Review 3: BCB Crusader Cook System

Hi and welcome this the second stove review coming at ya from the Kittchen Sink!


Today I thought I'd take a closer look at my second favourite stove in the entire yooooniverse, the incredibly versatile BCB Crusader unit.

The Full BCB Crusader Cook System

I just want to state from the outset here, that if your completely new to the outdoors and have no knowledge of camp equipment/ stoves whatsoever, then the first thing you need perfect clarity on before anything else when it comes to choosing a stove is "What will I be mainly doing when I go outdoors?". Ask yourself this question and think hard about the answer as it may well save you from having to buy two or more stoves. The reason I say that is very simple; If you intend to do nothing else except camping, then a stove like the BCB you most certainly do not want. It simply will not suit your needs and will fall well short of the mark, particularly if you are not alone in your venture and are cooking for two or more people or a 2.4 children family. Like the Esbit, it is not designed for that purpose. 


If however, your primary intention is for a relatively light, compact, versatile personal cook unit for Bushcraft, Backpacking, Trekking or Survival, then the BCB really comes into its own, especially if you're the type of person who regularly carries a water bottle in a hip pouch.


This stove is a Bushcrafters and Survivalists dream it really is. Now, and not wishing to upset or offend 'any' outdoors person whatsoever here ok, (just before someone decides to tear me a new one), I know you can create your own hobo stoves with like tin cans etc, and I can appreciate the ideology behind that, I really can. Your using what fuels nature provides and so on, but i just have this huge problem with soot blackened, fire stinking equipment being returned to my webbing. Its like the British Army issue Hexi all over again. Hands covered in soot and up to the 9's in it. then you have to clean it all dooooown then scrub your haaands etc etc etc..........and I just cant help but ask why bother!! I just want to cook my scoff, pack away and be done. I don't want to be playing pot scrubber unless I absolutely have to. I don't have a problem with doing that, don't get me wrong here, but I'm certainly not outdoors to play mother with a pan scrubber for half an hour in a river when I can be relaxing in my hammock with a full belly and enjoying the view that's for sure. Plus of course, if everything outdoors is under a monsoon before you break camp, then gathering natural fuel becomes highly questionable. Also, on the topic of natural fuels, the Crusaders cooker unit has a slot built into it whereby you can actually if needs be, fuel the fire with sticks and twigs etc without removing the cooking pot......Genius!!    


Designed specifically for military personnel, the BCB Crusader offers many advantages over other types of stoves which are currently employed by many of the lads n lasses who so selfishly and heroically defend the freedoms and liberties to which we (in the 'free' western world) all currently enjoy. (and bless you all.......I salute you).


In saying that however, like all stoves, it comes conjoined with our old friend Uncle Compromise. 
For instance, if we were to make comparisons to other army stoves then the Swedish Army Trangia (which I believe to be the ultimate 'military issued' cook kit of any nation in the world), is  far better. It's drawbacks however, are that it is bloody heavy piece of cumbersome kit and, it does not hold nor contain a water bottle, but rather a fuel bottle and a Trangia burner which effectively means you now have a heavy stove and also have to carry (separately), a heavy water bottle. The BCB Crusader however, is specifically designed to fit around a  British 95 Pattern Osprey 'bombproof' water bottle and by comparison, its weight and bulk is far, far less than a Swedish Army Trangia. By a similar token, the Esbit stove and the British Army issued Hexi stove are just that.....a stove and no more. Both provide no means to facilitate actual cooking and therefore cooking pots must be purchased (and stored) separately. 


The Stove and cooking pot fit neatly around the one litre Ospreys base (See Fig: 1) so that your water supply webbing pouch now houses your cooking system..........ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!!

                                                    Fig: 1

Effectively, the cooking pot 'could', if you choose to, make the plastic cup of the Osprey (See Fig: 2), redundant. That is to say there is no need to carry it (I do simply because I'm not too keen on drinking from metal vessels and also, I can have my brew in the plastic water bottle cup whilst eating from the Crusader, rather than drinking then eating, or vice-versa.
   

                                                                             Fig: 2

The cooking pot is graduated at around the litre mark with a indent which helps when measuring quantities/ liquids when cooking or rehydrating foodstuffs. It can be seated directly amongst the embers of a fire in order to boil water etc, or in the event you run out of green heat gel. Furthermore, with the optional addition of a metal pot hanging handle (See Fig: 3), the cooking pot can be suspended over a fire to boil and cook, providing even greater adaptability. 

                                                                            Fig: 3

Whilst on the subject of adaptability, I recognised that the stove centre, where the green heat is situated, was exactly large enough to seat a pop (soda) can. I thereby built a shallow home made coke can alcohol stove from two empty coke cans and some fibreglass loft insulation. 

