Moved from Straight Forward: Wood Stove

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

I am planning on bringing a homemade wood stove on my threw hike. I kile this idea, having an infinite amount of fuel, that you don't have to carry. What are some of your thoughts on this matter? Is there any one who actually used this method on a threw hike, and did it stand op to the ware, and tare?

[kayak karl]

I am planning on bringing a homemade wood stove on my threw hike. I kile this idea, having an infinite amount of fuel, that you don't have to carry. What are some of your thoughts on this matter? Is there any one who actually used this method on a threw hike, and did it stand op to the ware, and tare?
take it on a 3 nite shakedown hike and then see if you still want to carry it.

[McKeever]

Wood stove work and have their advantages, and disadvantes....

http://www.nimblewillnomad.com/stove.htm

http://www.zzstove.com/

[JAK]

Kelly Kettle is the fastest and most efficient but you can only boil water with it. You can leave the stand home which saves weight and volume. I lost my stand and don't miss it. Even though the stand stores in the bottom it makes it just that much wider and considerably more awkward to pack. Also, you can store more stuff inside without it. Homemade hobo stoves are fun also. I think a simple traditional hobo stove is best, without fans and stuff. For cold wet weather it needs to be bigger to work well. A strong knife and small sharpening stone is worth carrying even though you can get by much of the time on sticks and bark, it is often neccessary to split and shave your way down to dry wood. It also gives you more options in chosing fuel which will have less impact. Vegetable oil can be used as a kicker. A simple alcohol stove makes a nice light backup for where wood stoves don't work so well. Have fun.

[drastic_quench]

http://www.trailstove.com/

[JAK]

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=43901&cat=2,40733,40996

[TrippinBTM]

Do it, man. I met a guy, Icarus, on the trail last year, who was doing from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin with a homemade woodstove (made from a coffee can). It worked great and convinced me of their worthiness, and have made one myself.

A couple tips:
If it's going to be rainy, collect some wood along the way before the weather hits. Tinder too.
If the tinder is wet, put it close to your skin under a jacket or shirt so your body heat will dry it out.
Wet wood? you can shave away the wet outsides and often find dry wood inside.
A little jar or tube of Vaseline is great for lighting fires. Mix it with a wad of drier lint, or even paper. Usually this is for getting a fire going when it's tricky going.
Birch bark is very flammable, good tinder.
Don't use wood that's laying flat on the ground, unless it's been dry a long time or the wood is obviously dry. Look for leaning pieces of wood.

[RichardD]

I use a ZIP Ti for some of my hikes but only when they are allowed. It worked very well for me on the Superior trail last Summer but I used a pocket Rocket on the JMT.
I am not sure if I can use the ZIP at will on all parts of the AT and I have a post on this foum to ask just that question.
As for the ZIP, it is a woodburner with a fan that runs off a AA battery. The fan makes the stove a veritable furnace. It uses twigs and once lit with the fan running produces very little smoke. Once it is lit it takes damp wood quite well and I mostly had no problems getting it lit. I carried firestarters (WalMat) but mostly used white bark and did not need starters.
Of course it is more trouble than a Pocket Rocket but I found the unlimited availability of fuel outweighed the inconvenience of collecting and breaking twigs. I particularly liked being able to heat water for a warm morning wash and backcountry shower, hot water for a hot waterbottle on cold nights and hot drinks any time I wanted. I was a lot more conservative with hot water with the cannister stove.
I found a ziploc container to carry the ZIP which eliminates the problem of my gear smelling of woodsmoke (to me that was a serious shortcoming of the stove when I first used it). I carry my cookpot in a ziploc bag for the same reason.
The single AA lasted for a week with very liberal use of the stove and would work a lot longer. A new battery after a week made a noticeable difference in the intensity of the stove.
The regular ZIP is heavy and the Titanium expensive, the Ti model was and is worth it to me.
Everyone of course is different in their needs for hot water, their tolerance for the extra effort of the ZIP and their aversion to running out of fuel. For me the ZIP is a good choice provided regulations permit it's use.

[Wise Old Owl]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/stove2006.jpgIt's the clean up of the pot afterwards that was the killer for me, if you never going to clean it and keep it in a bag - go for it. This photo was for a smaller test stove - it didn't make the final cut.

