Hexi Blocks / Burners In or Out. Last directive I had a few years ago, only Hexi was allowed for ATC cadets. Is this still the case??
Heck has been replaced by a new fuel the name of which I have currently forgotten. It comes with the ration packs of you order them through the system.
I canāt imagine that Hexi is still the only fuel allowed considering you canāt get it anymore.
Can we use Gas? Which is much safer?
It was about 5 years since I did the Fieldcraft course.
Hexi is the only fuel permitted for fieldcraft - in practice thatās generally accepted to mean that the issued ration heater of whatever variety.
ACFTI 5 refers.
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Dragon fuel?
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Dragon fuel from BCB or Hexi. ORPs are now supplied with the new fuel and cookers.
Gas is not permitted for FT (but that never seems to stop the staff from taking Jetboils, MSRs, etc and Iāve got a feeling JLs are overlookedā¦
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Nope. JL only use the issued cookers.
Operational Ration Heater fueled by Dragon Gel Fuel made by BCB is the Hexi replacement that has been standard issue for approx 2 years now. Supplied free with Ration Packs from your parent Station Catering Sqn.
As already stated ORH/Dragon Gel cookers are the only ones allowed on Fieldcraft but are not allowed as far as I know on AT.
The Gel fuel lights far easier than Hexi did but dosent burn as long.
No raging infernos from breaking them up and adding multiples eitherā¦
It also doesnāt turn a mess tin into a sticky black mess.
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Iāve never really understood the quibbles over cookersā¦
We must ONLY use issued hexi/DF cookers for fieldcraftā¦ Because, obviously, nobody in the real world uses jet boils in the field.
Hexi/DF is VERBOTEN for DofE/ATā¦ Why? It canāt be a safety issue.
I used to use hexi exclusively for all camping, because I had a shed load. Now I use my Trangia. The Trangia is potentially more dangerous than the hexi but itās perfectly fine for cadets to use.
It all seems like unnecessary nonsense to me.
Just the same way they started telling us that, having boiled our rat pack meals, we musnāt then use the water to make a brew. The reason they gave? āBecause the meal pouches are made from aluminium and the water could become contaminatedā.
RUBBISH! The water on the outside could become deadlyā¦ But not the food inside? And what about the fact that the mess tins are made from aluminium? Aside from which Iād wager that the old pouches were made from mylar.
Where do they come up with this stuff?
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Iād heard several times anecdotal claims that rubbing some washing up liquid on the outside of the tin before cooking helped to prevent that. I never tried it myself.
I would occasionally wrap them with a bit of tin foil if I could be bothered to think of it in advance.
Never seen it written, so never enacted!
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Iām not aware of any policy against hexi/ORH in DofE. (Although I can see why some Assessors look at the 20 Conditions and ask how you are going to cook a substantial meal in a Mess tin on Hexi).
Likewise. I Pooh-poohed it as the absolute toss it is and continued making a warm brew. Iām still goingā¦
See, thatās the irritating thingā¦ Nor am I. Just individuals claiming that itās not allowed. Pish to them!
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Sounds like a āpuristā attitude to doing DofE a certain way. āWhy carry a compact, lightweight and efficient cooker and fuel, when you can carry this massive set of pots and pans, fuelled by burning death liquid?ā
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Yes that works. And you can then wipe the mess tin clean with grass or leaves
Why anyone is using Meths these days makes zero sense to me. I ban it on my Expeditions from a safety perspective. Has Trangia for the win!
(I find most who oppose using Hexi are actually concerned about boil in the bag meals, as itās debateable as to whether they comply with the 20 conditions).
Yep. I hear it too. Itās often from the type of people who then try to claim things like āthe teamās navigation wasnāt quite up to scratch in my opinionā - despite the fact that navigation skill isnāt actually one of the conditions.
I fail to see the issue with boil in the bag.
I know that some people take a very purist view towards ācooking a substantial mealā but Iām somewhat more āmodernā in my approach.
As far as Iām concerned the point is that they prepare suitable food for an expedition. Have they considered the choice with regards to content (sufficient calories, carbs/fat/protein) and suitability (size, weight, ease of cooking, etc)? If they have, and what they choose gives them the required sustenance for the exped then that should be satisfactory.
Those who get in a tiss about it tend to be hung up on semantics and their own idea of what ācookā and āsubstantialā mean.
If I ācookā a āsubstantialā meal thatās a Sunday roast; when I go out on exped I take boil in the bag, noodles, smashā¦ Things which take up little space and can be prepared quickly.
I keep hearing things like āReheating isnāt cookingā, to which I roundly think āoh, get a lifeā.
Thereās a world of difference between pouring boiling water into a pot noodle and thinking thatās suitable to go walking on, and heating a boil in the bag beef stew.
It should be about safety (in a loose sense) i.e. are they taking in sufficient food to keep them going; not about demonstrating their skill in some ITVesque āJunior Masterchef - Ray Mears specialā.
Itās not the 1970s anymore. We donāt go out with cotton canvas ridge tents, wearing a PVC anorak, carrying a big round pot to cook new potatoes over an open fire. But sadly there are some who donāt appear to have realised.
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