For anyone considering using wood for stove fuel

[Treefingers]

i feel like many people discourage foraging for wood fuel for your stove. it is the oldest method of creating a heat source for cooking. it can be quite efficient (around 7 minute boils in moderate humidity conditions) and works great when paired with a pot cozy to finish hydrating you meals. there are downsides with every fuel source but wood stoves are just as viable means to cook food as any other fuel set up for cooking

with the proper tinder and kindle foraging skills you can find enough dry fuel to boil water in any conditions as far as Im concerned. you can usually find it right on the trail while your walking and collect it while you hike during the day. evergreens always have dry tinder and kindling underneath the lower boughs that often has some sap on the larger kindling to help with your fire. pair this with a wad of toilet paper and you have your fire starter now all you need is a handful of finger sized pieces of wood. in the winter when there is snow on the ground and the humidity is low, all the dry wood that is deadfall is sticking up out of the snow at underbrush hight on the forest floor and because the deadfall branches are sticking up vertically often, there is a low surface area for snow to accumulate on. and during wetter months it is really not difficult to find a handful of dry sticks during the whole course of the day. yes you will be carrying the weight of your fuel each day, but it is less than carryigg muliple canisters or a weeks worth of alcohol. i am a big fan of wood stoves because fuel is everywhere and it is a cheap and viable method to cook with anywhere there isnt a fire ban. and one last thing to note is that on a long distance hike, you often are forced to purchase more fuel than your carrying capacity and you often wind up leaving costly fuel behind. good luck and i hope some of you looking into this option dive in and enjoy the many rewards of using wood for your stove fuel.

happy trails
treefingers

[Mountain Wildman]

I'm with you.
Littlbug Junior 5.1 ounces.
Uses finger size wood or alcohol stove.

[Wise Old Owl]

Treefingers, this is the internet, anything can happen-the average hiker doesn't have the skills to do the work necessary to gather wood 1/2 and less in big piles to get a wood stove going.. I have watched many a scout.... fail. Even dutch oven works better on 1/2 inch fuel. Some won't even carry a reasonable knife to clean off the bark for dry starter. So perhaps you are barking up a wrong tree? I think not. Its a skill that most are not willing to learn, It takes a utube.. a soaped pot and a clear need to share your skill with others. It's going to take a little time..

[Treefingers]

how big is that stove? will it fit inside any one man pots? im trying to find a wood stove to fit in my MSR titan kettle, i have seen the new evernew multi fuel stoves coming out and they look well designed, albeit, expensive, but i have yet to measure to see if it will fit in the kettle

[Treefingers]

being in the boy scouts when i was younger, my experience was one where most scouts didn't embody survival skills as much running around the woods barely supervised playing with boot knifes and spears. also, i have never needed to utilize a knife to find supplies to make a fire starter. AND on top of that you dont need a big pile of wood to get a a pot of boiling water, probably more like a handful of each, tinder, kindling, and fuel. nobody is born with these skills, but they must be put into practice in many differet sets of variables and conditions too feel secure in your abilities. finally, nobody can learn these skills without trial by fire, all puns intended. please dont discourage the brave and the willing to learn.

happy trails
treefingers

Treefingers, this is the internet, anything can happen-the average hiker doesn't have the skills to do the work necessary to gather wood 1/2 and less in big piles to get a wood stove going.. I have watched many a scout.... fail. Even dutch oven works better on 1/2 inch fuel. Some won't even carry a reasonable knife to clean off the bark for dry starter. So perhaps you are barking up a wrong tree? I think not. Its a skill that most are not willing to learn, It takes a utube.. a soaped pot and a clear need to share your skill with others. It's going to take a little time..

[Grinder]

I am carrying a hobo stove which fits inside my pot on this years section hike. I also will carry an alcohol stove.

The plan is, when I feel like fiddling, I'll use wood, otherwise it's alcohol.

I don't understand why many feel the need for Gasification. My hobo stove burns hot with finger sized twigs. I haven't even bothered with a grate. I just stand the twigs on end. It weighs 2 1/2 oz.