[mkmangold]

..The single AA lasted for a week with very liberal use of the stove and would work a lot longer. A new battery after a week made a noticeable difference in the intensity of the stove.

I've used the WoodGast Stove (http://www.woodgas-stove.com/) which can also run off of a solar panel which also charges NiCad and NiMH batteries. It worked fairly well until I got a suboptimal fire going and smoked IceAge and his wife right out of the shelter!

[Whiskyjo]

Just a note , If you buy a 12 pack of the non blow out birthday candles and cut them into thirds you can get a months worth of windproof fire starters for your woodstove.

[TrippinBTM]

Good tip, whiskyjo.

My homemade stove looks exactly like the top half of the stove in Wise Old Owl's pic. I put in a piece of mesh right about where the can ribbing ends (actually the ribbing holds it in) on which I light the fire. Around the bottom are some holes I punched for airflow (they look like the holes in the bottom can), so the air comes in underneath the fire. Also punched some small holes with a hole punch for inserting stakes/wire for a pot stand, as my pot is narrower than the can. Actually I store it insided the can/stove when packed up.

Simple design, and free (can came with the juice, wood is everywhere). Ok, well, not entirely free, had to buy the mesh (from a paint roller screen (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100579967&N=10000003+90072+500701))

[JAK]

I'm going to try another hobo stove this weekend I think. Too fun.

I like making them in the field. I use a small nail and my hatchet as a hammer. If you poke enough small holes you can poke out a big hole. Instead of screen and tent stakes I think I will do those things with snare wire, which might be used to hang the stove also maybe but probably not. Thing about snare wire is you don't want to poke yourself in the eye with it, so I don't think it should be overused, but if your going to carry it anyway for snaring rabbits its something that could be used to make a woodstove.

All my hobo stove so far have worked like crap but they're way fun.

[TrippinBTM]

man, I just looked at Wise Old Owl's pic again. That thing is really kickin' out the smoke... Not ventilated enough? Wet wood?

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

seens like everything around in that pic was wet from rain. I think that is a good time to test a stove.... while, or after a good rain. I am confident a home made stove would work great on the trail. I will start making some different types, and sized, and post some pictures of my progress. This weekend I am doing a good portion of the Foothills train in S.C. i WILL TRY MY FIRST HOBO STOVE ON THIS TRIP. Hope it goes well.

[SunnyWalker]

Try that Stratus Trailstove.

[Rambler]

With a wood burnier patience is the key. Patience is not always easy to find at the end of a long wet day. But, you can become proficient at fire building as you use your stove.
http://bushbuddy.ca/

An efficient stove that can be moved while working and it can sit on a wood table without consequences. It can fit into a cooking pot for storage ion your pack.

here is an example of fire building:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/556839194qbaYfz

[Bimble]

I haven't thru'd but have been using a hobo stove for years, and it has stood up to a lot of wear and tear.

I got a lot of my inspiration for the tinkering I have done with my system from this thread on another forum: (Warning: Pic heavy)

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33879

Not UL (but then neither am I) but there are some very interesting and flexible systems on there, though some have more of a basecamp focus than long distance hiking.

[JAK]

man, I just looked at Wise Old Owl's pic again. That thing is really kickin' out the smoke... Not ventilated enough? Wet wood?They will always kick out some smoke until the wood dried out some, even reasonably dry wood and birch bark. You can sometimes do a top down burn and spread the burn cycle out. That is a good strategy for a batch burn. Starting with a big batch and getting the initial burn cycle over with to get down to the good stuff and then adding sticks one at a time works good too. Kelly Kettle will belch out alot of smoke at first especially with very cold water and then burn clean and fierce especially as you approach a boil but you can minimize the early smoke some with a top down burn. Its all way fun.

[SlowLightTrek]

I just skipped the stove. Setting the grease pot which I got from endtoendtrailsupply directly on the fire works well. It will spill if you aren't careful in placing it as the fire burns. This pot is thin aluminum and seems to be holding up well to the heat. Note the ultralight coffee cup. A 1 liter gatoraid bottle with the top cut off. This is what I will use on the PCT this year with an alchohol stove for no fire sections.

