USGI Canteen Cup & Stand

Next up is another option that can use Esbit or other popular solid fuels as a heat source: the U.S. government issued canteen cup and stand.





There is nothing new or ground-breaking about this equipment; it's been unchanged for decades. The plastic canteens can be found with or without the NBC caps, which allows the user to connect a NATO-spec drinking tube from their gas mask to the canteen. The canteen also happens to be near indestructible.

The canteen cup and stand are both made out of thick stainless steel. For stowing, the canteen nests inside the cup, which nests inside the stand. I can't tell you the exact thickness of the cup or stand, but they're very sturdy and I've never seen them bend or become damaged. As you can see, the stand creates a large enough platform that you could make a small wood burning fire in lieu of solid fuel cubes.



Assembly is simple: invert the stand and place the cup on top.





 As a practical exercise, I will see how long it takes for the Esbit solid fuel cube to boil 2 cups of water in the USGI canteen cup. Will the results be consistent with the previous Esbit test?

The reason I decided to use 2 cups as a reference point is because that is the amount of water required to prepare your average Mountain House freeze dried backpacking meal. It was a warm summer day, and I performed the test on a patch of dirt in my backyard. My backyard is fully fenced so the wind was minimal. In other words, ideal conditions.

I placed an Esbit fuel cube on bare earth and placed the stand over it. I then ignited the cube and placed the canteen cup containing 2 cups of water on the stand.







Again, just over 12 minutes passed without the water coming to a full boil. I had to terminate the test because the cube was flickering out, burning just the remaining traces of the cube left on the dirt.

As with the previous Esbit test, I don't consider the test a failure. Did the Esbit fuel bring the water to a full rolling boil? No, but the water was plenty hot enough to prepare a Mountain House meal or instant coffee.

The USGI canteen cup and stand is yet another excellent minimalist option. It is capable of being integrated into nearly any tactical load bearing equipment or pack. There are numerous manufacturers that make MOLLE compatible canteen pouches in addition to the surplus market. If your equipment is a little more "old school," ALICE canteen pouches are still easy to find as well.