Best Canteen?

Barrabas

Barrabas

Joined
Feb 8, 2005
Messages
1,135
Hi,

Saw on a survival show where this guy had a canteen that hung off his shoulder, and it had a metal casing that could be removed, and used to boil water etc.

Any recomendations on who makes canteens like that?

Looking for something highly resilient that could be carried via shoulder strap, or on your Army belt?

Links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

sp
 
The American and British canteens, and others, have a matching canteen cup. Some are plastic others are metal. The metal ones also take a matching stove that fits around the cup. All of this slides into a case or can be carried in your pack. The common Nalgene bottle also takes any of several matching cups.

If you really get into it I think you can still find a canteen cup cookbook.

I like a metal cup when I have a campfire because I can heat up the cup. If I'm using a stove I may use a metal cup as my only cooking pot to save weight. If not then I prefer a plastic cup so my tea doesn't cool down so quick.
 
Barrabas said:
Hi,

Saw on a survival show where this guy had a canteen that hung off his shoulder, and it had a metal casing that could be removed, and used to boil water etc.

Any recomendations on who makes canteens like that?

Looking for something highly resilient that could be carried via shoulder strap, or on your Army belt?

Links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

sp
Click to expand...

The specific canteen your referring to sounds like a British issue canteen. Your starting to let Bear Grylls selects your kit, eh?

The major downside with the USGI canteens is that there is a plasticy taste that aint going anywhere. They're just regular plastic and are alergic to heat. If the British ones are constructed the same way, you may want to keep that in mind.
 
I'm a big fan of the US Army canteen, cup, and stove sleeve. I carry mine with a mini-bic and Potable Aqua Plus in the little pouch. My cup is made of steel and stamped 1965, the same year I was born. Mac
 
I use a nalgene bottle with a nesting cup. Also made a stove out of a 1# coffee can that nests over the cup. Use a Swedish mil surp alcohol burner as the heat source. Works great, especially after I made a lid for the cup from the bottom of another 1# coffee can. Very compact set up for cooking.
Bob
 
Check out the SWISS army canteens. They are a tad smaller (about 750ml/24 fl.oz.) but the cup CLIPS on them, which is a great concept that saves a lot of hassle.

Other than that, I use a wide mouth Nalgene with an Olicamp cup on it. It doesn't clip but I added just a roll or two of duct tape on the bottle so that the cup fits very tightly. Nalgenes still are the best in my book.

Cheers,

David
 
All good advice.

For Value-for-the-dollar, t's hard to beat the USGI canteen, with metal cup, and cover. Try to buy it as an entire kit.
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My buddy rigged a drinking hose to his, like the bladder systems have (Camelbak) , so he can route it up his front strapand it's there for a quick swig.

Nalgene with a nesting cup, also good, get a cover and/or bottle carrier so it can clipped on your belt or pack. This way it's handy for a quick drink, ratehr than digging in your pack. You are more likely to drink, the easier it is to get to.

I would like to add the idea of a bladder system. The come in all sorts of configuartions, including just the bladder and tube, and then it can be fitted inside your existing pack. Some newer packs are built with this in mind and have a "bladder pouch" built in. I got an Omega for my daypack, and have never looked back. In this no-frills config. they are not too expensive.
Sizes are: 50 oz. 70 oz. and 100 oz. (I got the 70 oz. and as practice don't fill it entirely full so it has some flexibility).
cambkaccess.jpg


trick: I have never had this happen, and never heard of anyone getting a puncture in their baldder system, but, considering Mr. Murphy......
Tape 2 bicylce tube patches (3M) to the outside of your bladder.
These little patches hold like welded steel.
 
While the majority of WWII canteens were made of aluminum there were a few made of stainless steel !! I've got one ! Made by Volrath who makes stainless stuff for restaurents...BTW when you taste te plastic from canteens that means the water is leaching out chemicals which you drink !
 
