View Full Version : Wood Stoves
I see all this talk about alcohol stoves, doesn't anyone use wood burning stoves?
I built a groovy little hobo stove out of a soup can and I works like a charm. It even has a raised burner made from coathangar pieces. It is a thing of beauty. It's lightweight, and I even carry some cut down firestarter sticks with me in case of wet fuel, etc. The overall weight is less than the alcohol stove and fuel. I've used it 3 times now with no problems.
Am I missing something?
TJ aka Teej
01-19-2005, 17:28
Zip made a rather smokey wood burner with a battery powered fan that was popular a while back. I used a borrowed one for a while, but gave it back and didn't buy one myself. Too smokey, too sooty. They make a lightweight version now. For DIYer's there's Nimblewill Nomad's design (no fan, you do the blowing). Thru-hiker.com has several DIY gear projects. Here's a link to Eb's stove:
http://www.thru-hiker.com/workshop.asp?subcat=2&cid=9
Nope, you're not missing anything. Whatever gets your water to a boil is good - if you're happy with it. I used a Zip stove for a couple of years and liked it very much before moving on to a Kelly kettle. My most recent stove is an alcohol burner by Brasslite which I used on my IAT thru hike last summer. But I still like to use the wood burners frequently. There is something about all that free fuel that turns my crank. I love that because I am not concerned with exhausting a limited fuel supply, I always have lots of surplus hot water. Smoky and sooty? - Of course - it's a wood stove, but I have found that this is a very manageable problem.
They don't leave much of a foot print either. Once, in my Zip days, a pair of female hikers who had been hiking a day or so behind me, asked me if I had an explanation for the remains of the really tiny campfires they had been finding along the trail. Beside the miniscule patches of fine ashes there would often be a teensy (their word) pile of firewood and kindling. It was like the squirrels or a bunch of six inch tall men (pixies I guess) were having a series of little bonfires. I didn't have the heart to tell them it was me, and to those girls the woods and beaches of Cape Chignecto Nova Scotia will always be just a little more mysterious.
The creation of trail myths aside, - if your wood burner works for you, go for it.
Cheers,
PKH
Mountain Dew
01-20-2005, 02:35
Applejack thru-hiked with a zip wood burning stove in 2003. He loved it. If it was raining he'd carry just enough small tender to start his fire once he was ready to use it later.
Applejack thru-hiked with a zip wood burning stove in 2003. He loved it. If it was raining he'd carry just enough small tender to start his fire once he was ready to use it later.
I've used a Zip Stove for the past 20 years or so, including my walk home from Georgia in 1993. I used the original version, powered by a C battery controlled by an awkward wire switch until a year or so ago, when I bought the new version with a two speed electrical switch. I still own a Whisperlight, but only use it these days when camping at Chimney Pond in Baxter Park, the only place I know where use of the Zip is banned.
Soot has never been a problem for me. I just keep my pot in a plastic bag from a grocery store and get a new one with every town stop. I like to do real cooking on the trail -- such things as regular rice (20-minutes of simmering) and even 40 minute brown rice or dried beans and peas. The Zip is ideal for such cooking. Just bring things to a rolling boil and turn off the fan.
Wood is free and always available. And the smoke keeps mosquitoes and black flies at bay.
Tip: The unethical can save weight by not carrying any stove into Chimney Pond. When you arrive just ask if it's okay to use a Zip Stove. The ranger will say no and deliver a canister-powered stove for you to use. No. Before a chorus of condemnation rains down on me, I've never tried this technique, I've just thought it would work for at least the first couple of trips to Chimney Pond. After that they may remember you.
Weary
SGT Rock
01-20-2005, 11:08
A zip stove would be really a good idea on a cold/wet weather hike since once started, they can burn most anything. Instead of spending a long time trying to get a fire going and then trying to build up the heat for a good campfire, you can light one of these up even under the overhang of a shelter and enjoy the small fire while you cook. I just wish they would make a decent one under a pound that didn't cost $150.
Footslogger
01-20-2005, 11:21
A zip stove would be really a good idea on a cold/wet weather hike since once started, they can burn most anything. Instead of spending a long time trying to get a fire going and then trying to build up the heat for a good campfire, you can light one of these up even under the overhang of a shelter and enjoy the small fire while you cook. I just wish they would make a decent one under a pound that didn't cost $150.===================================
Yeah ...me too Rock. Of course, it would have to run on AAA batteries.
'Slogger
Footslogger
01-20-2005, 11:24
Hey Rock ...have you ever seen this model ??
http://wings.interfree.it/html/johno.html
'Slogger
SGT Rock
01-20-2005, 11:28
Yes I have seen it. I even did this once: http://hikinghq.net/sgt_stove/sgt_stove1.html
I gave it up since it was too small for a good wood stove, but the idea is still valid.
I just wish they would make a decent one under a pound that didn't cost $150.
The basic Zip costs $52 from the manufacturer. It weighs a half ounce or so over a pound on my postal scales. The 10 ounce titanium sells for $125. The weight savings is only partly because of the metal. The titanium has a smaller fire box. I think the alumnum version could use a larger fire box for the kind of trail cooking I do, so I've never been tempted to spend an extra $75 to save 6 ounces.
Weary
The Old Fhart
01-20-2005, 12:08
SGT Rock-"I gave it up since it was too small for a good wood stove.........." Hey, Rock, would this stove, woodburning, M1941 be big enough? Check this (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=588&item=6506726757&rd=1) out! :)
SGT Rock
01-20-2005, 12:17
LOL, a little too big for solo, but maybe if I were hiking with someone else or a group we could split the weight. Seems like there was a company that was making a sil-nylon teepee design that included a wood stove for ultralight group campers in winter...
About the Zip Stove, I tested it at 19.8 ounces without batteries (http://hikinghq.net/stoves/zip.html). The Ti model at $125 is still too steep for me, besides, looking at the construction I think I could probably make one from metal and pop rivets at the house. Maybe even using some gutter flashing or something for the outer wall to save weight. I am very hapy with alcohol which is a lot lighter and is a lot easier to build, but my last hike I would have loved to have a portable fire place.
art to linda
01-20-2005, 15:06
That's some stove! Think I'll stick with my little home made wood burner though, that one would take up just a wee bit to much room in the pack :)
Mountain Dew
01-20-2005, 16:30
Weary....good post. The only time I took exception to Applejacks wood stove was when he smoked the entire shelter out when he cooked in it during a rain. Oh well....Goodtimes........
Go here "Wood Burning Stove Tips & Experiences" on WB to read about the woodburners. Lots of great tips here.