The French Military Canteen, Cup and Cover.

[@eleveneleven572]

I have a couple. I moved to France in 2003 and over time I've bought two canteens and two cooksets. The local Surplus has crates of them for around 4€ to 6€ each. Very sturdy, last a lifetime.

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I agree. I also like that the canteen is a little larger than the US 1 quart canteens since Florida (where I live) is hot most of he year. Thanks for watching and for your comment!

[@cranna31]

Quick Tip... I have an Austrian canteen and cup. The pathfinder lid had the same problem with fitting to the cup, so I turned the cup upside down with lid on and stood on it and my weight opened its mouth. The lid fits perfectly now.

[@HootOwl513]

Hi John, The cup's measuring line is about 8 oz in US Customary Measures. [6:06]. My theory is that that's the soldier's daily wine ration. French Army is big on having their Wine. I have three of these now. And I bought more Canteen cups sold by Sportsmans Guide as Belgian Army surplus. Which may have been true, but the manufacturer's mark on the bottoms were all PUR-ALU. NORD. Nord was a French aircraft manufacturer, builders of the Nord Noratlas transport. [A French-built Flying Boxcar type transport, used by Armee del Aire, W. German Luftwaffe, Israeli AF , and Greek AF. in its day.] I have three covers, too. One is Olive Green like yours, the other two are later ''Lizard Camo'' -- three toned woodland-like pattern. The olive one, I bought in late '70s or early '80s and it had some Sharpie Pen art on the cover. A phoenix or eagle in black ink was rising out of a Fire in red ink, and the smoke lines made ghostly SS Runes. I snapped it up at the local surplus store. When I got it home, I showed it to my Mom, mentioning that it could have belonged to a French Foreign Legionaire at Dien Bien Phu. The Legion ''sheepdipped''a lot of ex-Nazis and deployed them in Indochina. I left it in the kitchen to soak in some good water. I found the cover, days later, its art work washed out. Fearing disease-ridden South East Asian microbes or German germs -- she had bleached it. A name

[@eddiecaplan1908]

One of my all time favorite items! , these made great cycle bottles, you could attatch behind the saddle , ., the cap seals can easily be replaced,

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I agree. Its made very well and if it wasn't part of my shelf collection it could easily be the set I use every time I got to the woods.

[@AriMalatesta]

I have this one, and I love it... Usually carry it on a sling, tough (a little too heavy for the belt or haversack when full).

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I'm going to be carrying mine for the first time tomorrow for a walk and a video. Thanks for the advice. I will either sling it or attach it to my pack. Thanks again for watching and commenting!

[@lanecoffey1310]

Good review! I have this same canteen with the cover that has the 2 position snaps. I use the titanium canteen cup. I had to heat it and spread it some to fit well and then made a stove out of a broken titanium cup. I love it and use it regularly

[@stoicprepper]

Very nice, thank you.

[@m1cajah]

Great review! I was wondering about the canteen cup stove. I have 2 of these French canteens. Theyre awesome. A fish mouth spreader to hang it over the fire and you're in business.

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I'll give the fish month spreader a try. That's one piece I don't own yet. Next time I visit my local bait and tackle store I will see if I can find one. Thanks for watching and for your comment!

[@jelkel25]

Got a couple of these, great pieces of kit. The canteen cups are great for hiking as they're so light and tough. Don't know if they made it to the states but in Europe there were a lot of Chinese copies of the cup so beware if that's an issue for you. Only down side is the chain on the canteen drove me nuts so had to go. Wish I could get a British pattern 44 canteen and cup which these are based on but they're very pricey and often very battered. Great review, very thorough!

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I saw some of the reproduced ones here at my local surplus store and on ebay. Some I heard were made my Miltec. According to the reviews I saw, people seemed happy with those. It usually had a new reproduced canteen and cup and sometimes they were paired with a real surplus cover. The difference I saw was the fact they were new and the chain and the anchor spot on the canteen for the cap was different. Thanks again for watching my videos and for your comment!

[@jelkel25]

John Sherwood Ah, these were Chinese copies that were being sold as originals, the MilTec and Laken copies are supposed to be very good. The Chinese copies are serviceable, I have one of their copies of the British 44 pattern mug and the handles are a tiny bit thinner but it took a fair bit of use last summer with no issues.

[@AZCampcraft]

Awesome review on this piece of kit! you answered all the questions i had and helped me make up my mind for a purchase. Got a new sub!

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

Thanks for watching and for your sub! I'm glad my video was some help. I hope you enjoy your new kit!

[@martinadejaquiz2482]

excellent thumbed it up - thx!

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

Martina Dejaquiz thanks for watching!

