Carrying a Nato Canteen

A

andrew7978

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Mar 19, 2007
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For those of you who have the nato canteen and crusader cup, how do you carry it? There are not a whole lot of attachment points. I was thinking of paracord over the shoulder and around the waist for stabilization but that seems like it would make taking a drink a pain. Maybe a jug sling hitch?
 
Perhaps a shoulder sling and just a clip to attach to your belt loop to keep it from swinging in front.
 
If you want to carry a canteen slung over your back, like a bandoleer, you want the American soft, 2qt. plastic canteen shaped like a flattish square. It works great. There is no canteen cup for it, though. I think.

You could mount it on your pack?
 
I prefer a case of some sort. You can always slip in some purification tabs, utensils and other items into it. There are Brit surplus canteen cases around. Best Glide makes a case for the canteen, cup and stove. You can also find some aftermarket molle pouches that will fit. Take the measurements and check out Spec Ops, Tactical Tailor or Blackhawk. You may find one to fit. Hanging it by paracord and bouncing around on my hip or back would be a pain.
 
One thing I did like about Bear Grylls is the way he carries that Nato canteen of his. And he carries his exactly how you mentioned andrew7978. Some kind of cord over his shoulder, then another around his waist. It seems the one around his was is a simple slip not of some kind, maybe just a bow, like you tie on your shoes? 'Cause, it seems he is able to free it with one motion and tie it back up quickly.

I'm planning on doing something similar with a U.S. canteen, that I'm hoping to turn the canteen cover into a PSK as well. I've considered a waist cord like Bear's, but I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it. Maybe instead of tying the ends together you could do a button and loop? or a simple clip and loop, like the clips that hold the shoulder strap to your camera bag? or maybe just a small caribiner?

However you decide to do it, please post pictures, as I am still up in the air about how to do mine.

P.S. as fare as attachment points, I plan on sewing on a square ring on either side of the canteen cover. Do the Nato covers already have an attachment point?
 
The Maxpedition Toadstool is perfect for it.
 
OK I am having trouble figuring out a way to secure it effectively to my waist. If I use just one loop around my waist it can still sway if I run. Anyway I am pretty proud of my paracord shoulder strap. I am going to have to sleep on the waist belt idea.


I began by typing a slip knot that would tighten with the weight of the waterbottle. I then tied a stopper knot in front of the slip knot to prevent it from coming loose.

1.jpg


I then tied a bowline with the extra rope left over from the slip knot. This serves as the attachment point for the shoulder strap.

2.jpg


I then tied off the shoulder strap with a slip knot and a figure 8 stopper. This allows me to raise and lower the height of the water bottle depending on how thick my clothes are as I always want it at my belt height.

3.jpg



4.jpg


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Myakka said:
Andrew,
how do you hold the metal cup on the canteen?
Click to expand...

It is a tight enough fit that I don't think it will fall off, although I have not tried it yet as I just purchased it yesterday. Although just in case the tight fit is not tight enough I have two alternatives.

First, when I make the waist attachment, I will attach to the metal cup, not the canteen.

Second, I could tie a small piece of paracord from the handles on the cup to the sling that I made.
 
I'm not as tough as Bear...I don't care for a 550-cord bandoleer carrying a liter of water; it can get kind of uncomfortable. I like a decent shoulder strap and if you're using a pouch of some type (which I recommend), they usually have some type of belt/MOLLE attacment on the backside which can then be attached to your belt for more secure carrying.

I have the Cursader pouch. It's roomy, but I wanted some external MOLLE webbing for a couple of "smaller" pouches to carry some Polar Pure and whatnot. I was just screwing around and used an EMDOM 4X4 pouch (fits great with both the metal and plastic cups) and added a few pouches:

BF-SuperCanteenPouch.jpg


Here's the contents I added:

BF-CanteenLayout.jpg


Now honestly, after a little hike, it's just too bulky. I need to rearrange, but if I'm carrying a canteen with cup, I still like to add water purification (typically Polar Pure), a little 550 cord, 100mph tape and maybe a cravat (can be used as a debris filter before adding your purification tablets/solution). Even with the size, I have an older USGI 2qt sling which works great and makes it much more comfortable to carry.

I like the Toadstool recommendation that Robert mentioned (now discontinued! But I found one on clearance :D). I have a few other pouch options I'll go through. I will say that I really like the Crusader stove option, just wish my little Vargo alcohol stove fit in the center...it would be a great stove option.

ROCK6
 
I agree on the need for a strap that doesn't cut into your shoulder when carrying a filled canteen. The USGI 2qt setup works pretty well, but doesn't include a fitted cup. I just picked up a 16 oz. "space saver cup" with folding handles that fits on the bottom of a 1qt nalgene bottle. Finding a suitable pouch for a nalgene bottle should not be a problem either.
 
JimM said:
I agree on the need for a strap that doesn't cut into your shoulder when carrying a filled canteen. The USGI 2qt setup works pretty well, but doesn't include a fitted cup. I just picked up a 16 oz. "space saver cup" with folding handles that fits on the bottom of a 1qt nalgene bottle. Finding a suitable pouch for a nalgene bottle should not be a problem either.
Click to expand...

The 1 qt. Nalgene fits in a Maxpedition Mini Roly-Poly, but not if you have the cup on it. Here's my bag with the MRP on the outside:

eodbag-front.jpg


I keep an Olicamp Space Save cup inside the bag, and put other items inside the cup so I don't waste space. It's not my ideal setup but it works OK.
 
O.K. here's the way I carry mine, along with a Glock knife I carry the same way.

The first pic. shows the para cord on each.

The second pic. shows how an extra piece of para cord has been braided in to make it comfortable around the neck/shoulder area.

The last pic. shows the canteen inside it's cup and how the cord is attached to the cup. The rubber band (ranger band/bike innertube) holds the cup handles in place.

For me it's very comfortable and give's me lot's of cord if ever needed.

Well , that's about it for my pattern 58/NATO canteen.
 
The canteen, cup, and cooker fit nicely in an old style fire shelter pouch. Pouches are made by a number of manufacturers and can be found on ebay using "wildland" as your search word. It should only cost 2 or 3 dollars. Mine is a FSS pouch that was yellow but I dyed black. I carry the pouch inside my pack but it does have ALICE clips for outside carry. The Bestglide pouch looks great but the cost is pretty steep.
 
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