In 2017 UK military personnel deployed on Op CABRIT as part of the NATO eFP Baltic Shield mission were issued with new a new Operational Ration Heater & Fuel, writes Bob Morrison.
In the beginning: At the end of the last decade Cardiff-based BCB International, who had been working in conjunction with Professor Knight and Doctor Morgan of Cardiff University, unveiled a new development in the outdoor cooking fuel field. Christened FireDragon, as it burns and it’s Welsh, the experimental substance was an ethanol-based all-weather, non-toxic, biofuel gel sourced from UK-grown grain stock. Also capable of being produced in tablet form as a replacement for hexamine tablets, although originally primarily intended for civilian use in outdoor cooking stoves, FireDragon obviously had military applications too.

First produced in bottles, FireDragon fuel was soon turned into tablet form (centre) for military use [©BM]

Three fuel tablet pods can be stowed inside the heater to save space – yes, I know that is lizard camo but I did not have any dragon camo to hand [©BM]

The old UK MoD issued hexi tablets and heater (left) alongside the non-toxic FireDragon replacements [©BM]
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You will see from the video clip that the FireDragon tablet ignited as soon as the match came in contact with it, and indeed I had more trouble getting the match to light than the tablet; I deliberately used a book of low quality matches from a NATO ration pack rather than more substantial windproof matches as I wanted to show just how easy it is to light the Welsh fuel tablet compared with hexamine, for which it seems sometimes even a blow torch will only just do the job.
When issued to troops the 24-Hour Fuel Pack contains six foil-topped tubs in an easily opened package and should be issued with one of these new, more compact, field cookers. The new design has both a built-in tray to hold the fuel tablet as it liquefies and a separate windshield which clips over the base and also stiffens the wings to give a stable platform for canteen or mess tin. Instructions for using FireDragon, which is not only non-toxic but can also be used to clean hands before handling food and will even light when wet, are printed on the packaging. To find our more go to FireDragonFuel.com and to see the full range of FireDragon products click on this BCBin.com link.The video clip on this page has been truncated to stop the viewer falling asleep, but if you like watching paint dry you can see the full eleven minute sequence on our Vimeo page. FireDragon tablets are designed to bring 500mm of water from 20C to a rolling boil in five minutes and to continue for three minutes more, but in our unscientific field test a single tablet burned for ten minutes on a very blustery December day and heated the water from about 10C.
{ images and video © Bob Morrison }

Two examples, flat and folded, original and copy, of the much less substantial and sometimes prone to tipping Elbit-style hexamine fuel tablet heater found in many NATO ration packs in front of the UK ORH [©BM]

Four examples of fuel tablets from NATO ration packs with FireDragon pod at top right – though a little more bulky the Welsh fuel does not pose the same potential health dangers as hexamine [©BM]

The new UK ORH is a little less bulky than its predecessor and, filled with three fuel pods, it will easily fit in the very handy Hexi Pouch produced by Dave of BritTac [©BM]
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