Three Points of the Compass looks at using the little heating kit from French military RCIR ration packs for a quick brew-up in the outdoors.

For most people setting out for a day’s walk in the countryside, a pack is usually smaller and containing far less than anything carried on a multi-day backpacking trip. A minimum of gear will be carried. For much of the year this might simply be a waterproof jacket, a fleece, something to sit on, phone, a map (less so these days), a compass (also regrettably less often today), whistle, food or snacks, water. Then it comes down to regional considerations (headnet, Smidge etc.), seasonal add-ons (sunnies, sun screen, mozzie repellent, gloves, puffy etc.) and personal specifics (medication etc.). Amongst other ‘stuff’, Three Points of the Compass is also packing along a First Aid Kit, a light, wide brimmed hat and perhaps the means to make a hot drink- a simple brew kit. Unless a pub or café has been factored in. I have various forms of brew-kit depending on how the mood takes me, each brew-kit working off different fuel types. food-stuff consumables- tea, coffee, oxo, milk etc. are pretty much the same for any kit and like so many things in life, peculiar to the individual.

With a simple brew kit for day walks, I can enjoy a hot drink direct from my pot so the kit can be kept exceptionally small, though I do prefer a separate and dedicated large cup/mug for my tea. If I do have a separate mug, this frees up a pot for food duty, perhaps an instant soup, noodles or even water for a rehydrated packet meal. I discuss some of my small pot and mug options in a separate post. Beside a mug, there will be a something to stir with, possibly a windshield and the means to light my stove. For the RCIR heating kit looked at below, my usual little ferro rod isn’t going to cut it and either matches or a lighter is required. Using one of the RCIR stoves, including four fuel capsules, a lighter, bamboo spoon, titanium mug with foil lid and silicone HotLips, my brew kit #1 weighs 130g.

RCIR heating kit:

Just about every military force in the world provides it’s personnel with ration packs when training or engaged in conflict. The French have long had a reputation for the quality and variety of food found in these. The standard French form is the “Ration de Combat Individuelle Rechauffable” (Combat Ration Individual Reheatable), or RCIR. This includes the means for a soldier to heat his/her food. The larger size of ration pack contains 3200 calories and is intended to provide the nutritional needs for one soldier for one day. They also have the Ration Individuelle Lyophilisée Commando (Freeze-dried Individual Ration Commando), or RILC, for their Special Forces. The Repas Individuelle D’Exercice (French Training Ration), or RIE, for training exercises, and the Ration De Survie (Survival Ration), airborne forces version of the RIE. Note that heating kits are also included in some Humanitarian Aid ration packs.

There are 14 different menus in the RCIR of which only four can be eaten cold, a stove is required to heat the others. However I am not looking here at the ‘Meals Ready to Eat’, or MRE, themself, just the ensemble de réchauffage; the handy little stove and fuel included in the RCIR as this makes for a reasonably lightweight and compact addition to a brew kit on day walks or possibly overnighters.

Earlier heating kits in the rations, supplied by SRD-Lamifrance, had solid fuel tablets. These were made of méthanamine, otherwise known as hexamine, or by the brand name Esbit. Fumes and dust from these is toxic so it was a sensible move when these were changed. Since 2020 the heating kits are provided by survival equipment specialist BCB International who have replaced the earlier fuel tabs with a more environmentally sound and less toxic bio-ethanol fuel. This is their Fire Dragon product. As a result of this change in fuel, the design of the metal stove/pot support was also changed.

The two stoves are actually very different in design. The earlier stove has a much lower profile and the folded up wings provide less protection to the burning fuel from side breezes. I think if the second design of stove had a solid base, without the hole for the new fuel capsule to rest in, it would have made for a decent improvement on the first for hexamine type solid fuel tablets. But, that said, despite a legion of fans, hexamine is a nasty fuel with some pretty noxious off-gassing.

The BCB supplied heating kits contain a folding stove, gripping lever, six fuel cells/tabs (denatured ethanol), rubbish bag, book of 20 matches, 6 water purifying tablets and 3 toothpicks. The gripping lever is folded and used to hold an opened tin of food from the ration kit. The water purifying tablets (shown here) are Sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC), a form of chlorine used to purify water in emergency situations. An advantage of this compound is an extended shelf life- around five years compared to six months for bleach, a disadvantage being an associated health risk to a small percentage of individuals.

The stoves made to hold the solid fuel tablets in RCIR kits each weighed 35g and are just a tad more robust than their replacement from BCB. An unused unfolded BCB stove measures 100mm x 88mm and weighs 26.5g, so while not heavy, it is also no lightweight when it comes to alternative little solid fuel/gel stoves available elsewhere on the civilian market.

Trail Designs Gram Cracker burner:

The simple little Gram Cracker burner was released by Trail Designs in 2011. There is not a great deal to this little burner and it weighs just 3g. It is probably impossible to get lighter than this and still have control of the flame that is produced, if only by a little. It would be very easy to accidentally mislay the main body or two miniscule wings of this burner. The wings can either be inserted in ‘landscape’ manner, as I show here, or upright in ‘portrait’ fashion, with a solid fuel tablet stood on end between them which gives a hotter and quicker burn. Ideally, a square of foil should also be placed under one of these burners to protect the ground a little. but I am not a fan of this type of fuel at all and almost never use it. I don’t like the smell and I don’t like the mess the fuel creates. While it may suit many an on trail cook, it simply isn’t for me and after just a few tests I consigned it to the gear locker. Note that a pot cannot be stood on this burner and a separate support is required.

The little RCIR stove is simple, reasonably robust, easy to fold, easy to use and cheap to buy. Fire Dragon solid fuel is held in little aluminium trays with a peelable lid so could be simply stood on the ground while burning, however the folding stove/pot stand/windshield has a hole in the bottom in which the aluminium tray sits, isolated above a potentially cold ground though there is some risk of burning ground vegetation as it is pretty low. As with the Gram Cracker, a piece of foil underneath the stove will protect the ground a little and also direct a little of the heat back up toward the pot.

If you plan on folding either of the stoves flat after each burn and want something that is going to last more than a dozen uses, choose something else. That said, the newer BCB stove is quite small when folded, measuring around 50mm x 49mm x 47mm and can stay folded and sit within even the smallest of pots. That way, it will last many dozens of burns. All I am buying these stoves for is day walks or weekenders and would never even consider one for longer trips. Once constant bending and flexing has worn through a hinge and it eventually breaks, both the aluminium stove and Fire Dragon fuel capsule pans can be recycled.

The 7g in a single Fire Dragon capsule is quite a small amount of fuel and realistic expectations should be maintained. A little additional protection from wind goes a long way, as does a cover to a pot. The BCB specification for one of these stoves is that each capsule will bring 300ml of water from 10°C to 55°C in under five minutes. It won’t take longer than five minutes as the fuel will not last longer than this. In winter, with just a little protection from side breezes and a foil lid to a small titanium cup I have been able to bring 300ml to 67°C and 250ml to 69°C . On a warm summers day better results are achievable. I think the 7g size is slightly too small and these would have been a better product if 10g of fuel were included. But still, the 7g is enough to heat a meal and bring water to hot enough for an instant coffee. I find two fuel tablets enough for boiling my water for tea making, so I pack along a minimum of four fuel cells in this little brew kit.

There is no need to buy an entire ration pack as there are plenty of retailers selling either the little stoves themselves (also available in multiples), the fuel cells/tabs, or the whole ensemble de réchauffage (heating kit). There is no great cost to any of the component parts.

• Gear talk: brew kit #2- smallest possible gas stove options
• Gear talk: brew kit #3 Toaks Titanium Siphon alcohol burner