[JAK]

A pot directly on a campfire works fine, but only works at fire pits. If you just want to stop and make tea or not have to clean up too much a hobbo stove or Kelly Kettle works alot faster and doesn't make such a mess. Three rocks and a small mug/pot doesn't make too much of a mess though, so you are not neccessarily restricted to established fire pits, but it is a little slower, especially in wet cold conditions. 3 rocks are a good start, if you can find them, but a small steel can is a simple improvement. Its also a good excuse to buy a big can of beans or something like that now and then, and gives you a fun project to do. I think improvising and improving hobo stoves as you go would be a fun way to go. That is enough for me to leave the Kelly Kettle home now and then. It is also fun to work with just the mug/pot and a few rocks or whatever is there though. I would like to try one of those stoves you build into the ground sometime. I've sort of done it on beaches.

[SlowLightTrek]

The photo was an established firepit. When I'm hiking I intend to dig a small hole then bury the ashes when im finished. I like your idea with the rocks. Although I've found setting the pot directly on the fire requires less of a fire.

[JAK]

What do folks think is the best mugs or pots for working with hobbo stoves and small open fires?

Pots are a little easier to heat I think, but mugs are a little easier to pack. I would like 2 mugs made from 750ml beer cans, with removable cozies and a sealable lid. Haven't figured out how to make a sealable lid, so I could use them as may water carriers also. Working on it. I would like to be able to buy a beer and make a new one on the trail also if doing a long hike with resupplies, so I would need a light tool and method for getting the lid off.

Any ideas on a sealable lid for beer can mugs/pots?

[JAK]

The photo was an established firepit. When I'm hiking I intend to dig a small hole then bury the ashes when im finished. I like your idea with the rocks. Although I've found setting the pot directly on the fire requires less of a fire.I did a small fire like that one winter and I was quite happy with it also. It took a little effort to keep the platform stable without burning away but not a big deal with practice. Easier with a wide pot than a tall mug also. I used a 2 litre pot. A small kettle would work well also. I wasn't happy with myself for burning some of the roots of the Spruce Tree I slept under but I'll try and be more careful about that next time. I think you are right that setting it right on the fire works well. It does take a little more time to get a good base over frozen ground in winter, but its nothing a few more sticks won't cure and probably better for whatever roots might be in the ground. I kick the ashes around but don't always bury them. Depends on the ground I suppose. What I like about it is that every fire is different and you adapt and learn as you go. Same is true with a Hobo or Kelly Kettle but especially true with a plain old fire and pot.

[JAK]

Something else that would be nice is a way of being able to make tea when just hiking in shorts without a daypack. The walk I have to work I almost always have my small daypack, but I sometimes go for a short walk or run without one and it is easy to carry my small knife and bic lighter in my hiking shorts but not so easy to carry a small pot. I was wondering if tinfoil would work, or maybe something a little thicker that could be folded into a small pot. Any ideas?

[Wags]

i've got a simple wood stove in my pictures if you want to look. i don't know why people build those 2 can high things - they seem unstable and unnecessary. 1 coffee can works just fine. i'm sure the bush buddy and kelly kettle work better than mine, but mine cost $0.00 b/c i already drank the coffee

materials: 1 coffee can, 1 dremel tool. i havent' timed a boil but it boils just fine. can also just keep the pot off to roast dogs or marshmallows or w/e.

instructions: crumble up some leaves or tinder in bottom. loosely load some twigs and bark in can. light a leaf on fire and stick in bottom, igniting other leaves. wait till twigs light and then set the pot on. feed pencil sized twigs in door and enjoy :D

i just keep my pot in my walmart dry bag that i use for water at camp (since the charcoal is good for teh water anyway). stove goes into a ziplock or just lashed to the outside of my pack

[JAK]

I agree the 2 cans are for draft but too impractical and unstable for my liking.
I'm not all that happy with double walls either. I think a slightly bigger can works just as well and is simpler for the same weight. I did see a good design though that involved a small can as the burner, and a large light windscreen that also did the job of holding up the pot. I liked that. The grill screen keeping the sticks off the ground seems to be a useful improvement also. The proof is in the pudding though. Its how well something works that you can and have built yourself that really matters, and half the fun is getting there. I haven't seen a homebuilt stove I didn't like, including my own attempts, which have been sad indeed.

