Using meths in a Crusader cooking unit

[simonsays]

I've had one of these cooking units tucked away in my (ever expanding) collection of kit for a while. I was attracted by the compact looking package. A water bottle, mug, cooking pot and cooker all neatly stacked in a side pocket or pouch. I do feel that its let down by its recommended fuel though. The Greenheat gel may well be clean burning and environmentally sound but its slooooow. It took me 2 sachets and about 20 minutes to bring 500ml of tap water to anything resembling a boil. Thats about 80p in fuel costs to make a mug of hot chocolate I thought it would be wise to examine the possibility of using other forms of fuel

I was in the process of trying to construct a meths burner shallow enough to fit in the cooking unit under the mug when it occured to me that I might be able to get away with just pouring the meths straight into the cup on the cooker and lighting it. So thats what I did.

I added ordinary meths to the fuel cup to about 2/3 full, lit it and stuck the pot on top with about 500mls of cold tap water. It reached a bouncing boil in about 8 minutes and continued to boil for a further 30 seconds before going out. Filling the fuel container right to the top didnt improve the boil time but allowed the water to boil for a further five minutes. More than enough for my simple cooking requirements (Ration pack meals, noodles and hot chocolate)

From a safety point of view I would give the usual warnings about messing with flammable liquids. Do it outdoors and at your own risk. Having said this, it does seem reasonably safe. Knocking the unit *can* cause the meths to spill from the fuel cup but it seems to be contained within the rest of the cooker without causing a problem.

Cheers,
Simon

 

[innocent bystander]

Seems eminently sensible to me...
Do you have trouble with the wobbly nature of the cooker - on mine the wire for holding the cup weren't bent in quite the right place so one side is slightly lower than the other, making it rock slightly....?

Cheers
Martin

 

[rapidboy]

I found the greenheat to work well in mine and the big advantage over meth's is the lack of soot deposit on the mug and the smell.

I use mine a couple of times every Sunday but it's just for brewing up ,not for food prep.
I am thinking about making a wind shield and a lid for the cup which obviously should improve the efficiency of the green heat.

I consider the Crusader to be an improvement over the Hex stove but when you consider the other military stoves out there (Swedish Trangia) it's still not very impressive.

I also use a homemade stove that uses an airgun pellet tin as a burner ,and I found that using a piece of asbestos rope (about 1 1/2")as a kind of wick seemed to improve the burner by concentrating the flame.

I seem to recall that Martyn was working on his photon stove and a Crusader unit so he might be able to give some advice on how to improve it.

 

[Gripper]

I use a similar setup to the Crusader but an aussie version and use the hexi blocks in it instead of a liquid fuel and get a low boill from one block in about 12 minutes. Works great for a quick brew or for something simple like noodles etc.

Mark

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

Would filling the fuel bowl with fireproof fibrefill type material improve the burning characteristics? Definately add 10% water to the meths-it really reduces soot.

 

[Marts]

I've also found a hexi block plenty good enough for about a pint of water in 10 minutes. I like the sound of using something cheaper, like meths, but would worry a bit about a) uneven ground, and b) transporting the liquid. Would something like an airgun pellet tin and a wick stay leak proof enough if it's jostled around in a pack?

 

[Spacemonkey]

Had a race with two Crusader stove kits. One was fuelled with green slime (no, not them...) and the other with the non smelly hexy. Both boiled a mug full of water in about the same time, though the block burned longer. I find one green slime sachet lasts enough to boil one mug (just) and another is easy to add, as long as you are sure it has gone out! The new hexy doesn't smell or seem to leave the nasty deposits on the mug, but does leave a nasty charred deposit in the cooker.

If the meths leaves a nasty smell, does it get into the grub? If so, what about alcohol gel? Or liquid?

 

[Spacemonkey]

Oh, and I find a webbing chest strap from my daysack fits perfectly around the set (top to bottom) to hold it all together tight and stop t'bugger rattling.

 

[jamesdevine]

I have only tried the greenheat in it and it burnt out before it boiled the water. It was pretty wind and I was not using a lid so they all contributed to it's failer.

I am going to bring it with this week end but I'll be stuffing some tin foil in my pack as a lid and possible wind break and I am also bring some meths just to help.

I read someone here was using it as a twig burner.

James

 

[mercury]

Had a race with two Crusader stove kits. One was fuelled with green slime (no, not them...) and the other with the non smelly hexy. QUOTE]


Is that some sort of new hexi ? on issue ?

 

[Spacemonkey]

Not sure- My mate uses them in his Hexi stove. I'll check it out for you and let you know. They sure don't stink, and burn fairly clean, but leave little charcoal deposits in the cooker iteslf which are a sod to get out.

 

[TwoFourAlpha]

Non-smelly hexy takes all the pleasure out of it, surely.

There's nothing like moving back to the harbour area at first light, and being able to smell the hexy playing gently on the bottom of a score of mess-tins.

I love the smell of hexamine in the morning. It's the smell of...bacon grill.

 

[Spacemonkey]

I prefer the aroma of formaldehyde first thing in the morning, but everyone to their own...

 

[Chopper]

I have just finished playing in the garden and have found that by tightly coiling 1.75m of 20mm lamp wick and placing it in the dish in the bottom of the cooking unit and then soaking it in meths, not only does it use less meths but it seems to concentrate the flame better and boild the water quicker, I filled the cup to within 1" of the top and a rolling boil was achieved in approx 8 mins.
I have used the top of a shoe polish tin to use as an extinguisher, it works really well.

 

[Spacemonkey]

Sounds ok, but what about surplus meths on the wick? Surely it stinks and leaks after, or have you a solution? Would like to know.. Just used a sachet of Green Slime tonight with the sachet rolled up on top of the slime as this works as a wick and disposes of it too. Seems to work better than just slime.

 

[Chopper]

I let the cooker keep burning until it had nearly gone out , thus burning nearly all of the meths off.
I keep the cup and cooker in a resealable plastic bag, so if there were any spills or smells it wouldnt affect the rest of my kit.

 

[TwoFourAlpha]

...I decided that there had to be a better way of burning meths in my crusader than just tipping it in. ( Which works a treat, BTW.) So I set-to with my trusty SAK and the necessary raw materials ( 4 cans of Stella ) to produce a better solution.

I made a variant of a pepsi-stove. Let's call it a Stella Crusader. It's a semi- pressurised top burner. Unlike the standard design, it has no central vent, just a filler hole approx 3mm across. It has approx 20 holes on the outside of the 'shoulder' of the bottom of the can, and ( here's the clever bit ) both sections of can are about 1cm high. The whole unit is less than 2cm and it fits nicely on top of the crusader's fuel cup, but lets the pot-stand go nicely down over it.

I filled it until the cup on top was full, ( this was far too much fuel, it seems ).
It boiled 500ml of tapwater in about 8 mins, but this was indoors, so there was no wind etc, but still not bad. It then kept the boil on for about 8-10 mins more.

It took about 20 mins to make.

 

[ChardA]

I have found that if your trying to create a photon type stove that will fit perfectly into your fuel dish in the bottom of the crusader cook unit that you should try a chicken pate can from a MOD ration pack (Any Menu). Get x2 of them (You`ll need 2 Ration Packs) and cut the top band off. Invert one of them and push it over the other as per pepsi Photon Stove idea. Make burner holes and fuel filling hole (Don`t forget to JB Weld the seams). I think the last time I built one I had to make one can shallower than the other to allow for the snugness of the fit. You will find the burner holes can be fiddly to do on these cans though.