Dining out

Submitted by Eric Daniel

The German military of WWII was famous for a number of technological inventions, which, at the time, were the benchmarks of their time. The MG42 (which is still used by the German army today as the re-chambered MG3) machine gun, the 8.8cm FlaK 18 (commonly known simply as THE "88"), the PzKpfw Mk. VI (the Tiger I tank) are just a few. One of the devices for which they are, unfortunately, less well known is their excellent mess kit. The German mess kit is a 3-piece design that incorporates a large boiling pot, a small frying pan, and a small bowl. All three pieces nest to form a compact kit with ample space within the kit to store condiments such as salt and pepper shakers, hot sauce, as well as matches, fire starter, and dish soap. While the army has phased out its 3 piece aluminum kits years ago, I still use the German kit simply because of its versatility. The pot and frying pan seal to form a container capable of transporting prepared food, which means that you meal gets delivered to you still hot and dirt free as opposed to cold and full of dust, which is how most meals are delivered in a tactical environment. Furthermore, the pot, now that the steel pot is no longer available, is an excellent source of boiling water for the entire squad (rather than have everyone boil their own canteen cup full.)

German 3 piece mess kit

Comments

[RTHawaii12]

dit dah dit. I have used this mess kit for about 20 years and still havn't found anything better.

[12of12]

looks just like the stuff we used in the seventies

[Thomas Milo]

Hm. Nazi pots. Good as they may be, I personally would only be able to vomit in them.

Thomas Milo
Captain Royal Netherland Army Ret'd

[wirjur76]

old, but nearly perfect. never seen anything better for having a meal outside.

Lars L.,
sniper, Objektschutz JaBoG 33, Büchel, GER

[Ruby T. Miller]

Why are some of you commenting on the viciousness of these mess kit? Have we not "used" the Japanese cars, cell phones, their songs - aka Lili Marlene? I lived, lost and loved someone in these wars, and that can not be changed, I appreciate that we care, but to take it out on "pots and pans?
Still fighting,
Ohio

[patrick kirchner]

http://www.uscav.com/

This place has everything from hats, camping blankets, tents utility belts. It's like a mammoth army navy store online and open to civilians too!

I ahve yet to find those really great mess kits like decribed above...

patriock kirchner
p212k.daytona.beach@gmail.com

[Torin Cowles]

Not all Nazis were Germans, and certainly not all German soldiers were Nazis. The vast majority of foot soldiers were just boys doing their jobs. I see nothing wrong or distasteful in appreciating their hardware.

[American Soldier]

The Nazi thing dont bother me at all.W hile in the military I married a little german girl.....grand daughter of a "PARTY" member and she still has her grandpas iron cross and lots of his orders.

I'd never thought about how the old man may be rolling in his grave every time I pork her HA HA!

[Richard Barbieri]

The mess kit can also be used to bake in. Use the cup inserted in the pot, put on the cover and you can bake in it. Also, if you add a little water to the pot you can bake by steam or steam food. The Japanese copied this design around 1900 and used a slightly smaller, but same design for their mess kits up to WW II. Many German designs were and still are superior. The mess kit is a good exapmple. I have used this mess kit for about 30 years and found it the best.

[Joanne]

This little item sounds pretty neat. however trowing a fit because the German Army of ww2 once used it is dead silly. about as silly as making a ruckus over any other purely cosmetic politically correct issue.

The U.S> has a long history of taking good ideas from our enemies and leaving the bad.

Not using a perfectly good mess kit because the Germans once did sounds to me like racism and aint racism wrong?

[Michael Tousignant]

It might be tough to forget how nasty the Germans were and still keep a open mind about a mess kit. I still cannot think of a single thing I would use, or buy,that came from Vietnam.

[Felix]

German soldiers always had excellent gear except for their rifles...Nothing was better than the M1 Garand.

Their mess kits were similar to what I saw our troops carrying across Europe & the Pacific.

And can we please stop the Nazify of every aspect of German military WWII history.