[Mags]

PM Weary. He used a Zip stove on this thru-hike and was quite pleased with it.

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

That is why I chose to do a homemade stove. I enjoy tinkering with things, and figured by building and testing a stove my self I would have a well oiled working stove on the trail.

As for as homemade stove being time costly. I think you just need to learn to start fires properly. When done rite like in suggestions above a hobo stove cranks more BTU'S per CU. IN. then gas, or alcohol stoves. I just tested my hobo stove, and my Colman backpacker stove side by side, and my hobo stoves biol time was slightly faster then the gas stove. So I will be bringing it on a 25 mile stretch of the Foothillls trail in SC. Not the heavy Colman stove.
Thanks for all the info, and ideas they helped. I will post pictures of my version soon.

[JAK]

Wood can be very fast.
A Kelly Kettle cranks out 700ml of boiling water faster than anything.

Some days you just get it wrong though, especially when trying to get away with a small batch load, or when its really cold and you think the sticks are dry and snappy but they are really just green and frozen solid. lol

Still, a bad day with a wood stove is better than a sunny day without any fire at all.

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

So now that my hobo stove is in gear. What are some things I can do to control the ash? and with the flame melt my aluminum pot/pans? Also is seems as if pine cones make a good burning fire... would they be plentiful enough on the AT, or no?

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

I do not want ash in my food/water, and this seems to be my only problem.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I do not want ash in my food/water, and this seems to be my only problem.

Put a lid on the pot.

[Hikes in Rain]

You won't get a wood fire hot enough to endanger aluminum pots. My ancient pot is scarred by hundreds of fires, and a few well earned dents and dings, and is still going strong. Pine cones make great tinder and/or kindling, but the fierce burn makes them a little intense for simmering. If all you want to do is bring water to a boil, though, they're great. Quick hot flare of heat, then collapse into glowing ash and go out.

Don't worry about the inevitable bit of ash that will float into the pot. Won't hurt you, and adds a bit of smokey flavor.

[Rockhound]

I use a wood stove whenever I hike. It's called a Bic lighter. Very light, fits easily into a pack or pocket and no need to continually spend $ on fuel. Just .99 cents every couple months or so.

[Rockhound]

Overall I have found people tend to make things a lot more difficult and/or expensive than they need to be. A lighter and a cook pot is all that is needed to eat like a king on the trail. Buy a Jet boil and you have just incurred a lifelong expense of replacing fuel canisters that will just take up space in landfills. People that whine about the difficulty of starting fires each night/morning are either inept or uninformed. It takes just a minute to build a small cook fire. At night there is usually a fire anyway and the morning I simply light the few twigs I set aside the night before. Easy peezy.

[JAK]

There are very simple improvements you can make to a small cookfire, but how important it is to do so depends alot on the time of year, what the ground is like, what your fuel options are like, how wet and cold it is. By buying a steel can now and then, and making a hobo stove out of it, you can save some time and use less fuel. If it is cold and wet and you are cold and wet and tired and good fuel is scarce then having the right hobo stove, and a decent blade of some sort, that can make all the difference between misery and comfort.

So not so easy peezy. Learning how to make and use a hobo stove is a noble endeavour.
Making a simple cookfire is also, but isn't always the best choice. Also, sometimes a small alcohol stove is a better option. Small wicked vegetable oil burners are fun to play around with also. Jute twine makes a good wick for a small vegetable oil burner. It will still smoke some if you want to boil water, but no more so than wood. A good option if you are stuck someplace without enough good stuff around. Even in the woods it can be tough in someplaces when everything is wet and frozen if you just want a quick cup of hot tea.

[TrippinBTM]

Pine cones make great tinder and/or kindling, but the fierce burn makes them a little intense for simmering. If all you want to do is bring water to a boil, though, they're great. Quick hot flare of heat, then collapse into glowing ash and go out.

Don't worry about the inevitable bit of ash that will float into the pot. Won't hurt you, and adds a bit of smokey flavor.


true. But I have a question. Do they, being as sappy as they are, produce a lot of soot? I'm new to this woodfire cooking, but am becoming an enthusiast. I just haven't got the personal experience yet on the way different woods burn.

