Did you even know there was a mystery that needed solving?

I have recently been tempted to purchase a BCB Crusader Mk1 cookset.

This is a cookset that was apparently issued to British forces (replaced by a Mk2) It consists of a cooker, pot, water bottle, and cup. These all stack into a neat tower that fits into a storage pouch.

I went for the Mk1 over the Mk2 because of the shorter form factor. The stove and pot are shorter. I particularly liked the look of the smaller pot over the taller mk2 pot.

So I went onto eBay and bought the BCB Crusader Mk1 cookset, along with the BCB mini fireball flint and striker, the BCB cup lid, the BCB pouch. I also bought the Mk2 Multi-Fuel stove as well (just out of curiosity, it should work with the Mk1 stuff nicely).

But whilst I was waiting for my new purchases to arrive I kept seeing how to modify your BCB Crusader Mk1 to work with a trangia strove videos on YouTube.

I was asking myself why aren’t they using the stove cross stand you can get for the trangia? Is the stand too big and won’t fit?

Granted with a trangia sitting in the stove the pot has to sit on the trangia itself. Which means you can’t use the trangia. The video below shows the issue and their solution.

But does it warrant cutting out the base of the stove as I saw in one video? Or as above the use of a grill? Even not using a trangia but using a coil of wick?

When the kit arrived late last week I quickly opened it, and dug out the trangia and the stove cross stand.

I inserted the trangia in the stove base, assembled the cross stand. Lo and behold it fitted.

Why were all these bushcraft YouTubers making life so much more complicated?

Yes the crusader pot isn’t sitting nicely partially enclosed in the cooker base. It is slightly higher.

But you aren’t cutting the cooker, carrying a grill, etc.

I haven’t used this in bad weather, so I have no idea how the stove works without a windshield in its intended way. I’d imagine a windshield of some description would be needed. I have a lightweight windshield in my bag anyway. So this cross stand seems the perfect addition to me to allow the trangia to be used without any flaffing about.