteen

Greg

 

[rik_uk3]

They are a good canteen, you can get a mug that fits on the bottom, I've a couple in storage and if I can dig them out I'll send you one.

 

[Draven]

Very nice, might need to buy one m'self What's the capacity like?

 

[bushcraftbob]

Oh i do like that!

 

[topknot]

Well get off your horse and drink your ? .Thats is tops Mrs Red.
Cheers Topknot.

 

[EdS]

how well do they keep things hot /cold - seem to recall they just kee pthe chill off rather than hot.

 

[British Red]

Very nice, might need to buy one m'self What's the capacity like?

Capacity is a litre - same as a 58 pattern bottle

I've not tested how long it keeps things hot Ed - although there's no reason not to....

I'll take it out at the weekend with some coffee in and let you know!

Thanks for the kind words all - I have to say BB did make a lovely job of it - nice to have something unique and cheap too

Red

 

[Bumpy]

Very nice!
A US seller of these on ebay states "These canteens are unique because there is a hollow gas chamber between the inner and out shell which keeps your water from freezing in extreme cold weather. Similar to a thermos, they keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold"
So hopefully will keep your coffee nice and hot!

 

[mjk123]

>>how well do they keep things hot /cold - seem to recall they just kee pthe chill off rather than hot.

For hot drinks that's true, a bit of blanket won't really provide much insulation. Better than having a hot metal container next to your skin though.

BUT!!!!

For keeping something chilled, the blanket (if dampened) can work really well, especially if there's a light breeze. The evaporation from the damp cloth sucks heat out of the bottle.

 

[Chinkapin]

I don't want to be a "wet blanket" but the wet blanket evaporative cooling trick is not going to work on a double-walled insulated canteen. If it was a metal (high conductivity) canteen and single walled the heat would flow right out as the water evaporated. But, that is not the case. I have not used one of these but I wouldn't expect it to keep hot things very hot for very long or cold things very cold for very long. It was just meant to keep your water from freezing in the arctic. I could be wrong! (my wife says I'm nearly always wrong.) lol

 

[British Red]

The blanket is just a bag to keep it in - I hadn't really thought of it as extra insulation (or of evaporative cooling)

I'll run a test in a bit to see how well the double wall does keep things hot though

Red

 

[Chinkapin]

Check out the Dixie Gun Works web site. They carry a bunch of civil war (Union, and Confederate) reproduction canteens plus an earlier style round wooden canteen that is pretty cool. I believe the wooden canteens are lined with wax to prevent any "wood" taste to the water. They also have a frontier style small oak cask type canteen that really looks "woodsy" and looks to be quite strong compared to the other wooden canteens. Can be bought as a "kit" to be assembled by you for about $30 U.S. I don't have a currency converter handy but I'm guessing 20-25 pounds.(?) I checked and they do international shipping. According to them: "actual shipping costs + $10 dollars."

 

[British Red]

Well the test says..........

It insulates very well for at least the 2 hours of the test. I filled it the same way I would my metal thermos (fill with boiling water, discard, fill with coffee).

After two hours the coffee is steaming and far too hot to drink.

I'd be very confident in a pleasantly hot drink after a mornings walk but will do a longer test when time permits.

One point of note though is it has a very narrow mouth (think wine bottle neck) so a funnel is advisable for filling with hot stuff. No problem at home but a piece of bitch bark needed if out and about (or of course a funnel)

Red

 

[British Red]

Interesting - came down this morning and thought "I wonder......"

The coffee in the flask was still pleasantly warm...not quite as hot as I drink it but it was 10 and a half hours later.

As a crude rule of thumb I'd say 8 hours should cover it - perhaps less in freezing conditions

Red

 

[EdS]

sounding more and more intersting.