Re: [MV] Heater, Immersion, Liquid Fuel Fired

From: Jim Rice (majrice@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Nov 19 2000 - 11:18:47 PST

Immersion heaters are almost a relic from the past.....gone the way of the
mess kit, which they supported.

The immersion heater was used to heat large trash cans full of water. There
was a series of three or four (I don't recall) cans. When you finished
eating from your mess kit, you went to the cleaning station. You simply
scrapped any remaining food into a regular trash bin. Then you dipped your
messkit, with canteen cup, fork, knife, spoon all dangling from the handle
of the mess kit into the can of very hot (if not boiling water). Typically,
a large brush (same type the army used for cleaing toilets, go figure) was
available to give the kit a quick, cursory scrub. You then progressed to a
second and third (and I think a fourth) station of hot/boiling water. By
the time you completed all the stations, you had a clean/sanitized messkit
with very little effort.

Of course, most kids in the Army today have never eaten from a messkit. The
messhalls use paper/plastic products exclusively. I think the last time I
ate from a mess kit and used a line of immersion heaters at a messhall was
in 1983 at Fort Devens, Mass.

About the only other use I've seen for immersion heaters since was to clean
gasmasks. Again, the same concept applies. Several stations of dipping
results in a clean mask.....of course, all filters, valves and other
removable parts were taken out first.

Hope this helps.

Jim Rice
Immersion Heater Owner....never used.

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