AUSTRALIAN MESS KIT VS BRITISH VS DUTCH

[@tonyrigby7948]

I was issued my Australia 'pan set messing' in March 1978. It was designed to fit in the side pocket of an Austpac (Vietnam-era field pack). You used a hand towel to stop any rattling and stowed the flat surfaces both facing inwards. Inside the towel was my cutlery - dated 1967. Later, I put both into a 1962 7.62 link bag made by the Australian Government Clothing Factory (AGCF) . I later added a green Army plastic cup. 25 years ago, I changed a cut-off leg of a pair of DPCU trousers instead of the towel and the cutlery is in the pocket. In 2020, it is still in my deployment bag. I just checked - Pan set messing is now dated 1980, the cup 1992 (I guess my daughter and I got ours mixed up in the washing-up). The cutlery is the Hacker 'bendy stainless steel' set with no date stamp. Good ideas never go away, they just get improved by good soldiers. And I steal their good ideas.

[@mattmatty4670]

Yep finely collected all 3 kits. Cheers

[@dutchman2205]

Ah, the Dutch mess kit. Brings back memories. Doctrine was to store them in the left day pack of the 60 liter ruck sack. In the mess kit, we had to store the spork, pair of socks and micro fibre towl and a dry fit t-shirt to prefect rattling. BTW Stickfingers, that 68 is indeed the year. But mine are from 08, 40 years later 😀. BTW, we mostly use the mess tins for heating up water to fill the thermos bottle with, and head the rations that are in pouches. We use a Coleman Peak One for it. Greets

[@severs1966]

Were your ration meals dried, and you add hot water inside? Or were they in a foil pouch that you put into hot water, like British ration pack meals?

[@keesvanwesterop2954]

When did you serv? My grandpa server in the royal dutch army in a genie battlion at oirschot between 1974-1975

[@clivedunning4317]

Your "British" mess tins are civilian copies. If you managed to get a pair of genuine British Army mess tins you would notice that they would be of a higher quality and made with a better grade of aluminium. Incidentily, putting water into the smaller military mess tin to the middle of the central rivit will give a measurement of 20 fl oz, one british pint.

[@myday805]

Considering you can pile your food on top of a flat plate you don't need deep mess kits to contain your food. Shallow ones work fine. The Aussie mess takes up much less room when packing it in pouches or a bum pack. Keep in mind that the Aussie one is only for food really as the cups canteen in which you'd boil water is on the bottom of the water bottles.

[@severs1966]

The British pan has to be bigger. Boil water in it with a pouch of ration pack food in it. This heats the food up. Then remove the food pouch and there is enough boiling water to make a pint of tea, which is essential

[@severs1966]

@Gray Man I'm sure that the designer of an army mess tin thinks primarily about cooking army food, That's why I stated it has to be bigger: The UK mess tin and the UK ration foil pouch match each other in size and shape. The UK pattern folding hexamine tablet stove is similarly rectangular. For non-military use, where ration packs are irrelevant, a round pan is much nicer to use, especially given that most civilian camping stoves are also round.

[@simonh6371]

@@severs1966 Yeah but if anything it's probably the other way around, the designer of the pouch made it to fit the mess tins because retort pouch rations were only introduced into the British Army in the mid 90s, but the mess tins have been the same since the 1930s. Before that when I served in the late 80s/early 90s the mains and breakfast components in rat packs were in small cans, which were heated in water in the mess tin, and the remaining water was not just to make a brew but also to wash and shave, which was mandatory in the field. So the mess tin is a portable washbasin too.

[@danielson9579]

From experience the british mess kits are larger because they tend to fill it with more fluid and it allso makes you think you have a larger meal than you do plus you can use it for lots of differnt things to.

[@stevenmc56]

I have a dutch stainless steel mess kit love it

[@Sticky745]

Been looking for a stainless steel version

[@VictorGarciaR]

@@Sticky745 I know this is a few months old, but in case you were not able to find the stainless steel version, Varusteleka sells them. www.varusteleka.com/en/product/dutch-mess-tin-stainless-steel-surplus/54004

[@MultiMagnum62]

Great comparison Sticky !!! All are good looking mess kits. Be safe friend, Peace, John.

[@SpiritofExtacy]

Are you familiar with the British army tank tins? [larger mess tins] the lid/ frying pan has handles like those Ausy tins and the main pot has a bail, there made of stainless and absolutely awesome pieces of kit. I may do a review of them as I'm yet to see anybody on here use them

[@peetsnort]

Wrap around handles are best. The flop up is ridiculously stupid

[@davidcooper6704]

Mil-tec is a brand established in the 1990s. It produces military style equipmment non of which is issued to the forces. The quality is OK but not as good as army issue. Don't confuse the two If you are going to compare, get hold of the genuine WD issue. Also don't confuse Dutch with Danish.