[@MrJaismith]

HI John, would like to see how the French canteen kit compares with the Italian aluminum sets that are on the market now at SG.

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

James Smith Well, I saw two different Italian pieces at Sportsman’s guide. I saw a set with aluminum canteen, aluminum cup, and cover with ALICE clips and I saw in another ad just a cup that looked like a totally different shape than the first set I mentioned. No canteen or cover was listed with it.The first set I saw looked like it had a wide fill mouth which is nice. The reviews say it is larger than a normal canteen so it might be similar in size to the French one I have. The cup looks very similar shape and size to the French one I have too. But I suspect the cover may be from another set that may have been paired with the cup and canteen for sale. Surplus houses sometimes do this when they have a lot of two different items to make a set that works and can be sold. Example, I have a cool Belgian cover that was paired with a Dutch canteen. By themselves they would not have sold fast but together they went like hot cakes. I hope I answered your question. It’s really hard to compare two sets by just looking at pictures.

[@dawgcop69]

There is a small surplus store near me that has a stack of the French canteen stoves. I would be Happy to send you one if you would like. Just got the French canteen and cup myself. Love It! Enjoy you videos and have learned a lot from you channel and you. Keep up the Great work!

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

How much are the the stoves? If you do send one I would like to pay you for it.

[@packersmresandvintage]

I just bought a an undescribed surplus canteen cup it's the same as ures cool vid matey

[@dfernandez3482]

Try cutting the middle of the canteen stove on the front side so it can spread a lil when you put it on the cup. I just hope its still stable when the cups on it full of water

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

Thanks for the tip. I'm not planning on cutting my stove because I just use this canteen occasionally. Its mostly a shelf queen in my collection. But maybe others that own this set can use your tip. Thanks for watching and for your useful comment!

[@Stormcloakvictory]

Do you think you can get your hands on an old Swiss military Sigg canteen?Would like to see a review on those.

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

I have a Swiss M32 and a M84 canteen in my collection. I plan to make a video in the future on them. I have been busy lately. I'll try to work them in soon.

[@bigddw4]

you answered the question i had. does the french cup fit the us canteen. probably.

[@LittleOwl-p9o]

Do you think the pathfinder canteen and cup will fit in this pouch?

[@stoicprepper]

Anybody knows if it is possible to put the bottle over a burner in order to boil water?

[@arthurmilton2986]

i have a military cup and cooker with folding handle it has ABL 1966 UMAL stamped on base is it french issue the cooker has MMT 1988 TOURNUS stamped on itcould you possibly help id these items keep up the good work

[@simonrobson2293]

Got issued in legion etrangere with this 1981,I served in UK infantry before never understood why British military used to have plastic bottle and cup

[@jamesaritchie1]

Great for a collection, but I don't like them for use because of the size and weight. Water purification tablets are made to treat one quart of water, and trying to use them on a larger canteen is a real pain in the butt, unless you go all the way up to a two quart canteen. It also weighs two much when full for comfortable belt use. It's almost four and a half pounds full, and that's more than I want to carry on my belt. I can carry a G.I. kit on my belt, and a second G.I. canteen in my pack, get sixteen ounces more water, plus two containers that are easy to treat with purification tablets, and for slightly less weight than carrying the single French canteen kit. The weight is also distributed a heck of a lot better, and is much easier to carry. The only advantage I see to the French kit is that the canteen gives you one more container to boil water, but that isn't something I ever need, so size, weight, and ease of cary make the differences for me.

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

They are a great piece of gear. I don't use purifying tablets so the size doesn't bother me. Thanks for watching and for your comment!

[@butchbroussard8468]

Are the two different sizes of the French canteen? Mine is dated 1987 and holds about 5.5 cups of water.

[@scoutsniper485]

I want to know if that french canteen will fit in the russian paratrooper cup u have

[@DoomOfConviction]

I always thought it’s okay to use aluminum stuff for cooking, a beer can is also out of aluminum right? Yes but we ain’t cook stuff in beer cans if we are clever because cooking dissolves so much aluminum oxide particles who are 100% carcinogenic…

[@spookmotrtimore22]

Hi John....Ive managed to buy a French Military Canteen Set like yours here in the UK.......But it really stinks inside the bottle from years of storage....How can I get rid of the smell please....

[@dawgcop69]

Couple bucks and My treat. Just a thank you for all the Great vids and info!

[@John-Sherwood-W4JFS]

That's very nice of you! I'm so glad you find my videos useful. If you could, please go to my channel page and send me a private message. You do that by selecting "About" and then "Send Message" on my channel page. I went to your channel page and I didn't see a way to contact you privately. Thanks!