Mess kit
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The term may also be referring to Mess dress, a type of military uniform
A Mess kit is a collection of silverware and cookware used during camping and backpacking, as well as extended military campaign.
Civilian Camping Mess Kit
A civilian mess kit, which may serve from one person to a family of eight, is usually a collection of common kitchenwares designed be to lightweight and easy to store. Typically, constructed from aluminium, civilian mess kits usually contain (amongst other items) a skillet, a kettle (if it has a sprout, it will be a coffee pot), a plate, a cup (which may be made of plastic) and cutlery. The kit will very in size depending on how many it is intended to serve. Kits usually come with either foldable handles or (usually for 1 or 2 person mess kits) a detachable handle which can be used by other cookware. Items are stored by placing them within other components (like a Russian doll), and finally placing inside a stuff bag.Military mess kit
While functionally similar to a one-person 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.American mess kit
American army mess kit is designed like a deep oval skillet. The lid is divided into two cavities, allowing separation of two different foods, and the kit has a foldable handle which folds over and secures both piece in place; in storage, the kit is flat. There are two factors in this design: firstly, a small camp traditionally uses skillets to cook food quickly. Secondly, soldiers usually eat ready-made meals, which need only be re-heated; as such they do not need deep containers to cook stews or rice. If necessary the soldiers can use the skillet for such a purpose, though it is barely deep enough for some stew or rice cooking.Alternatively, Soldiers can use the specially molded cup that fits over the bottom of the Army's standard one-quart canteen for anything that absolutely requires a deep pot, such as boiling water. The canteen and cup package also have a specially designed Esbit stove which can fit over the cup, allowing the canteen package to remain very compact.
During World War II, the mess kit itself mainly used Sterno fuel units (stored within a foldable stove). It is likely the Canteen cup stove (using Esbit) is a product from after WWII, since Esbit was designed by Germans.
German/Japanese mess kit
During World War II, both nations' mess kits were similar. 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, which was useful for cooking and reheating stews and rice. In a variation of this design, the canteen could be placed within the mess kit. They were mainly used in conjunction with a foldable Esbit stove, which, when folded, could store Esbit pellets and occupy a very small area.Swedish mess kit
The Swedish mess kit is a complete package. Similar in design to a German mess kit, but larger, it breaks into two halves: the first half contains the stand-windshield and a Trangia alcohol stove, while the other half contain two pots (one has a handle for suspending on hooks, the other has an extended handle) that are nested together. It can also store a fuel bottle.Swiss mess kit
The Swiss mess kit 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 it's contents.Other nations' mess kit
Other nations' designs, such as those from the United Kingdom or Belgium, are designed closer to civilian camping mess kits, with the exception that they are usually rectangular or square in design for easier storage.
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