Crusader Cooking Unit from BCB

[ChardA]

Used my new crusader cooking unit for the first time today to prove the 8 minute boiling time with ethanol gel. There was no problem there, It did boil in that time and used one whole sachet of gel.
The problem then arose when I tried to wipe out the remenants of the ethanol from the fuel holder.
Most of the so called PTFE black paint fell off on the rag. Surely this can not be right. Has anyone else had this experience.

 

[Gary]

Not quiet most, is it!

Still that said even that little bit isnt good - personally speaking I've never had a problem but then I usually just let the excess fuel just burn off.

 

[ChardA]

Yes your right the photo shows a small quality of missing paint. But trust me when I say that if I kept rubbing then most of the base would be missing. I stopped when the first flakes fell off. On close inspection the remaining paint looks like its lifted. (I may still fall off yet). I have just emailed BCB about this problem, so we`ll see what they have to say about it). I`ll post there response here if they get back to me. I did actually let the ethanol burn out and it was only what I can call scum left around the sides. Maybe letting the pot become burn to empty caused the problem, I doubt it would have been hot enough though to melt paint!!!

 

[TwoFourAlpha]

Mine did that, too. It's lost about half the paint from the inner cup, and quite a few spots from the outer cup, too. It also lost the paint from the sides of the 'wind shield' bit too.

To be fair, I have used sachets, greenheat in a bottle (£0.99 for 0.5L, bargain fans) hexy, meths and little sticks. I even tested it with the old petrol/sand combo, but it got a bit vigorous.

I realise that you may be concerned, but it didn't bother me in the least. It's stainless underneath, and I'm not too concerned about the non-stick properties of a cooker. I'm not planning on letting my bacon anywhere near it.

I wanted a stainless one anyway, but they ( SOF, if I recall ) were out of stock and the black were the same price. Also I hate looking at pristine kit. All the best stuff looks 'lived with'

Interested to see what BCB say, though.

 

[ChardA]

Glad I`m not the only one. Still as you say its not the end of the world, I just spray over it with some BBQ grill paint 400deg stuff should be suitable.

On a different note, Here`s a little something I knocked up to go with my crusader Mug. (I`m calling it oddly enough the crusader lid) Its a lid to go on top of the cup. This is my effort in reducing the cooking time. It seems to work OK but i`m calling in the mark 1 as it only a prototype. Have to carry out some more tests but I think it shaved off a minute or two. (Don`t hold me to this because as I say I want to carry out some better tests)
Anyone else Modified there crusader for better effeciency, I heard a few people were experimenting with a photon stove to go inside the cook pot.

Anyway here are some photos.
Its made of Aluminium, Sprayed Black with BBQ paint. Cut and formed with tin snips and pliers. (Some Heat to help the bending process works well)

 

[TwoFourAlpha]

I was going to suggest barbecue paint. I think that should do it nicely.

Nice Lid. The pour hole is a nice touch. I made one for mine from a curry tray. It won't last long, but it costs nowt, took about two minutes to make, and folds up so that it can fit in the waterbottle pouch.

Might I suggest a handle on it though? Coat Hanger wire is good. Make a finger sized loop, push the ends though the hole, and splay them out so that it looks like an 'omega' Bend it right and it folds flat, too

 

[ChardA]

I had given some thought to a handle of some kind for the lid but my worry was trying to get it all in the PLCE waterbottle pouch. Things become a little cramp with the 58 Patt Bottle & Mug, Crusader Mug & the Crusader Cooker all in there and some fuel sachets as well. Oh and Don`t forget the KFS.
So Adding a lid to the mix means it need to be small enough to fit in with the other kit but big enough to cover the mug. (I was trying to make it a bit universal so I could also use it as a kind of frying pan, to rest on just the cooker,) Might be back to the drawing board with that though can`t have holes in it if you want to use it for this. Forget the frying pan for a sec because one other idea I did have was to put four small holes in the lid somewhere which corospond to the exact spacing of the KFS Nato fork so you could slot it in and pick up the lid. (Will experiment with this on Mark2)

 

[Ahjno]

That's some smart thinking by using the fork! Would be interested in some piccies, when you've finished your mark 2 version - and if it's a succes a small tutorial?

Just found this thread , there's a pic in post #9 by Nigel (SquirrelBoy) - and check post #18 (Rappleby2000) for the contents of his PLCE waterbottle pouch.

 

[j.roberts7]

i use black BBQ paint for my cookers and it works a treat
i got it from B & Q and have used it on all cooking stuff when the paint falls of after first time use and it lasts ages well it aint come of yet even over open fires

 

[ChardA]

Didn`t have time to make Mark2 of my Crusader Lid straight away so I made an addition to the orgininal by adding the fork holes as I promised previously. I placed four holes in the lid to match the exact spacing of the Nato Fork (KFS set). The fork is then used as a lifting/lid retrival aid (Kind of Handle). Even though the Lid is made of Aluminium it still gets fairly warm after 8 Minutes of boiling water. The main problem with not using some kind of lifting device to remove the lid is, if you lift it by hand the water dropplets from the underside run down your fingers. (Ouch). By the way for those of you are interested the lid was made from an old mess tin. (Wish I had made it slightly bigger as this ones a bit tight). Also after my experience with paint flaking off the cook unit I re-sprayed it with BBQ paint from Plasti-cote (B&Q) £4 - £5 a can. It now has no problems.

I`m interested to know if anyone has managed to prefect a photon stove to fit in the crusader cook unit yet. I have been trialing stuff but can`t find anything that fits in the 60mm fuel dish very well.