Mess kit
Encyclopedia
A mess kit is a collection of silverware and cookware used during camping
and backpacking
, as well as extended military campaigns.
, though enameled steel is also common, and some items (such as cutlery or plates) may be made of plastic. A civilian mess kit usually contains (among other items) a skillet, a kettle (which may also serve as a coffee pot), a plate, a cup, and cutlery. Kits usually come with either folding handles or a detachable handle which can be used with other cookware. Items are stored compactly by nesting them in other components (like a Russian doll); the whole kit may be placed in a stuff sack
.
Kits vary in size depending on how many people they are designed to serve and under what circumstances. A kit designed to serve a family traveling to a camp site by vehicle includes items of about the same size and weight as their domestic counterparts, but a kit for individual backpacking
trips is much more compact — the items are smaller, lighter, and serve several purposes (a pot lid might double as a pan or skillet, for example). Items for backpacking may also be constructed of more expensive materials, such as titanium, to further save weight.
Mess kits of almost any type may also include, or be complemented by, sierra cup
s (also known as sierra mugs). Utensils usually consist of forks knives and spoons, as at home, but may be replaced by specialty items like spork
s or folding chopsticks
.
While functionally similar to a one-man civilian mess kit, military mess kits are designed to be even more compact, using their space as efficiently as possible. Thus lids will almost always be used for preparing, cooking, and/or eating, and usually come in two or three pieces. As such, it may sacrifice certain features, or use other features to complement it.
When in a large camp, it is common for soldiers to use either normal dining wares, or a multi-compartment mess tray that's similar to a TV Dinner
's tray, but much larger.
, a canned combat ration with several menu precooked or dried food items. (Today, though canned and dried combat rations have further evolved into the MRE, these can now be self-heated, and thus only a containment tray is required for most units).
The U.S. Army's flat ovoid M-1932 wartime-issue mess kit was made of galvanized steel (stainless steel in the later M-1942), and was a divided pan-and-body system. When opened, the mess kit consisted of two halves: the deeper half forms a shallow, flat-bottom, ovoid Meat Can Body, designed to receive the Meat Ration, the meat portion of the prewar canned Reserve Ration. The Meat Can Body, with its folding handle extended, can double as a crude skillet. The Mess Kit Plate (lid) is even more shallow, and is pressed to form two compartments, with a center divide wide enough to accommodate the folding handle. The plate also has a very secure ring that is held in place by friction.
When stored, the Mess Kit Plate is placed on top of the ovoid Meat Can Body, while the stamped folding handle is folded over the inverse side of the plate's center divider, and latched onto the edge of the Body. It is further secured folding the lid's ring toward the center of the mess kit, which locks onto another latch. In use, each piece may be used individually, or as a unitary three-compartment mess tray, accomplished by sliding the lid-plate's center divider onto the folding handle, and securing it to the handle by the ring-and-latch mechanisms. When latched, the kit can be held in a ready position by the user in one hand to receive U.S. Army's 'A'
or 'B'
field kitchen rations. As the soldier passed along the mess line, food service personnel would dole out hot items first, often meat followed by vegetables, potatoes and other side dishes, ostensibly separated by the tray dividers. Dessert was piled in the center of the accumulated portions - if the soldier was lucky. While a soldier could use the handled Meat Can Body from his kit to cook raw food, it is really too shallow and thin to serve as an effective skillet, and was usually restricted to heating the canned Meat Ration. After 1938, the Meat Can Body was used to heat the meat and vegetable component of the C-ration, or to reconstitute breakfast items such as C-ration powdered eggs.
To complement the mess kit, soldiers used a stamped cup especially molded to fit over the bottom of the U.S. Army's standard one-quart
(950 ml) canteen
. This cup could be used as a boiling vessel, when boiling water for coffee, or for heating or reconstituting soup and other foods. During World War II
, units preparing heated combat rations in the Meat Can Body or canteen cup mainly used locally procured combustible materials or Sterno
fuel units of jellied alcohol. The latter could be stored within an issued folding stove for deployment when heating food, soup, or coffee in the field.
After World War II, a specially-designed Esbit
stove was issued to fit over the cup-and-canteen unit, similar to designs used in other armies.
