Dont like burning esbit/hexy in your Crusader?... try this

[Salaud]

I like the Crusader cooking system, I like the way it fits together, its sturdy simplicity. The problem is, if I never see another esbit or hexy block again that would suit me fine, unless I`m using them to light a fire.
A Trangia style of burner doesn`t fit in the crusader as its too tall, you could always just put fuel in the base of the Crusader but then you have no jets, just burning fuel which slows things up. So I thought I would cut one down to fit, I didnt have much faith that it would work but it has actually surpassed all expectations so I thought I would share.

The donor burner is one of the real cheap trangia clones from ebay for around £7




First you need to cut the donor down, so mark a line 15mm underneath the lip of the burner as this is roughly the depth of the crusader burning pan, cut around the line using hacksaw or dremel, once done you will see the inner chimney wrapped in a wick, this needs to be cut just a couple of mm shorter than the outside bit that you just cut. The chimney is merely push fitted to the burner so just wiggle it loose mark it and cut it.
You can discard the cut off bottom of the burner as the burn pan in the crusader will be providing a new one.



Refit the shortened chimney and wick, if it push fits back snug, then thats fine, if not I suggest a bit of JB weld or similar I used JB as mine wouldnt stay put.
Ok nearly there.



You should find that the rim on the burner is just ever so slightly to wide to fit in the crusader burn pan, so file it down until it fits snugly.



Push fit the modded parts to the Crusader burn pan, they should sit nicely tight, if you have been patient with the filing


Does it work?? ..Yep if you look carefully you can make out the jets just starting to bloom.



If you like to keep fuel in your Trangia then you could seal the burner in to the Crusader with a bit of JB but I just suck excess fuel out with a syringe as I dont like risking a spill into my kit.
I have tested this using meths, bio ethanol and hand cleanser and it works fine with all of them.
Hope you like it
Harv

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

Impressive bit of DIY there!! Do you mind if I ask why you don't like burning hexy in the crusader?? I regularly use both gelert camping hexy and the British army issue hexy and think they give off good heat and relatively light and easy to carry..
All the best, Lewis

 

[The MAX]

From what I gather, hexi tablets can leave "gunk" on the bottom of your cup/pot. I can't confirm as I don't use them. I use my trangia which burns meths pretty cleanly.

 

[copper_head]

Looks really good Salaud, a nice bit of modding there .

Do you think it has an advantage over the Monkey Boy meths stove? As that's what I use in my Crusader cooker.

 

[Salaud]

Impressive bit of DIY there!! Do you mind if I ask why you don't like burning hexy in the crusader?? I regularly use both gelert camping hexy and the British army issue hexy and think they give off good heat and relatively light and easy to carry..
All the best, Lewis

Mainly the fishy smell, the bad fumes (hexy) the fact that they aren't sold where I live so have to come from eBay, and finally I seem to end up with way too many lukewarm brews :-(

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[Shambling Shaman]

Well I like that, stronger than the red bull can burner I did.

 

[Salaud]

Looks really good Salaud, a nice bit of modding there .

Do you think it has an advantage over the Monkey Boy meths stove? As that's what I use in my Crusader cooker.

I haven't heard of the Monkey Boy stove, I will have to check it out, I was just bored and felt like doing the mod really

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[Tracker NTS-054]

From what I gather, hexi tablets can leave "gunk" on the bottom of your cup/pot. I can't confirm as I don't use them. I use my trangia which burns meths pretty cleanly.

The gunk you mention isn't bad, I wouldn't want it on my zebra billy cans but it's part of the appeal of a well used crusader mug IMHO, once it's dried, a quick scrub on mill-dew grass takes the gunk off and leaves a black coating..

But each to their own!

And salaud, the 'fishy' smell brings back so many good memories of outings, no? But the lukewarm brews... Not good! Haha

 

[Salaud]

I have just done a boil test and it does 500ml tap water to a rolling boil in 5 minutes 50 seconds which is pretty rapid, don't think you would be able to fill it enough to use for cooking without sealing it in place, if you over fill it then the whole fire pan gives it taters, but hey...That's what my Trangia is for.... crusader is only for brews.. Leastways mine is

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[garyoppolis]

The gunk off hexy is pretty awful. We always used to squeeze our mess tins inside an old sock after they'd been used to stop them from sticking to the inside of your webbing pouch. I think one of the biggest appeals of the Crusader is that the cooker keeps the hexy gunk on the bottom of the cup from sticking to everything when you pack it away.

 

[Coldfeet]

Thanks for the post; I have now purchased a tangia burner to see if I can do this

 

[ozzy1977]

What a fantastic idea.

 

[leon-1]

I made a miniaturised version of a photon stove for doing this, very nice and quick for doing a brew, but far too aggressive for cooking in. On the other hand the monkey boy stove was less aggressive, when used with a windshield, lid for your chosen cup and a pot cosy (all of which have been manufactured at home), it provided a pretty good lightweight cooking solution.

The monkey boy stove had to be tried as I work in the outdoors for the better part of the year and I get through a certain amount of lipbalm leaving me with the pots. I have an idea about turning one of these into a photon stove or similar as well. There's also the idea of turning a couple of britivic sized drinks cans into a trangia styled burner.