Any sign of it yet mate? Thoughts?
Slightly delayed response, but here you go Martyn...
I was reallly keen to try this out as it is a slimmer system than the Crusader cook set, and would fit well in my shoulder bag when doing my field herping. The Crusader is great for me, but it is a tad fat compared to the USGI set. This is the kit I use when usually out and about..
And the new set as recommended by Martyn. Very compact and light, bein overall shorter and slimmer in dimensions when all packed together...
The only real downside I could see to this system were the slightly reduced capacity of the bottle and mug, as they hold less than teh litre capacity of the Crusader bottle, and the mug is smaller too. I'd also have to find a pan or something for the Esbits to sit on, and the Greenheat to sit in, as unlike the Crusader cooker, this system has no pan for the fuel to sit in. The result was to use the lid of a SAT burner, small and easily slid into my bag pockets. I was also slightly concerned about the fragility of the windshield as it is very thin and flexible. So best not to sit on it really. Although it is well protected when around the cup, so no drama really.
I use a load of rat pack/Wayfarer type meals in the field, so the cups ability to fit one of these inside and boil up, is a necessity for me...
Not a fit like the Crusader, but acceptable. Putting a lid on top may be a problem though, and this I find is essential in the colder months, if you are to get a good boil of a sachet of Greenheat, or an esbit block.
I tried to position the windshield so the cup sat inside it, but even bending it and shaping it for a better fit, still got the cup slipping down far enough into the housing to extinguish the burning Esbit....
Not really a drama as the cup can be placed the other way and sat on the top of the shield to prevent this...
Again, I had to bend the shield in on the concave side so that the cup had a stable platform, but even so, it is a question of balancing it carefully.
The wind was blowing and I found the shield to be slightly superior in protecting the burning fuel than the Crusader system, thus, I hoped, reducing the boil time and fuel consumption considerably.
It was certainly efficient and a rolling boil started. It was then that I found the one weakness in the system that to me was fatal. The instability of the whole system, and precarious nature of the balancing act you had to tune in came to a head when the boil started. The motion of the boiling liquid kept on knocking the cup over and its precarious position on top of the shield...
This was no doubt helped by the weight of the food pack in there which caused the weight inside to be unevenly distributed, but even so, it was annoying and at one point put out the burning fuel when it slipped again and the water tipped out into it. Although I bent and shaped the windshield in all manner of ways, I couldn't stop this from happening. Although just boiling half a cup for coffee was OK and didn't produce such dramatic wibbliness.
I tried again with the boil in the bag and put the cup in the most stable position.. sideways...
Although this method sorted out the need to balance the cup, boil time was increased and so was fuel consumption due to most of the heat escaping, and because more of the underside of the cup was being away from any heat.
In short, this system lacked much for my use. Although for most boiling needs it would be OK. You can get other platforms for the mug that are much more stable, but not anywhere near as light or compact, which was the reason for me buying this system in the first place.
Back to my old system for the time being...
No doubt someone will improve on both systems in the future, and mary the best from both. So I'll keep waiting for that to happen. Either system is a compromise, it just depends which system has the best features for you.