The German Mess kit (Eßgeschirr) was designed in 1908. originally the base held two liters, marked in to 1/4 sections and the lid holding another 1/4. this new model replaced the 1850 Kochgeschirr.
the new Eßgeschirr was made of aluminium and not designed to be cooked in but to have food distributed from field kitchens.
the early models of the 1908 were painted in a matt black.
In the year 1910 there were improvements made to the Handle, which was no longer made of aluminium but of galvanized steel. the aluminum handles conducting the heat had gotten hot in the soldiers' hands.
the 1908 model was in production till the year 1940.
In the year 1931 the Reichswehr changed the Mess kit, by making the bottom smaller holding only ¾ l.
with only very minor changes this model remained in service with the German military (both east and west)
as well as with the German disaster relief services (THW ).
the German disaster relief models being painted gray.
They were mainly used in conjunction with a folding Esbit stove, which, when folded, could store Esbit pellets and occupy a very small area. The German mess kit was usually held together with a leather strap, which in combat was used to fasten the mess kit to the soldier's Bread bag
. Soldiers who were lacking a bread bag could fasten the strap around their webbing equipment
.
The Japanese Army enlisted men's mess kit, or Han gou differed from other armies' mess kits in several respects. No attempt was made to conform the Han gou to the Japanese one-liter M-94 oval water bottle, which was larger than that issued to the armies of some other nations. The Han gou consisted of a kidney-shaped, brown-painted, oval-bottom, heavy-gauge aluminum rice cooker pot with lid, containing a soup pot, lid, and tray which stored inside the pot. All of the lids also doubled as serving trays for side dishes of pickled vegetables or other items. With its thick-gauge aluminum construction and individual serving trays, the Han gou was ideal for cooking rice, fish, stews, and vegetables (frequently obtained from local sources). A simplified model, the Ro, was introduced later in the war, which lacked the soup pot insert.
A couple of hours before darkness, Japanese soldiers would supplement their rice and other rations by catching fish, collecting peppers and legumes, then cooking them, either using open fires or with one or two cans of jellied alcohol. The Han gou also facilitated food service to men feeding individually or in small groups (while on operations, the Japanese Army did not generally use large field kitchens and messes capable of feeding company-size or larger units). In addition to its usefulness as a cooking vessel, the Han gou was useful for storing and reheating rice. It was later adopted by many members of the Chinese Army which had captured Japanese equipment, and later, by the Viet Minh
.
forces that consisted of a large main canteen part, and a smaller saucepan component that also doubled as the mess tin lid. The kit also had a wire handle which many soldiers used to hang the mess kit from their web equipment or backpack. This design was supplemented in the mid-1980s with a second design that featured a metal water bottle held in the middle. The next layer of the set was a large canteen / cooking pot with a wire handle, then a smaller saucepan-type component with a folding metal handle. This last component fitted over the base of the larger cooking pot, the handle was then folded up and clipped over the cooking pot and the lip of the water bottle. The mess set was sometimes issued with a pouch, although this was by no means certain and many soldiers simply hung it onto their equipment from the wire handle. Officers were often issued a satchel-type bag for their mess kits in keeping with their smart image. This latest design of mess kit continues to be used today in the army of the Russian Federation and doubtless is still used in the armies of former Soviet republics.
The stove works very well with small sticks, wood chippings and pine cones as fuel. When using the alcohol burner, the Svea burner unit may advantageously be replaced with a Trangia
replacement burner, which appears to be more efficient.
gamelle) design is closer to the Canteen-cup system design: a tall, one liter canteen, with a stove (burns woodchips, etc.) that cups the bottom of the bottle and a cup/pot that goes over the canteen; the cup can fit inside the stove, better heating its contents.
.
Camping
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...
and backpacking
Backpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...
, as well as extended military campaigns.
Civilian camping mess kit
A civilian mess kit, which may serve from one person to a family of eight, is a collection of common kitchen wares designed to be lightweight and easy to store. Such kits are typically constructed from aluminiumAluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
, though enameled steel is also common, and some items (such as cutlery or plates) may be made of plastic. A civilian mess kit usually contains (among other items) a skillet, a kettle (which may also serve as a coffee pot), a plate, a cup, and cutlery. Kits usually come with either folding handles or a detachable handle which can be used with other cookware. Items are stored compactly by nesting them in other components (like a Russian doll); the whole kit may be placed in a stuff sack
Stuff sack
A stuff sack is a type of drawstring bag, usually used for storing camping items. Stuff sacks may be used to collect many small items together, so that they do not become lost...
