The ULTIMATE brewkit from canteenshop.com??! (review)

[Harry The Camper]

Many people have bought the BCB Crusader cook system, I myself was tempted because are comprehensive and compact. Although, many that have bought them got fed up with the plastic likd aka "stupid lid". The cup also had problems with the black paint chipping. This required aftermarket/self made lids or replacement mugs. Well, for roughly the SAME price you could or can give this set a look...

Lets start with the water bottle,

Its a Nalgene Oasis, a transparent US military shaped canteen. Transparency is what sets it apart from the Osprey and US military canteens, they are transparent so you can check your water level, and there is no bad taste or rough edges around it (unlike most politicians..)

The mug you get with this is certainly oneof the best out there, it holds around half of the water in your bottle,

and is easily secured with the butterfly handles,

. Its stainless steel and not coated with any rubbish.

Now we get to the good bit, the Heavy Cover lid looks and feels like the name.

it has a polished underside that is reflective enough to use for signalling or a mirror, cons are I get a look at my ugly mug everytime I pick it up...

.It sits well on the mug, reducing boling time and of course, is not gonna melt because its made form stainless steel.

Here is what sets it apart from all the rest of the kits out there, the Canteenshop's own stove.

, Rob (the owner) has even had someone park a truck on it, without damage!

The mug sits steady on the stove,

the puched-out bits lift the cup off the top of the stove, letting the flames through.

, here's the party trick of the kit, with some clever engineering, the lid slots onto the stove, allowing for use as a lantern

, with just one tea-light, the reflective underside of the lid really boots the brightness.

Boiling time,

, with a single hexi block, I got a boil in well under 10 minutes,

. The design of the stove allows the flames to go up and onto the mug,

. The lid also gets the brew going a bit quicker!

.

Did I metion the pouch??

, available in most military colours, it holds everything mentioned in the central pocket. The side pouches are for puritabs, hexiblocks, teabags..ect. Its made of 1000D cordura

and has built in MOLLE straps for securing to a belt.

All in all, I think this is at the top of simple,compact and imaginatie brew kits out there.

http://www.canteenshop.com/index.html is the site!

Thanks to Rob for the great service.
Harrison.

 

[widu13]

I have to say...I quite like that. It's not going to be as bomb proof as an Osprey bottle, but since leaving the mob I tend not to use the bottles for space invaders any more!

Expensive tho. $63 without shipping. Not as cheap as a crusader set.

 

[nitrambur]

Kit looks fine but not too keen on their international shipping policy.

 

[Shewie]

Kit looks fine but not too keen on their international shipping policy.

What is it ? Just tallied up my basket and it looks like it's free shipping to the UK

No heavy lids in stock at the moment but even if they did I'm not sure I'll shell out $60+ on a bottle and mug

 

[Harry The Camper]

Quite worth it, the Nalgene bottle is pretty tough, they have a 20% shipping discount for overseas customers, so what's not to like?! I didn't spec a para-cord chest strap as I can make one myself. Rob gave me a free spare bottle cap, nice touch!!! Most of their stuff is sold out within a month or so,they are really big in the US..

 

[decorum]

... they have a 20% shipping discount for overseas customers, so what's not to like?!

Well, at least two things - both taken from their Shipping/Policies page .

*WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST OR DAMAGED PACKAGES.

If it's lost or damaged in transit, they don't want to know :yikes: .

For International orders your shipping is not charged at purchase, but the day that your items are shipped. You will receive a payment request via email from PayPal that will include your Customs number. This charge will have a 20% discount applied to the shipping fee as a courtesy to our Overseas Customers.

20% off what? You're entering into a contact and, in effect, giving them a blank cheque :yikes::yikes::yikes:

 

[Harry The Camper]

My packadge came in a tough cardboard box, 32lbs crush if I'm not mistaken. They sent me a bill for shipping after it had been sent out. Not that it matters anyway.

 

[John Fenna]

Hmmm - not sure...
1/ the shipping issues as discussed
2/ I am not keen on Nalgene unless I am sure that it does not contain those chemicals that turn you into a woman
3/ I am not a big fan of military cammo for civvies (just a bit "wannabe" in my eyes- hunters excluded...but they can use civvi cammo...)
4/ not keen on transparent waterbottles- some purifiers break down under UV/sunlight - you think your water is good coz you puritabbed it then .....?????... !!!!!!!! help me.......
5/ I have a Crusader with home made lid already - and it will fit in a plain pouch that I also have
6/ Support Home Industries

As pointed out - it looks a pretty good system - but I am not going to swap for the points I give.
If I was going to recommend a system I would still go with the Crusader

 

[Miyagi]

I like the look of it but agree with you John.

Liam

 

[Harry The Camper]

Not a big fan of puritabs, boiling works everytime!I support the home industry! Border archery recurve limbs if youve heard of them....Nalgene were very keen to slap a huge BPA FREE!! sticker on. How could on earth you get turned into a woman??! Cheers.