                                                                             Fig: 4

The alcohol burner fits nicely down the side of the plastic Crusader cup when stored in the pouch. I also had a 75cl Paul Smith plastic aftershave bottle which I filled with some methylated spirits from my Trangia fuel bottles and keep it in the pouch lid pocket along with the hanging bracket, P38 can opener and WebTex Firesteel. 

                                                                              Fig: 5

All this in and there is still room for half a dozen Green Heat sachets to be stuffed in here and there too..........excellent stuff!

If I had any gripes about this cook system it would be the optional plastic pot lid. It will fit in the front inside pocket of the plce pouch nicely, though when your all packed up it is slightly crushed against the front of the pouch. Now I now it does not seem like it, but the plastic pinch handle in the pot lids centre is actually quite sharp, if that's the right word really. I suspect that in time it is capable of boring a hole through the face of your pouch depending upon the treatment it receives.

Another lid gripe is that (if you look at Fig: 4 again here), there is quite a large hole at the edge of the lid. This is no doubts because it was designed so that when drinking from the cooking pot on the move, like say in a moving vehicle for instance (the lid fits on very snugly by the way), the content wont 'slosh' around and up out the top and scald you (or make you look like you've had an unfortunate accident in your trousers). Consequently, this drink hole must effect the boil time - not significantly I shouldn't wonder (I shall have to experiment with that notion one day to see what the difference really is), but it must effect it. Furthermore, if you choose to seat the cooking unit directly into fire embers, then you run the risk of melting it into your cooking pot. 

I think a thin metal, non drink hole lid would be far better suited. I realise that a metal lid would draw heat away from the pot content faster than the plastic one and therefore not circulate the steam but rather dissipate it instead, but it's a case of Uncle Compromise again, and obviously the plastic lid can be produced far cheaper. Replacing it completely with a thickish baking foil cover is one option instead, but then hygiene creeps into question I guess through splattered on food etc, etc, so it's back to "Hello Uncle" again i guess.   

  

But, a £1 lid aside, the BCB Crusader cook set is one of those pieces of kit that you just think "How the hell did no one ever think of this before now!". I only wish they had these when I was a kid, I really do!. The Crusader is simplicity in itself, and as usual, its always the simplistic ideas that really come up trumps is it not? - It's the Rubik's Cube of the stove world - the OXO of Sunday dinners, and if you'll pardon the French, as some like to say in England - it really is "the dogs bollocks!". But what I absolutely love about this system is it's compact versatility. You have clean or dirty water 'bombproof' storage capacity, combined with a boiling, cooking, eating, drinking, purification system that also provides a source of warmth and even light if required, and all in one really rugged plce pouch (See Figs: 6&7).

                                             Fig: 6

                                              Fig: 7

This is one of those pieces of kit I have absolutely no qualms about recommending to anyone. Even if your just out fishing, in the workshop, taking the kids out for the day or simply to leave in your car or a million and one other things, it's just extremely handy to have around.

Oh, I very nearly forgot too (stupid boy), The cooker and cooking pot are available in black (ahem!!! clears throat) 'non-stick' covering also. I STRONGLY recommend you give this version a very wide birth indeed and stick with the bare metal one. It may very well be non-stick to your food, but its absolutely 100% guaranteed non-stick.to the surface of the metal. It will come off, particularly on the inside of the cooking pot, and if you don't believe me, go check You Tube.......I've uploaded the proof.  


If you really need your gear to be black, then I recommend having a word with good old Uncle Compromise again and simply spraying the "exterior only - once again, that's EXTERIOR" of the system, with black heat resistant engine paint. (and if you do, don't drink from the cooking pot, that kinda paint just has to be toxic).

Disclaimer: Any and all discourse on the Kittchen Sink Blog site, is offered as is. I cannot be held responsible for the way in which 'you' the reader interpret any or all information or guidance contained herein. I therefore hereby exonerate myself from any and all actions against. 

If ever in any doubt about anything you ever do, always seek out professional help prior. 

Well that's about it I believe. If you decide to buy one, trust me, you really wont regret it.

I bought my BCB Crusader cook set from Mark at the excellent Lakeland Bushcraft (UK).

the exact url is here  http://www.lakelandbushcraft.co.uk/acatalog/Stoves.html

You don't have to purchase the BCB Crusader complete if you do not wish to. You can purchase the components separately if needs be. Just as a thought here also, if you arnt in the mood to construct a coke can stove you could always use a Trangia burner instead. 

Bare in mind also, that this stove can also use `any` kind of solid or liquid fuel, and not just Green Heat. 


Also, I haven't really mentioned fuels the infamous "rolling boil times" here as I may just do a page on my thoughts surrounding stoves and their "portrayed" abilities. I do hold a few 'issues' here regarding them. 


So that's my take on the BCB Crusader Cook System which retails on average at around £40.


Thanks for visiting the Sink. Be safe and enjoy your wilderness.


Kind Regards  Ian

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