.
Kits vary in size depending on how many people they are designed to serve and under what circumstances. A kit designed to serve a family traveling to a camp site by vehicle includes items of about the same size and weight as their domestic counterparts, but a kit for individual backpacking
Backpacking (wilderness)
Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...
trips is much more compact — the items are smaller, lighter, and serve several purposes (a pot lid might double as a pan or skillet, for example). Items for backpacking may also be constructed of more expensive materials, such as titanium, to further save weight.
Mess kits of almost any type may also include, or be complemented by, sierra cup
Sierra Cup
A Sierra cup is a cup used for camping or Backpacking. Sierra cups are wider at the top than bottom, allowing for stacking. They typically have a fixed wire loop handle to hold the cup more easily, though on some models, this handle can fold away or be removed to save storage space...
s (also known as sierra mugs). Utensils usually consist of forks knives and spoons, as at home, but may be replaced by specialty items like spork
Spork
A spork or a foon is a hybrid form of cutlery taking the form of a spoon-like shallow scoop with three or four fork tines. Spork-like utensils, such as the terrapin fork or ice cream fork, have been manufactured since the late 19th century; patents for spork-like designs date back to at least 1874,...
s or folding chopsticks
Chopsticks
Chopsticks are small, often tapered, sticks used in pairs of equal length as the traditional eating utensils of China and its diaspora, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Northern provinces of Laos, Thailand and Burma. Generally believed to have originated in ancient China, they can also be found in some...
.
Military mess kit
When in a large camp, it is common for soldiers to use either normal dining wares, or a multi-compartment mess tray that's similar to a TV Dinner
TV dinner
A TV dinner is a prepackaged frozen or chilled meal that usually comes as an individual portion...
's tray, but much larger.
U.S. Army and Marine Corps mess kit
In the years prior to World War II, two factors influenced the design of the U.S. Army's M-1926, M-1932, and M-1942 mess kits. First, unlike most other armies of the day, the U.S. mess kit was designed to serve men queuing in feeding lines and served in unit formations from large garrison-type field kitchens when not in actual daily combat operations. Secondly, U.S. soldiers in the field were never expected to either forage or to completely cook their rations, even in daily combat or frontline service. Instead, when not used as a serving tray for company-size or larger units, the mess kit was used to re-heat pre-measured servings of the canned Reserve Ration. After 1938, it was used for the new C-rationC-ration
The C-Ration, or Type C ration, was an individual canned, pre-cooked, or prepared wet ration intended to be issued to U.S. military land forces when fresh food or packaged unprepared food prepared in mess halls or field kitchens was impractical or not available, and when a survival ration was...
, a canned combat ration with several menu precooked or dried food items. (Today, though canned and dried combat rations have further evolved into the MRE, these can now be self-heated, and thus only a containment tray is required for most units).
The U.S. Army's flat ovoid M-1932 wartime-issue mess kit was made of galvanized steel (stainless steel in the later M-1942), and was a divided pan-and-body system. When opened, the mess kit consisted of two halves: the deeper half forms a shallow, flat-bottom, ovoid Meat Can Body, designed to receive the Meat Ration, the meat portion of the prewar canned Reserve Ration. The Meat Can Body, with its folding handle extended, can double as a crude skillet. The Mess Kit Plate (lid) is even more shallow, and is pressed to form two compartments, with a center divide wide enough to accommodate the folding handle. The plate also has a very secure ring that is held in place by friction.