[@MickeyJoesMREReviews]

I like the Aussie one the best. Nice tight package. I'm a big fan of my mid 70s German mess kit tho, it's super well built

[@KaylynnStrain]

nice comparison of these 3 mess kits. I have a Polish "Skout" mess kit that has one handle for both pans--handle is plastic. think you might like one of those for your collection

[@patrickmaher7941]

you should try to get the old Canadian mess kit from the 70s and 80s like the british but the handels use to lock in place i was in the Canadian army and the handles locking in the open position was a god send . They were deep as well . love your videos .

[@Oldsmokey1]

I've gotta get a U.K mess kit. It seems like I always need more space so it's perfect

[@Sticky745]

It’s good for larger portions. Another good use is to boil things like retort pouches and such

[@johnwilliams7102]

Super cool cammo background perfect for this comparison. Do break out your mess kits for big family dinners or parties?

[@hilliard665]

Dutch and Danish aren't the same thing bro

[@nuked99]

Nice comparison Sticky! I also like the Australian kit the best because if you needed to move the handle out of the way the others would kind of be in the way of your food. Thanks for sharing!

[@RichardL7836]

I think it's funny that other countries still use them, I served for 25 years in the Army and was issued a mess kit very early on and never used it.

[@Sticky745]

I hear that... that’s why you see them for sale in new condition most of the time

[@mattmatty4670]

Thanks mate

[@jamesderynck1219]

Love those mess kits should send. U. A pic of. My grandfathers ww2

[@Sticky745]

I’d like to see that

[@jelkel25]

My Dutch mess kit is stainless steel but I don't know if they all are. Had a British mess kit since I was a kid so it's pretty beat up. Don't have an Australian one but do like the design.

[@hisheighnessthesupremebeing]

Dude pick a country... Is the kit Dutch or Danish

[@moonflower9566]

hiya sticky! great video! ;)

[@LadyJStackkz]

He's come and check it out videos thanks

[@havocmaverick]

Cant find a british one in stainless, so i will go with the dutch as i can find it in stainless. 30 dollars with shipping though.

[@Sticky745]

I couldn’t find a decent British that was stainless, most or tinned and in bad shape. The Dutch seems to be a good alternative or the French

[@simonh6371]

British mess tins were never made in stainless. During WW2 when aluminium was in short supply and every ounce was needed to make aircraft, they were produced in mild steel, as stickyfingaz says they were tinned to prevent rust. Better go with the Dutch stainless, hope you got a set for a reasonable price. Guess European surplus kit is pricey across the pond, over here that isn't the case and my equipment is a mix of the best of British, Belgian, Dutch, German, Danish, Swiss and Swedish surplus.

[@vincentrudge.2922]

Nice review mate.looks like the Aussies are on a diet!

[@oldigger7060]

Not really. When I served in the Australian Army (60s) we still used the British pattern kits (along with most other gear). I assure you that they were never filled!!!..There was always plenty of wasted space. I think that the idea of the British kits was to also contain the Iron Ration (a tin of bully beef and packet of biscuits). The advent of 24 hour ration packs in the Vietnam era meant that smaller kits were more practical (only needed to contain cutlery and cleaning rag). I did like the swing up handles on the British type kits because both tins could be held in one hand and the canteen cup in the other. I don't think you could do the same thing with the modern Australian swing out style handles.

[@_Catskull_]

top 10 your favorite dessert in MRE? >:D

[@FerndaleMichiganUSA]

less talk more cook

[@stevenmc56]

I have a dutch mess tins and they are made of stainless steel oops

[@TheWtfnonamez]

I have never served, so this is a comment based on buying army surplus kit for wild camping. I have two almost identical sets of the British Army mess kits, but one is steel and one is aluminium. Aluminium is only good for boiling. Steel can be seasoned like a pan, and then you can fry with it. I have seasoned a lot of steel pans, skillets, and cast iron pots, with varying degrees of success, but anything made from aluminium is a pointless endeavour. Aluminium is only good for boiling, and this is why I dont like it. I know that "theoretically" you can season aluminium pans to make them non-stick, but I have given up trying to make that work in reality. Proteins love to stick to aluminium. I dont know the science, I just know that after many months of testing, frying an egg in an aluminium pan is impossible in the field. Stainless steel is the win

[@stevenmc56]

Don't like aluminum too cook in at all.

[@Sticky745]

I agree... but a lot of troops all over the world are exposed to that

[@WarHoundLACN]

Fact: Most mess kits are made in the Netherlands since it is the second biggest food distributor in the world. So the mess kits are made there too, with instructions from other countries of the EU what should go into them. This still happens for the UK.

[@XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX981]

No, UK mess tins are English made by TOC (Tools of Coventry). At least since the 80's. The TOC stamp, broad arrow and last 2 digits of year of make are on the upper handle hinge of all authentic British mess tins. Its the mark of authenticity. Before that the English company MSS had the contract, I believe from the 40's.

[@mikerilling6515]

Dude, quick confusing the issue figure out which is which don’t tell us I think this and then say something else the Dutch and the danish are two totally different mess kits UNSUBSCRIBED

[@mindfreak9674]

Thanks mate