WHY? or alternate title: Can one of you Brits explain this to me?

[Ed Storey]

I joined the Canadian military just after we replaced the Centurion and Ferret with other AFVs. When talking about British designed military vehicles the RCEME Techs used a couple of rather unflattering sayings which were:

'Made in England, cursed by the world'

'If you cannot buy quality, buy English'

Sadly, I think the second saying now equally applies to some Canadian manufactured items.

[Frank v R]

for me this is more like a case of the Brit that left the horse cock at home and has no other way to fuel up , or it is mislabelled and is in fact a urinal for those that drink to much of that dark Brit ale and have large tummies and can't see where it's going, as for Ed's comment we are just the dummies that buy that junk , look at o ur B- vehicles,

[45jim]

In Gagetown we continued to use these hoppers on the Leopards. We used steel Jerry cans exclusively, dispensed from stinky, leaky 548's. All crew members were instructed to pass cans from hand to hand (no tossing) to reduce the chance of denting the cans and thereby letting loose the inevitable shower of paint chips from the internal coating. Just make sure the hopper doesn't tip over while fueling or you'll be sleeping on a back deck wreaking of diesel for the rest of the ex.

Once we switched to the plastic cans and fuel pods this of course, all went away.

Say what you will about British engineering, only they could invent the boiling vessel. A most welcome and civilized accessory on an AFV and beyond the engineering capability of the boffins in the rest of the known world.

[Ron King]

To refill a near empty Stalwart takes 24 jerrycans.......
This YouTube video about a minute into in shows a hopper.
Think about 2 Jerry's up side down at the he same time in the hopper and how much easier it makes it.https://youtu.be/F2OnZmPwQS4

[rob love]

Originally Posted by 45jim

Say what you will about British engineering, only they could invent the boiling vessel. A most welcome and civilized accessory on an AFV and beyond the engineering capability of the boffins in the rest of the known world.

While in the service I realised that the aircraft were also 24 volt, and the larger ones tended to have galleys to cook food. A quick check of the microfiche discovered that the 24v hotcups (US made) were non accountable and available in the system.

So with that, the coleman stove forever left the MRT, as I could heat up food, the foil ration packs, and even make hot water for shaving or washing up, and it didn't suck the life out of the batteries the way those larger boiling vessels did.

Later, while visiting the same surplus store that these collapsable funnels came from, I spotted a nifty pot that had a 24 volt heating element in it. Picked that up for a very reasonable sum and used it in co-ordination with the hot cup for the remainder of my career.

I think I still have the hotcup and the electric pot somewhere in my old barracks boxes downstairs.

[malcolm erik bogaert]

not getting into a shooting war over this but we british led the world at one time in(over) engineering everything might be a tad over-engineered but it all works...I was in the signal park one day..some guys of the signals troop(reserve unit) bragging about there Bedford MK fitted with massive TX and generator...not pleased when I said I couold do the same with mobikle phone..only much quicker!!!regards to all this may day bank holiday weekend...malcolm

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by malcolm erik bogaert

not getting into a shooting war over this but we British led the world at one time in (over) engineering everything might be a tad over-engineered but it all works....

In the Canadian book on the First Gulf War by Jean Morin, Operation Friction, he has some wonderful descriptions of the supply ship. In 1990 there were NATO standards, but for a whole variety of reasons each nation had their own fuel couplings. The HMCS was a refueler, and she had to carry a selection of fittings to fuel the British, American, Canadian, French, Argentinian, Spanish etc. What wasn't shared for the duration, was quickly made up in their shipboard machine shop. After the war some deck ape asked about a particularly impressive piece. The reply was, "'It big, it's brass, it must be British."

[malcolm erik bogaert]

sounds like a woman I used to know!cheers malcolm