When stored, the Mess Kit Plate is placed on top of the ovoid Meat Can Body, while the stamped folding handle is folded over the inverse side of the plate's center divider, and latched onto the edge of the Body. It is further secured folding the lid's ring toward the center of the mess kit, which locks onto another latch. In use, each piece may be used individually, or as a unitary three-compartment mess tray, accomplished by sliding the lid-plate's center divider onto the folding handle, and securing it to the handle by the ring-and-latch mechanisms. When latched, the kit can be held in a ready position by the user in one hand to receive U.S. Army's 'A'
A-ration
A-ration is a term used in the United States armed forces for a meal provided to troops which is prepared using fresh, refrigerated, or frozen foods. The use of fresh, refrigerated or frozen foods distinguish 'A' rations from 'B' rations, which use canned or preserved ingredients to enable them to...
or 'B'
B-Ration
B ration is a term used in the United States military for a meal provided to troops which was prepared using canned or preserved ingredients...
field kitchen rations. As the soldier passed along the mess line, food service personnel would dole out hot items first, often meat followed by vegetables, potatoes and other side dishes, ostensibly separated by the tray dividers. Dessert was piled in the center of the accumulated portions - if the soldier was lucky. While a soldier could use the handled Meat Can Body from his kit to cook raw food, it is really too shallow and thin to serve as an effective skillet, and was usually restricted to heating the canned Meat Ration. After 1938, the Meat Can Body was used to heat the meat and vegetable component of the C-ration, or to reconstitute breakfast items such as C-ration powdered eggs.
To complement the mess kit, soldiers used a stamped cup especially molded to fit over the bottom of the U.S. Army's standard one-quart
Quart
The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
(950 ml) canteen
Canteen (bottle)
A canteen is a drinking water bottle designed to be used by hikers, campers, soldiers and workers in the field. It is usually fitted with a shoulder strap or means for fastening it to a belt, and may be covered with a cloth bag and padding to protect the bottle and insulate the contents...
. This cup could be used as a boiling vessel, when boiling water for coffee, or for heating or reconstituting soup and other foods. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, units preparing heated combat rations in the Meat Can Body or canteen cup mainly used locally procured combustible materials or Sterno
Sterno
Sterno is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary uses are in the food service industry for buffet heating and in the home for fondue and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes...
fuel units of jellied alcohol. The latter could be stored within an issued folding stove for deployment when heating food, soup, or coffee in the field.
After World War II, a specially-designed Esbit
Hexamine fuel tablet
A hexamine fuel tablet is a form of solid fuel in tablet form. The tablets burn smokelessly, have a high energy density, do not liquify while burning and leave no ashes. Invented in Murrhardt, Germany, in 1936, the main component is hexamine .A number of alternative names are in use, including heat...
stove was issued to fit over the cup-and-canteen unit, similar to designs used in other armies.
German and Japanese Army mess kits
During World War II, both the German and Japanese Imperial Army used mess kits that were similar in some ways, and different in others. In storage, their dimension were similar to the American mess kit's storage dimension; however, instead of splitting along the length of the side, they were split along the width, around two-thirds of the body, creating a pot with handle and a cup.The German Mess kit (Eßgeschirr) was designed in 1908. originally the base held two liters, marked in to 1/4 sections and the lid holding another 1/4. this new model replaced the 1850 Kochgeschirr.
the new Eßgeschirr was made of aluminium and not designed to be cooked in but to have food distributed from field kitchens.
the early models of the 1908 were painted in a matt black.
In the year 1910 there were improvements made to the Handle, which was no longer made of aluminium but of galvanized steel. the aluminum handles conducting the heat had gotten hot in the soldiers' hands.
the 1908 model was in production till the year 1940.
In the year 1931 the Reichswehr changed the Mess kit, by making the bottom smaller holding only ¾ l.
with only very minor changes this model remained in service with the German military (both east and west)
as well as with the German disaster relief services (THW ).
the German disaster relief models being painted gray.
They were mainly used in conjunction with a folding Esbit stove, which, when folded, could store Esbit pellets and occupy a very small area. The German mess kit was usually held together with a leather strap, which in combat was used to fasten the mess kit to the soldier's Bread bag
Bread bag
Bread bags or ration bags are small to medium sized bags issued to soldiers to carry their rations. Often, such as in the case of Swiss and World War II German designs, they will have straps for attaching to belts and/or bikes. They can be commonly found in the military surplus market and are...
. Soldiers who were lacking a bread bag could fasten the strap around their webbing equipment
Webbing equipment
Webbing is used to make military belts, packs and pouches, and by extension also refers to the items themselves. The British Army adopted cotton webbing to replace leather after the Second Boer War although leather belts are still worn in more formal dress. The term is still used for a soldier's...
.