Also, the ash isn't bad for you. Can be used for toothpaste, even. Besides the abrasive qualities, the alkaline nature of it helps kill the germs, which like most diseases favor acidic conditions.

[JAK]

Most of the pine cones up here don't seem to burn as well as I have heard they do further south or other places. Best fuel up here in New Brunswick, and I would say Maine, is White Birch Bark for tinder/kindling, and Spruce Sticks snapped dead off trees for kindling/fuel. Birch Bark will not burn as clean or as long as spruce sticks, but will start easier and get the rest burning. Either can be used alone but the combination is better. Anoter alternative is Eastern Cedar and other evergreens, if snappy, but is usually not as dry as Spruce Sticks.

In high traffic areas and wet areas where you may not be able to or may not want to take bark chunks or dead branches from living trees, it is often neccessary to split your way into the dry inner wood of deadwood. For this just about any hardwoods and softwood will do but you will want to be carrying a decent blade of some sort.

Beeswax or Vegetable oil works well as a kicker if you have no birchbark and your wood sticks are not quite as dry as you might like them to be, which usually means you will need more fuel and also more to get and keep it going. Jute twine is a good thing to carry as a cheap biodegradable lashing material and makes a great tinder or wick with vegetable oil. If you can still find some good quality jute twine it could be used for you tarps and shoe laces too I suppose. That stuff is hard to find now, as synthetics really are better for that purpose.

[JAK]

In addition to toothpaste, I understand you can make baking soda for baking bread out of the ash from wood, which is potash. It should be white ash, from clean hardwood, and so you pick out the charcoal bits. I think you need to soak it some to get rid of some of the lye. The lye is used for making soap, by mixing with oil and fat, so that leads me to think that a little ash sprinkled on you hair or on your skin would mix with your own oils and help with bathing. Again, I think you want to be careful and maybe get some or most of the lye out first, or use the ash very sparingly. Maybe for washing sweaters and other clothing also, but I think plain water does most of the work, for people or clothes, and especially so if it is boiling hot for underwear and socks. Best not to do socks and underwear at the same time though, as you can get atheletes foot in the crotch that way.

Anyhow, big advantage of small wood stoves is you can make lots of very hot water,
and thus keep yourself and your clothes clean, and dry, without carrying any extra clothing.

[Hikes in Rain]

I've also stirred a little clean hardwood ash into greasy skillets from time to time, to make a crude but effective soap.

The pine cones I've burned do tend to put out a pretty sooty smoke, which will coat your pot. If you rub a bit of liquid soap on the outside of your pot, it'll pretty much wash right off. I never bothered to do so, under the theory that it's going right back into the fire again at some point, and the blackening helps heat absorption.

Man is the only animal we know that can rationalize.

[JAK]

I've never made soap but my cool landlady in college made it from bacon fat and lye.
She wasn't a hippy she was actually a pioneer that moved with her family to Fredericton off Heron Island back in the 1930s, and continued the way she was brought up. Cool eh.

Question. How long does it take for some saponification to happen.
It sounds form Hikes In Rain, it is practical even during a hike in small batches.
Way cool. I'll have to stop yapping and actually try some of this ****. lol

The thickest black coating I ever got on a pot was birch bark with olive oil.
So if you ever need black paint that is one way to go. lol

I agree its better to leave the soot on, but also to try and minimize it with cleaner burns.

[Hikes in Rain]

Happened in just a few minutes for me. Probably incomplete conversion, but good enough to clean the pan, which was what I was after. I think I learned it in Kephart's Camping and Woodcraft, or maybe the Foxfire books. (Maybe both!) Lye used to be made back in pioneer homesteads by pouring rainwater through a barrel of ashes. I wonder at the quality control for the strength, but I bet experience would help a lot.

[JAK]

Neat. I'll have to try it.

Yes I understood they make lye that way. I sort of have an amateur interest in homesteading also, and in theory you can make all the fertilizer you need for growing your own food buy using urine for nitrogen, wood ash for potassium, and bone ash for phosphorus. So a small wood stove could double as a factory for making potash and bone ash. Another trick would be to use rainwater for the water used for hot water. By being gravity feed it would make solar and wood heating easier. Also, by being rainwater, it would be soft enough that you wouldn't need as much soap. Finally, to go full circle, if the soap was homemade and more gentle and less of it you could more easily recycle you greywater for your vegetable growing etc.