 

[Shewie]

How could on earth you get turned into a woman??! Cheers.

I can feel a fairy picture coming on

 

[Miyagi]

How could on earth you get turned into a woman??! Cheers.

Stranger things have happened at sea they say...

 

[John Fenna]

Not a big fan of puritabs, boiling works everytime!I support the home industry! Border archery recurve limbs if youve heard of them....Nalgene were very keen to slap a huge BPA FREE!! sticker on. How could on earth you get turned into a woman??! Cheers.

I am not a fan of puritabs by any means but sometimes I just want a fuss free cold drink... BCB = Wales Good to hear about the BPA free bit - those estrogene mimics are the ones that affect men in the way that transexuals use estrogene overload... nuff said!
Oh - and you can get plain s/s Crusaders as well as the non-stick ones...I have both
I have been out of archery for so long that I am afraid I do not know Border Archery...sorry...

 

[seatarp]

My Crusader set doesn't lose it's non stick coating as I was wise enough to buy the plain stainless version. If you want black use heat resistant black paint on the outside and leave the internal surfaces bare metal.

I do like the Ultimate stove though and could see that being quite useful for other mugs/pots. Using it, with the lid, as a lantern seems odd as the lid will get sooty.

 

[decorum]

My packadge came in a tough cardboard box, 32lbs crush if I'm not mistaken.

It's good to know that the packaging is good ~ but the fact remains is that if there is an issue with loss or damage, they consider it your issue.

They sent me a bill for shipping after it had been sent out. Not that it matters anyway.

I'm glad to hear that your experience was good and it does look like a good bit of kit.
I just can't get past the issue of agreeing to pay an unspecified amount.

 

[rik_uk3]

I've an original US mug and 'stove', water bottle and cover, you can still pick them up for a few bucks, can's see how this setup is any better to be honest.

 

[Fin]

I've an original US mug and 'stove', water bottle and cover, you can still pick them up for a few bucks, can's see how this setup is any better to be honest.

I don't own the US version but I've seen some US colleagues use them - what's yours like Rick? - the ones I've seen have a very thin aluminium stove that bends easily.

I must admit to being intrigued by this. I think BCB, or whoever it is that makes the Crusader set missed a real trick with the design. If they had made the stove, just ever so slightly bigger (taller actually), both to allow use with common alcohol stoves (like the Trangia for example - or even a full size coke can stove) and to allow better wind protection; if they had also manufactured a decent lid/ strainer/ mini frying pan - then I think they would have had an absolute winner. As it is the Crusader system, for me, falls short unless you're using fire snot or hexi. I find it frustrating because it's one of those products that's nearly there but not quite. It's great to have all your brew kit in one pouch - plus a litre of water - but the stove part lets it down IMO. I only use the mug now (along with Warthog's excellent aluminium lid) if I want a quick brew on an open fire.

This kit seems to address some of my issues with the Crusader system - it looks like you could easily whip up a fried egg sarnie (or banjoes as we used to call them) using the lid as a fryer and the grill top to toast (in wood burning mode). My only concern with it is the lack of wind protection - but a tin foil screen would easily fold into one of the side pouches on one of the pouches that they sell with it.

Hmmm! Thanks for the review Harry - for now, this is a want rather than a need - I've discarded too much expensive "must haves" to commit to buy. I'll wait for a dozen or so such favourable reviews before I make my mind up! But as an all in one brew kit for day excursions (plus meals of course) it looks like it might do the job.

P.S. I love the lantern idea as well - gimmicky as hell - but you have to take your hat off to them for imaginative marketing!!

 

[spiritwalker]

its ok but as already stated nato type bottles are black for a reason (UV can interfer with purifaction)
also am i right in assuming that the hexi block sits on the ground? if so i dont like that idea either prefer that its within the metal housing so that its a little more insulated from the ground and may prevent underground fires occuring in peaty areas.

 

[ex Member swampy99]

Ill think you will find that the Heavy cover guy is going to be making lids for the crusader mug soon. So that, my mug, my 58 bottle (same as osprey but old) and a honey stove fits in a plain utility pouch. Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[Harry The Camper]

Robs reply to the shipping issue...:some answers for them - 20% comes off the actual cost of shipping so you pay less than we do - you can check this by looking at the sticker on your box and compare to our charge. The Nalgene canteen is BPA free and Impact resistant. We do try and help folks out with lost packages but it is rare that it occurs since you will have a customs number or tracking number and there is insurance on International orders.

I live in Malaysia, so I never got a hands on with the Crusader. Acording to the website,the stove can be used:Berry Picker, Strainer, Small Shovel, Fire Starting implement, Lantern (with the new SS HC Lid coming out), and what ever else you can think of. Rob has somegood video's on youtube on cooking with this set.