The Japanese Army enlisted men's mess kit, or Han gou differed from other armies' mess kits in several respects. No attempt was made to conform the Han gou to the Japanese one-liter M-94 oval water bottle, which was larger than that issued to the armies of some other nations. The Han gou consisted of a kidney-shaped, brown-painted, oval-bottom, heavy-gauge aluminum rice cooker pot with lid, containing a soup pot, lid, and tray which stored inside the pot. All of the lids also doubled as serving trays for side dishes of pickled vegetables or other items. With its thick-gauge aluminum construction and individual serving trays, the Han gou was ideal for cooking rice, fish, stews, and vegetables (frequently obtained from local sources). A simplified model, the Ro, was introduced later in the war, which lacked the soup pot insert.
A couple of hours before darkness, Japanese soldiers would supplement their rice and other rations by catching fish, collecting peppers and legumes, then cooking them, either using open fires or with one or two cans of jellied alcohol. The Han gou also facilitated food service to men feeding individually or in small groups (while on operations, the Japanese Army did not generally use large field kitchens and messes capable of feeding company-size or larger units). In addition to its usefulness as a cooking vessel, the Han gou was useful for storing and reheating rice. It was later adopted by many members of the Chinese Army which had captured Japanese equipment, and later, by the Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
.
Soviet/Russian mess kit
During the Great Patriotic War the Soviet army mess kit was a two-piece design similar to that used by the WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
forces that consisted of a large main canteen part, and a smaller saucepan component that also doubled as the mess tin lid. The kit also had a wire handle which many soldiers used to hang the mess kit from their web equipment or backpack. This design was supplemented in the mid-1980s with a second design that featured a metal water bottle held in the middle. The next layer of the set was a large canteen / cooking pot with a wire handle, then a smaller saucepan-type component with a folding metal handle. This last component fitted over the base of the larger cooking pot, the handle was then folded up and clipped over the cooking pot and the lip of the water bottle. The mess set was sometimes issued with a pouch, although this was by no means certain and many soldiers simply hung it onto their equipment from the wire handle. Officers were often issued a satchel-type bag for their mess kits in keeping with their smart image. This latest design of mess kit continues to be used today in the army of the Russian Federation and doubtless is still used in the armies of former Soviet republics.
Swedish mess kit
The Swedish (m/42) mess kit is a complete package, similar in design to a German mess kit, but larger. It breaks down into two parts, the first part being a steel stand/windshield/wood-burning stove (with a Svea alcohol burner unit), whilst the other part consists of two pots (usually aluminium). The larger pot has a wire handle, or bail, for suspending over a fire; the smaller has hinged handle. The two pots nest together and stow inside the windshield. The set is completed by a small plastic fuel bottle. It is recommended that the fuel bottle and burner unit be stored separately, outside the pots (since alcohol may otherwise seep out). A Swedish army plastic mug can also be fitted inside the pots.The stove works very well with small sticks, wood chippings and pine cones as fuel. When using the alcohol burner, the Svea burner unit may advantageously be replaced with a Trangia
Trangia
Trangia is a trademark for a line of alcohol-burning portable stoves manufactured by Swedish company Trangia AB in Trångsviken. These stoves are designed primarily for backpackers, with a focus on light weight, durability and simple design...
replacement burner, which appears to be more efficient.
Swiss mess kit
The Swiss mess kit (FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
gamelle) design is closer to the Canteen-cup system design: a tall, one liter canteen, with a stove (burns woodchips, etc.) that cups the bottom of the bottle and a cup/pot that goes over the canteen; the cup can fit inside the stove, better heating its contents.
British Mess Kit
The British Armed Forces generally use mess tins for cooking in the field, although with the British Armed Forces primarily using Boil in the Bag rations, many soldiers prefer a single large metal mug, as one item can be used to cook food and to make and consume hot drinks, thereby cutting down on equipment weight. As such cups fit beneath the standard water bottle, they also take up less space in the soldiers' equipment. The mess tin or cup is usually used with the standard issue hexamine stoveHexamine fuel tablet
A hexamine fuel tablet is a form of solid fuel in tablet form. The tablets burn smokelessly, have a high energy density, do not liquify while burning and leave no ashes. Invented in Murrhardt, Germany, in 1936, the main component is hexamine .A number of alternative names are in use, including heat...
.