+ 1 vote for the US GI issue nesting SS cup & canteen. I bought one with a cover for under $10, 15 years ago for camping & boyscouts. The plastic canteen is indestructible (ther than fire) and the cup serves as a water boiling system in a pinch. You probably won't find a better deal for the $$$. I use nalgenes and camelbacks too though. I hang out in the desert so I carry a lot of water.
 
mete said:
While the majority of WWII canteens were made of aluminum there were a few made of stainless steel !! I've got one ! Made by Volrath who makes stainless stuff for restaurents...BTW when you taste te plastic from canteens that means the water is leaching out chemicals which you drink !
Click to expand...

Mete, WW2 SS canteen, that is the BOMB! nice.
SS holds heat better, so, if you make a warm cup of tea or soup, it doesn't tend to cool of as quickly as in aluminum that transfers heat rapidly.

The plastic leaching is an issue. They say the more it's used and the more it's cleaned, the more accelarated the leaching becomes.
It might be a good, and cheap idea to replace the plastic container every year or two. They are cheap enough it wouldn't hurt.
 
I just bought a USGI canteen ,new at the army/navy store for $2.99 without the cover,I will keep it in my jeep! I have a black one & a desert one ,both are very stout & seal up very good!
 
I like to have a metal cup for the canteen, but those micro "stoves" I tried a few times and decided they were junk and not worth bothering with, not for me anyway. In the army I always used to get up a little early in the morning and prepare orders and stuff and make a hot drink with my privately purchased USGI cup by placing it directly on top of the tent stove that was often red hot.
 
I have a couple USGI canteens w/covers & cups. Wore one on a real hot day and was drinking water I gathered from a 2 liter bottle and when I emptied the bottle, I reached for the canteen and the water had a foul smell. I tossed the canteen and bought another and so far, so good.

Bought a wide mouth Nalgene with belt cover and am looking for a SS cup to go with it.
 
I too made my coffee every morning w/ my canteen cup on the the old gravity fed tent stove - But, I only miss the Army sometimes...
 
One day in the middle of south west asia me and another troop were having lunch and he asked me if I had any water, I told him yeah just enough for me. There was a canteen in the corner of the HMMWV the soldier picked it up and shook it and it was almost full. He poured some of the liquid into his MRE heater, me and him looked at each other when the steam started coming out and said " Damn that ROPU water stinks". Our meals heated and we started eating, the soldier turned up the canteen and took a big swig and said "This F***ing water taste like Sh*t" he then took a packet of orange MRE kool aid and mixed it into the canteen and tried another drink and remarked that it still tasted like sh*t.

About right then another soldier on my team walked up and said "Hey if anyone picks up that canteen in there don't let them drink it, I didn't feel like leaving the van last night so I pissed in it"

This is a very true story, so when you are buying those surplus canteens think about this story.

And BTW I drink out of them almost everyday.
 
We had a guy take a swig out of one of the canteens in our HEMMIT one time, it was my driver's, and he'd pissed in it on the long convoy. A lot of guys used them to spit their chew in while on convoy also - that'll teach you not to drink out of someone else's canteen!
 
Many places sell new plastic canteens with Surplus covers and cups the canteens themselves are the cheapest part. So you can afford to buy that new if you are concerned

I often use a combined system of a 1.5 or 2 liter camel pack and a iqt us GI canteen or a 1liter nalgene with cup. the camel pack serves well for on the trail drinking and i find i drink more with it and tend not to get dehydrated.


The canteen cup and stove are usually brought out on breaks to make coffee or juice or to top off the camel pack for the trail ahead.

I also keep a 1 qt with cover and cup in my car as part of my Shtf supply or if i just feel like taking a trip off the beaten path on a whim.

For some unique and often inexpensive foreign military canteens, stoves etc. check out sportsmansguide www.sportsmansguide.com

and Cheaper than Dirt.

they both have deals now and then like 12 german canteens for 10 bucks or some such.
 
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