[Hikes in Rain]

I have a lot of interest in it, as well, but I'm not sure I'd really like to live like that. Shee, that's like real work! I have made some home modifications to utilize more sustainable technology. Downspouts are rerouted to rain barrels or plant beds. (Made a couple of neat dry stream beds to prevent erosion, spread out the flow, and in general look cool) Various yard lighting is solar. Grey water is rerouted for fertilization. Little things like that.

But carving my own homestead out of the wilderness and making everything I need? That'd be tough. I'd rather read about it. And if I have to do it for real some day, I at least have a book knowledge of how things work. Who knows, I may be whisked away to an unpopulated paradise of a planet somewhere. (It could happen)

Ebay is a great source for old books like that, except for the whole getting outbid because I'm cheap thing. Met a fellow who may well be one of those guys, at Peck's Corner shelter in the Smokies. Nice guy, hiking with his father. Told me they had money, and the books are for his kids, so he didn't care what they cost. We agreed he was likely one of the "enemy". :-)

[JAK]

Sounds like your doing alot. I am somewhat constrained by being within a city, but there is still stuff worth doing, and its always fun to think about. I find thinking about homesteading mixes really well with my thinking about hiking, and some actual doing now and then, in moderation of course. lol

If I ever homestead it would be really small and simple, and would likely have to be as it would be after retirement, and I am currently on the Freedom 75 plan. Again I think it would go very well with a recreational hiking lifestyle. A place to live between hikes. I need to be on the water though, with access to the ocean, as my other passion is sailing and kayaking. That limits things some, but not much. I'm looking at some beachfront property that might be opening up in Labrador after Global Warming.

Most of the stuff I have planned my have to wait for another lifetime.
I figure I might at least start the planning now. Why be lazy eh?

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

I use a wood stove whenever I hike. It's called a Bic lighter. Very light, fits easily into a pack or pocket and no need to continually spend $ on fuel. Just .99 cents every couple months or so.


I don't think cutting up a tin can is very complicated, and I think every hiker/backpacker has a lighter. Also that is what this thread is about " WOOD STOVES!! " We all like the idea of not spending money on fuel.

You fail.....

[astrogirl]

I use a bushbuddy ultra, and I do like it but...

Be patient with it. Once your wood stove is going, you can keep it going practically forever.

Practice with it.

Have a backup plan (a fuel tab or something) in case you screw up and must use wet fuel.

It's fussy to get going, and it attracts too much attention from other hikers, but every time I think about going back to a stove that requires fuel, I just...don't.

[JAK]

That's one thing I don't like about a Kelly Kettle is that you can only use it with water in it. You can't keep it going for a warming fire. You can make water for coffee or tea and then another batch for a meal and then maybe even another for hot water bottles but if you want to stop heating up water and dry out some socks or warm your hands you have to remove the Kelly Kettle and work from the ashes. You have a pretty good start for that though even after just one fire if some of the sticks you added were thick enough. The base that comes with it is aluminum, and it will melt if you build a big fire on it, so I eventually learned to just leave it home. I might use a hobo can as a base so after I remove the Kelly Kettle I can keep the hobo can going for a little more efficiency.

Not sure of best hobo stove design for throwing heat and you. The type with a vee opening on one side might be best for that. Another idea might be steel or titanium windscreen type pot holder that can be varied in diameter and even opened up into a reflector.

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

I use a bushbuddy ultra, and I do like it but...

Be patient with it. Once your wood stove is going, you can keep it going practically forever.

Practice with it.

Have a backup plan (a fuel tab or something) in case you screw up and must use wet fuel.

It's fussy to get going, and it attracts too much attention from other hikers, but every time I think about going back to a stove that requires fuel, I just...don't.

I have seen all kinds of fuel tabs in the outfitting store. What is the best one.?

[brawny]

seens like everything around in that pic was wet from rain. I think that is a good time to test a stove.... while, or after a good rain. I am confident a home made stove would work great on the trail. I will start making some different types, and sized, and post some pictures of my progress. This weekend I am doing a good portion of the Foothills train in S.C. i WILL TRY MY FIRST HOBO STOVE ON THIS TRIP. Hope it goes well.

