I located a stash of original Swedish Army Kåsa Cups being sold by a company in Finland. The price was quite good, so I picked one up. Now I have an original to display with my Swedish kits, and a new Wildo cup for field use. The best of both worlds.
Here is a link to the original posting about the Wildo cups:
https://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2019/06/new-swedish-mess-kit-kasa-cup-and-fold.html
Let's take a look at the original Swedish issued cup and then we'll do a side-by-side comparison with the Wildo cup.
The original Swedish issue cup is made of a very hard plastic, in an olive drab color, with a smooth finish.
The cup is marked on the underside of the handle with the Swedish Three Crowns, the manufacturer's name, and the numeral 10.
The company name is STELLANA LAXA.
The cup is designed to fit inside the Swedish Mess Kit.
When the original cup is compared to the new-made, Wildo cup, there are a few obvious differences.
The first difference is the color. The Original is an olive green color, and the new Wildo cup is more of a evergreen green color.
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| Wildo cup on left, Original on right. |
The plastic is rigid and hard on the original, and softer and flexible on the Wildo cup.
The bottom of the original is quite rounded, with a slight flat area in the center. The Wildo cup has a larger flat area. Between the two, the new Wildo cup is much more stable when sitting on a flat surface.
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| Wildo cup on left, Original on right. |
Of course the names and stamp marking as different as well.
I think for everyday, modern bushcraft, or camping uses, I would have to choose the new Wildo cup. It is made from BPA free plastic, and is slightly flexible, both positive attributes. Another big plus is the fact that the Wildo cup has a flatter bottom, making it more stable when sitting on its own. Other than that, they are both very similar, and you wouldn't be disappointed either way!
Let's take a look at the cups, side-by-side. Just to re-cap, the Original Swedish Cup is olive, and the new Wildo cup is evergreen. Here they are.
I have loved these Swedish Army mess kit cups for years. Perfect design engineering, very Swedish. There are several manufacturers but most are Stellana, Laxa - Laxå is a town in Sweden and Stellana is still around - https://stellana.com/plant-locations/stellana-ab/
ReplyDeleteThe cups have a number which may be a run number. There are other company logos on the cups and some are not matt but shiny plastic and less flexible though the matt ones are not all that flexible. The shiny ones are marked PP or BK, must be company names. But most of the ones I have bought, probably over a hundred, were Stellana. Maybe 10% are glass plastic. They are all great.
There is another 3 crown Swedish Army mess kit cup with a squared handle, I believe was made for use with the Jägarkök
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