I have to admit to being a sucker for simplicity, and simple is a good thing rendering tranquility and even prolonging life. If you’ve studied art, you undoubtedly had the opportunity to experience Claude Monet. Monet, gave rise to the French Impressionist movement; gracing the art world with a simplicity and mastery of nature. His use of light is unsurpassed and remains the hallmark of the French Impressionist evolution. My point is that there is great beauty in simplicity and if you’ve ever been on outings, in service, or to simply enjoy the great outdoors where you’ve needed half a dozen gun bearers, you’ll definitely appreciate what I’m presenting here today, BCB International’s FIREDRAGON Green and Clean Solid Fuel and their new multi-fuel stove.
BCB International is a UK manufacturer of specialized equipment. If your needs are expeditionary, asymmetric warfare, peace keeping operations or security, BCB can supply what you need to carry out your mission as safely and effectively as possible. The company is a supplier to the British MOD. Their FIREDRAGON product line consists of survival equipment centered around exothermic technologies i.e. easily and efficiently generating and using fire under field conditions.
FireDragon’s fuel departs from the customary Hexamine and Trioxane tablets, which have a high energy density of 30.0 megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg), but they produce toxic gases when burning. In fact, Hexamine produces cyanide gas.
BCB’s fuel is an organic solidified ethanol that burns cleanly, with zero toxicity, so it’s safe to use and won’t hurt the environment. All important attributes given the DOD’s direction to becoming a GREENer organization. FireDragon fuel is even safe enough to sanitize your hands after your morning glory and before you prepping your breakfast MRE. Each block will burn for 8 minutes, even if wet, and boil 500ml of water in 5 minutes – keep in mind that boiling times vary with altitude. Commercial packaging contains 6 blocks and retails from $11 to $5.
FireDragon’s multi-cooker is a compact and reusable stove that is fuel agnostic; of course, it works best with FireDragon’s fuel blocks but you can use any conventional jell or solid fuel.
When you unbox the stove you encounter an aluminum box measuring 4.4” x 2.9” x 1.0” that also store three fuel blocks. The entire thing easily fits in a cargo pocket so it’s very compact and extremely light weight, and when you’re out in the field saving ounces counts.
Opening the stove requires no assembly or tools, you simply open the two flaps exposing a pan that will hold the ethanol jell. There’s also a wind shield that plays two roles, it protects the flame from wind and provides structural support keeping the flaps from inadvertently closing under weight.
Once fully deployed, the end result is a field expedient cooking system that is light weight, uncomplicated, multifunctional and boils water in 5 minutes. I’ll bet you could even cook up a nice river trout, some fatback and scrambled eggs using this fuel and stove.
What’s the cost? Online, about seven bucks for the stove and five bucks for the fuel. I see no reason why you should not have the FireDragon fuel and stove in your bug out bag, or in your emergency preparedness kit at home or in your vehicle. It’s like a Monet, elegance in simplicity! Get some. –SP
FOG HORN 