Hey Jeremy, we just got back from the Foothills, and I had my hobo stove with me. Check out my video on youtube,
www.youtube.com/user/brawny03
for how to make one, test one. We had 2 days pretty, 2 days rain, so it really got tested. A great fire starter is cotton balls with petroleum jelly smeared on. Then choose your fuel from that which is not on the ground, but dead, hung up branches.
I loved the endless hot water, but, you do smell like smoke, along with anyone else in the drift pattern.


Good luck
Brawny

[Farr Away]

Another good fire starter is the alcohol gel hand sanitizer.

[astrogirl]

Well, if you want to be able to boil a pint of water *without* wood, the Esbit tabs will do that. I carry a few Coglan's tabs which are about the size of a penny and maybe 1cm high.

And as far as smelling like wood smoke? It beats the heck out of hiker funk!

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

Yes I have heard of using hand sanitizer. I have never actually tried it though. I agree with astrogirl about smelling like smoke. I would rather smell smoke then my gear, or me!!!

My foot hills trip was a great one Other then my camera battery dying.
The hobo stove worked great.

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

Ok I have fashioned my first stove, and it is working great. I first cur off the top, and bottom. The a large hole for loading wood into, and another small hole in back for better circulation. I also cut three sections on the bottom, and then folded them inward, so that it stands like a tripod, and it gives me something to stack kindling on.

Let me know what you think, and if ther is anything I can do to make a better one, or make this one better. :banana:banana

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/2/1/9/3/4/img_0161_thumb.jpg (http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=33118&c=694)

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

What do folks think is the best mugs or pots for working with hobbo stoves and small open fires?

Pots are a little easier to heat I think, but mugs are a little easier to pack. I would like 2 mugs made from 750ml beer cans, with removable cozies and a sealable lid. Haven't figured out how to make a sealable lid, so I could use them as may water carriers also. Working on it. I would like to be able to buy a beer and make a new one on the trail also if doing a long hike with resupplies, so I would need a light tool and method for getting the lid off.

Any ideas on a sealable lid for beer can mugs/pots?


Jak try to cut the top off a can just under the top lip. If done rite you can actually take the top off by pulling up on the tab. Note this will not be water proof, and will have to be used for cooking only.

I have tried this with a Heineken beer keg can. It works great, and makes a good pot. :banana:banana:banana

[JAK]

Project I have in the works is a Fosters Beer can with lid cut off and the top of a PET Helmann's Mayonaisse Bottle. The fit is good. Working out how to epoxy and shrink fit it on. End result should be a < 2 oz sealable heatable water carrier mug/pot.

[SlowLightTrek]

Anyone know if wood stoves are legal in fire restriction zones?

[Jeremy from FL AKA?]

Anyone know if wood stoves are legal in fire restriction zones?


No you can not have a wood stove in fire restriction zones. Bring an alcohol stove for those miles. :banana:banana:banana:banana:banana

[JAK]

If I did a thru-hike I would bring along something like an ION stove to use when wood isn't safe to use or isn't permitted. If I am not sure what bans are in effect I will impose my own if conditions are dry enough, or if fuel in a location is too scarce. I've messed around using my ION stove with jute fibre as a wick using vegetable oil as fuel. It is much slower than alcohol, but would work if I couldn't use wood and was out of alcohol. Fun to try. As safe as alcohol because you can't get sparks like you can with a Kelly Kettle. You don't get alot of sparks with a Kelly Kettle or Hobo stove, but you can get some, and it only takes one if conditions are dry enough.

