Welcome to Military Travel and Outdoor. This site is about military surplus items that can be used for traveling, outdoor and camping purposes. Other commercial available items that will come in handy will also find its place on this website.
This website is a continuation from Thailand Travel Base. Beside information about traveling in Thailand it became more and more a website about military travel and outdoor gear. The .EU domain was added to the website to clarify that goods purchased are send from Europe. More specific; from The Netherlands.
The British army issued foldable hexamine stove is a large version of the Esbit stove. It has a separate top plate that is designed to fit in a pattern 58 canteencup.
British army hexi cooker plus pattern 58 canteen cup and a package of solid fuel tablets. Source: www.bushcraftuk.com
Since hexamine smells very badly and is considered toxic it would be better to use foldable stoves like this with alcohol. A hole of 69 mm in diameter will allow for inserting a Trangia B25 alcohol stove. This can be achieved with a 68 mm circle drill that is normally used for drilling holes for electrical sockets. A little widening of the hole with a hand file will make it fit for a Trangia burner.
The Phoebus 625 stove is a true classic among the vintage stoves. It was made by Austrian company MJR. This stove was used by regular campers and the army in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is still a popular stove among classic camping stove enthusiasts.
The stove can run on Kerosene or white gas such as Aspen 4 or Coleman fuel. Each fuel requires a different nozzle. The stove is designed in Austria and loosely based on the Swedish kerosene stoves with a adjustable silent burner head. The removable pan supports, burner head, NRV and flame adjustment wheel are very similar to that of old classic Swedish kerosene stoves. Different from the classic Swedish design is that the pump assembly can be screwed out of the tank. This is also how the tank have to be refilled with fuel. The burner head itself also differs from the classic Swedish adjustable burners.
The stove came with a storage box. Either a round red one or a square yellow one. The (West) German army, the Bundeswehr, used a kerosene version of this stove under nsn number 7310-12-137-3309.
Vesuv Outdoor is European producer of lightweight product for outdoor activities. More precisely windshields and tent pegs made out of Titanium. They are based in Czech Republic. Their current product portfolio consist out of:
Caldera Cone type windshields for specific pans and pots from third party suppliers. In this case Toaks and Evernew.
Tent pegs
Alcohol burner
Windshield + pot stand for universal pot up to a diameter of 11,5 cm.
Caldera Cone windshield systems are special in the way that the pan will rest with its rim on the top of the windshield. The windshield enclosed the pot to a maximum in this way. Also there is no pot holder. This setup improves the efficiency and wind resistance to a maximum. If you compare for example a Trangia system or similar style there is always a gap between the pan and windshield. Furthermore the windshield usually only covers the first centimetres of the bottom of the pan instead of the full height.
The universal windshield + pot holder has the great advantage that it can be used with all kinds of cups and small pans. When you want to fry a hamburger, sausage or vegetables etc. you will most likely use a frying pan which is usually lager in diameter. In this case you can use the pot stand and the alcohol burner without the windshield.
In the early 90’s the Dutch armed forces started to modernize its equipment for personal usage. Main visible aspect was that they switched from olive green camouflage to a Dutch version of the DPM camouflage that was already used by the British army. Another aspect was the introduction of completely new designs. Up till then the equipment was heavily based on WW2 designs from the UK, USA and Canada. The new equipment line is known as M93. Among them were backpacks and rucksacks. The common feature is that they all have detachable side pouches except for the Dutch army M93 daypack. These pouches (aka rocket pouches) can be zipped together into a improvised small backpack. After years of using the Berghaus Vulcan backpack the the Dutch army switched to several models and sizes of Lowe Alpine backpacks. The sizes are 40 liter, 55 liter and 130 liter. They all come with 10 liter side pouches. The 40 liter backpack has a minimalistic hip belt and static shoulder straps. The bigger models have a padded hip-belt and shoulder straps that can be adjusted according to the user length.
Initially they were made by renowned backpack manufacturer Lowe Alpine. Later the Dutch army ordered copies of these backpacks at the Belgian company ARWY. Also the Army ordered copies of the backpacks without a brand in countries like Vietnam. A real Lowe Alpine version of these backpacks can be recognized through the label under the cover lid and the Lowe Alpine logo on the metal button clasps that keep the aluminium frame inside its sleeves.
The fast majority of the produced backpacks has Dutch DPM camouflage. Smaller quantities are made in US Woodland camouflage for the Marine Corps and in black for the Military Police. Lowe Alpine itself produced the backpacks also in Olive Green for the civilian market.