Geez,

[Mike]

This fellow has it right. As a US Marine, I trained with those from The Netherlands, Norway, and others; I served in the Middle East, and my Dad humped in the US Army through Europe during WWII, and my Uncles fought the Nazis as well. My son is currently in the Armed Forces. We don't serve in the military to pat the enemy on the back, but to defend freedom and all that is right. Screw that Nazi crap, as Capt. Milo wrote:

Hm. Nazi pots. Good as they may be, I personally would only be able to vomit in them.

Thomas Milo
Captain Royal Netherland Army Ret'd

Posted by: Thomas Milo | December 13, 2006 at 01:05 AM

[Patric Waters]

My best freind and I use these on our hunting trips. The ones we use came from my great grandfather from WWII. He got these while fighting over there.

[Former Armor Captain]

Assigning emotionally charged associations to a piece of metal field equipment because of where the design originated is about as immature as you get. A well designed piece of equipment is nothing more than that - a well designed piece of equipment. Get a grip, you whining gentlemen, as we wouldn't want you to go cathartic and become incapacitated (nto helpful during combat) at the thought that the 120mm cannon used in the M1A2 Abrams tank is licensed production from Rhein-Metall, a German company that also made gun tubes for the German Army during WWII. Shall we now also throw eggs at our tanks and refuse to use them out of "emotional disgust"? Or, stop using the excellent M240 machine-gun (since the design is very heavily based on that Oh-so-German best MG ever, the MG-42 (and MG-34) series? Or, perhaps you recommend all young people refuse to join the Air Force because the early U.S. jet designs were hevily based on the Me262 and other German aviation technologies? (All of today's compressor turbine technology originates from German WWII jet engine designs) - Better choose not to fly in any modern aircraft if you wish to be true to your emotional outpourings, 'cause the vehicle might have Nazi associations.... Really, people, practice a little Vulcanology and lose some of these ridiculous emotional associations you place on inanimate objects.

[Bill Warnock]

My uncle brought one of the kits back from Germany after serving in WWII. It passed to my father and finally my sister. They use it on all their campouts. It is the most versatile implement you could want. During that war, we had relatives fighting relative. As a family we own applicances or cars made in Germany, Japan, China and Korea.
Enjoy the day,
Bill Warnock

[Scot]

The idea of bashing this simple, yet versatile equipment is absurd. If we are to discard anything German, then we should get rid of many current weapon systems used today. It is well known in the US Military that the M-60 machine gun, for example, is modeled after the MG42. Germany also introduced the world to the main battle tank, guided missiles and bombs, etc. Don't confuse technology with National Socialism.

[George M]

How about the "Jerry" can. The cans used by the allies in ww2 leaked badly. After capturing a German can, we changed our design and still use it today. I don't hear anyone complaining.

Geo

[Torin Cowles]

Owing to the fact that most German hardware was superior to ours in WWII, is it not a testament to the American soldier that we prevailed? I realize that there other factors (generalship, fuel, resources, etc.) but leave it to the American GI to do more with less. It's not so much the gear as the man who carries it.

[Yoda_91bravo]

I only used my army issue mess kit one time and then had to spend a long time with steel wool geting it ready for the next inspection.

After that I went to the boy scout department of Sears & Roebuck (they had them back then) and bought a boy scout mess kit for field use and left the issue mess kit at home ready for inspection.

[Dan]

I found one of these kits at the big
army surplus place on the west side of I-15 just south of Brigham City, Utah, when I was driving truck back in '81. It was great for the weekend off-road motorcycle camping trips I would make in the summer. On the other hand, I can see the point of those who could only use it to collect the former contents of their stomach because it reminds them of an enemy so horrible they rank with the Barbarian Hordes, if not worse. My folks, who went through this time period [my Dad was a Marine on the USS California; Navy Cross, Purple Heart] said they made the barbarians look like Boy Scouts.

[Ed]

Re Joanie and "rascism": Only if an Asian or Black said it.
Ed

[Steve]

I retired from the military and was more than once very glad I had my mess kit with me. I feel like this, a soldier is a soldier. He or she goes where they are told to go and fights who they are told to fight. If most of you were overseas, and spent a little time learning about your location, instead of complaining about it you might have been better off.

[PAUL]

ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE CAN BUY ONE

[Robert A. Dott]

Where can I purchase this German mess kit?