[weary]

If I did a thru-hike I would bring along something like an ION stove to use when wood isn't safe to use or isn't permitted. If I am not sure what bans are in effect I will impose my own if conditions are dry enough, or if fuel in a location is too scarce. I've messed around using my ION stove with jute fibre as a wick using vegetable oil as fuel. It is much slower than alcohol, but would work if I couldn't use wood and was out of alcohol. Fun to try. As safe as alcohol because you can't get sparks like you can with a Kelly Kettle. You don't get alot of sparks with a Kelly Kettle or Hobo stove, but you can get some, and it only takes one if conditions are dry enough.
I wouldn't worry about a wood fired stove not being permitted. I used a Zip all 2,000 miles in 1993. No one ever questioned it. A lot of people borrowed my hot water supply. ( Yup. Occasionally on rainly days I borrowed a bit from others)

Weary

[zelph]

I recently made this wood burner. I used a DIY welder made from plans gotten from Mother Earth News magazine. I was really interested to see how the welder would work on light gauge stainless steel. First test has proved favorable. It has several moving pieces but they are all attached permanently. Total weight came to 6oz. Same type of stove could be made with pop rivets and hinges. You could make it with only three sides.

It's made of stainless steel. Weighs 4 oz.
I used .006 stainless shim stock off a 6" wide roll.
I fabricated the hinges and welded them to the body. The hinge pins are stainless steel rod.
8 inches tall X 5 inches wide/square. and collapses to less that 1/4" thick.
It's just one piece. Has 1" rectangular openings all around top and bottom.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/th_sockmonkeyday071.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/?action=view&current=sockmonkeyday071.jpg)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/th_sockmonkeyday070.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/?action=view&current=sockmonkeyday070.jpg)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/th_sockmonkeyday069.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/?action=view&current=sockmonkeyday069.jpg)
Here is a video to see how it's made.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/th_Compakwoodburner.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/?action=view&current=Compakwoodburner.flv)


I did an up-grade. Used stainless steel parts. Stove still remains one piece.
I added a .003 stainless eco friendly soil protection sheet. I fabricated a stainless grate with little retainer arm that holds grate to opposit wall. I added two cross over bars to the top for added stability and for smaller pot diameters and small game or fish.
This was a good excercise for future designs. I now know what to incorporate into the next one.
The up-grade brought the weight up to 6 oz.
All pieces are attached, no loose parts. Still folds into a compact unit.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/th_Video9.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/?action=view&current=Video9.flv)

[Wise Old Owl]

Just a note , If you buy a 12 pack of the non blow out birthday candles and cut them into thirds you can get a months worth of windproof fire starters for your woodstove.

After all the years of reading posts this really stood out as something that should be adopted by all instead of vasaline balls of cotton. Great Idea!

[vthiker]

I've been looking at wood stoves for a while, and I've made a few...but this one has been the best performer by far:

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/44292/2195746700099656796S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb54.webshots.com/44149/2530429860099656796S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb03.webshots.com/33026/2069696320099656796S500x500Q85.jpg

It boiled 3 cups of water in the 24oz Heine can in 7 minutes.
The stove is a 28 oz McCann's Oatmeal container. There is a wire mesh grate inside the can at the top point of the can opener holes. The points of the upper can opener holes are what holds the pot up. The whole thing took 20 minutes to make.:cool: and nested together the package weighs 8 oz and is 7" high and 4" in diameter.

I'm sure I saw this design somewhere on the internet, but I couldn't say where at this point.

[Wags]

i like my woodstove b/c i can stick my spam on a stick and seer it while i'm waiting for my water to boil. or a hotdog or 3 if i buy a pack in town

[mister krabs]

The points of the upper can opener holes are what holds the pot up. The whole thing took 20 minutes to make.:cool: and nested together the package weighs 8 oz and is 7" high and 4" in diameter.



It looks like you have to bend the potholder points down to make it nest, is that so? Think they will fatigue out quickly?

[vthiker]

The can is steel, and they seem to take the bending really well so far.

I imagine they will fail someday, but I can use a couple tent stakes if that happens on the trail, and then make a new one when I get home.:)

I like the McCann's Oatmeal, so I should have a good backstock of "stoves" when that happens.:D

[mister krabs]

The can is steel, and they seem to take the bending really well so far.

I imagine they will fail someday, but I can use a couple tent stakes if that happens on the trail, and then make a new one when I get home.:)

I like the McCann's Oatmeal, so I should have a good backstock of "stoves" when that happens.:D

Yup, nothing like real oatmeal, my kids won't even eat instant. Lately I've been buying silver palate (http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=127573&prrfnbr=149678), but it comes in a box. I might need to change to mccann's.

[calculating infinity]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=14765

used this as an outline for mine and it works great!