When you’re out camping and cook your own meals, use oil lanterns, make camp fires or just carry hot coffee with you the chance of burning your skin is always there. Sometimes it’s just clumsy handling of hot pots and camp stoves in other situations it’s plain stupid pouring of high flammable liquids (alcohol, acetone, petrol/ gasoline etc.) strait from a bottle into a camp fire or wood stove. This article is about first aid that you can do yourself or will be done by health professionals. It is suitable for the lighter wounds often caused in household situations. More severe wounds will require hospitalization and plastic surgery.
Therefore it is a good practice to have a First aid kit with the following contents with you: – Water or hydro gel. – Paraffin gauze dressings. – Absorbent cotton wool dressings. – Plasters on a roll. – Normal bandage or tubular elastic bandage.
TLDR: First patented in 1895 and still newly produced today. Burns on the not highly flammable Kerosene or lamp oil. The operation and maintenance of the lamp are extremely simple. No pre heating required, just remove the glass chimney and light it with a lighter then place the glass chimney back again. Turn the flame up or down to the preferred intensity. Don’t turn up the flame too high in the beginning as the glass might overheat and break. Since there is no fragile incandescent gas mantle like in a Coleman Lantern or Aladdin Lamp you don’t have to worry about braking it. Since it is not a pressurized system there is absolutely no sound and you don’t have to worry about sealing rubber parts that might leak. Besides a nice cozy light output it also has a significant heat output. Therefore it is usable as a tent heater and even as a camping stove.
Since alcohol is usually cleaner burning than white gas (petrol) it might be attractive to convert your liquid fuel stove so it is able to burn alcohol. There are 2 ways you can achieve this. Enlarging the bore of the jet or narrowing the holes for air intake. Both have the result that the air to fuel ratio is lowered. Alcohol (C₂H₆O) requires less oxygen from the air to burn than white gas (C5-C8). When too much air enters the stove the flame will be blown out. When there is a lack of air intake the flame will turn into orange instead of bright blue.
A comprehensive explanation on how to convert a MSR Whisperlight to a stove that is also able to burn alcohol was done by Electric Trike. This adjustable air inlet restriction makes it possible to burn white gas and alcohol without modifying the stove back and forward. Also the amount of air can be precisely adjusted to obtain the right flame.
The Fjällräven Rucksack No21 looks like a classic canvas backpack from decades ago. However it is a modern pack. The base material is G-1000, a combination of 35 % cotton and 65 % polyester. The water resistance can be improved by waxing it. Fjällräven sells his own wax product for this: Greenland Wax. This is made from a mixture of beeswax and paraffin.
Just like old school classic backpacks it doesn’t have zippers. It’s drawstrings and buckles only. The front pocket and side pockets don’t have any closure at all. However the top of each pocket is somewhat tighter than the rest of the pocket. This will keep your stuff clamped inside the pack.
The Enders 9061 petrol stove was produced in the 50’s and 60’s by the German company Enders. This company is still alive and selling outdoor products nowadays. It was in use in the West German army, the Bundeswehr. Other nations also used this petrol stove as part of the inventory of the German Leopard tanks. The stove is as German as it can be; Top notch quality, complicated design and lots of spare parts. The official name as stated on the type annotation plate inside the box is KOCHER, BENZIN, EINFLAMMIG. German language for Cooker, Benzine, Single flame. The NSN number was 7310-12-120-0877 and a very similar version of this stove, the Enders 9060D, was manufactured for the civilian market.
The stove is loved by many outdoor enthusiasts due to its good flame control and the ability to serve both small cups and big pans. The folding box design make it easy to carry and store. Although the weight is makes it quite heavy for your average backpack trip. Empty weight is 1,9 Kg and the weight of the stove + a full fuel tank is 2,2 Kg. People who like to bring no longer working stoves back to life (aka stove fettling) might have a hard time to do so with the Enders stoves. This article will give some guide to do this successfully.
The French army F1 backpack was in use till the mid 90s. For many years these backpacks were commonly found in army surplus stores. However nowadays they are getting difficult to find. The pack is made out of tough heavy duty materials which makes it very durable. This backpack is super strong and won’t disappoint you.
The French Army F1 backpack can be extended with a chimney. That’s why the closing straps are extra long.
The French army F1 backpack is compared to a modern lightweight backpack a bit heavy (2,2 Kg) and a bit uncomfortable. Actually it is more a very luxury duffel bag. For example; it doesn’t have side pockets and it has grip handles on both sides. Besides that you can also wear it on your back.