[Mrs Baggins]

If you read Rodale's 2 volume set on the stories of hiking the AT....most of those stories take place in the years before there was any "backpacking" gear as we know it. Those hikers often carried heavy wood framed packs, flannel sleeping bags, full sized coats, wore denim jeans,cotton shirts or flannel shirts, and leather work boots and they pretty much all burned wood to cook. And they all enjoyed their hikes. We just bought a Zip stove because my husband hiked in the Sierras with a relative last June who used one and he fell in love with it. The relative has never used any kind of gas or liquid fuel stove, no Esbit tablets....just twigs and moss and he's never not had a nice hot meal and hot drink using it. We did buy the titanium one and as soon as we get out there again this year we'll let you know how it went.

[Nevermind]

I mean I want to be in nature but I don't want to have to touch it. Nature doesn't have to be natural.

To be serious though, I would say people (including me) use gas stoves for convenience. It's a pretty "sure-fire" way to get things cookin' quickly and easily. But like you said, it's pretty easy to pick up a few pieces of dry wood during the day and light em up at night... Maybe a gas stove is for peace of mind (not concerned about finding tinder, what if I can't find any?!?!).

Your original point, though, was that people shouldn't be so disparaging towards wood stoves. I absolutely agree. I've used em before and love em.

[Mountain Wildman]

how big is that stove? will it fit inside any one man pots? im trying to find a wood stove to fit in my MSR titan kettle, i have seen the new evernew multi fuel stoves coming out and they look well designed, albeit, expensive, but i have yet to measure to see if it will fit in the kettle

The Littlbug junior is 5 1/2 X 6 when assembled, It breaks down to 4 pieces plus a flame regulater for alcohol stoves and it has a crescent moon shape.
Don't think it will in a Titan but not sure, Check their site if you are interested.
http://www.littlbug.com/index.htm

[JJJ]

I'm thinking about it.

Over the years car camping, we've always just cooked in a fire pit.
Last year, I made a little alcohol stove and used it on a couple of short trips.
I like it, but re-suppling for a long trip seems it might be just one more thing to deal with. Maybe it's not that biga deal.
Hobo's may be the way to go, but I thought I'd make a Nimblewill and give it a try.
Ever use it?

[zelph]

When you wood guys get time, make a small volcano stove like the one in the video link

When you view the video there is also a video response that shows the stove burning some fuel.

The pot support removes and wraps around the body of the stove.

Backpacking size wood burner.

[Slo-go'en]

Wood stoves are fun, though a little messy. Its a very good idea to have a back up alky stove too, as there will be times when a wood stove isn't practical, like cooking in a shelter during a rain storm or your in a hurry, as a wood stove is somewhat more work and time consuming.

Finding wood to burn along the AT is a non issue. Any shelter with a fire ring has pleanty of little sticks laying around, many of which end up under the shelter roof and stay dry. It would take a lot of hikers making a lot of big fires on the AT to use up all the wood which falls down from trees every winter!

I used a zip stove on a month long trip into the Canadian Rockies and not having to deal with liquid fuel was a big plus. This was back when white gas ruled and you pretty much had to carry the full months supply.

[tuswm]

Here is my question? If you are going to go to the trouble of making a fire why not just prop the cooking pot on a few rocks? why carry the extra weight? why not just go stoveless? I was thinking about carrying a stove as a back up or for cooking (not boiling water) and cooking in fire pits. I do this now just to save fuel.

Question for NOBO thru hikers: From what I understand is you guys tend to have trail family's and often get to shelters with other hikers. How often do you get to camp to find a fire already going? Is it bad etiquette to just go cook on it?

[sparky2000]

The answer to the "uze others fire?' is a definate mabe.

[Slo-go'en]

Sure, you can make a fire between some small rocks. I ran into a guy doing that on the Long Trail (and in the middle of the trail) while I was a GMC caretaker. I was about to say something when I realised it was just a tiny cooking fire. He was pretty good at.

However, using a wood stove is much easier than cooking on an open fire and more effiecent. Plus it's contained, you don't have to distrube or scorch the ground, don't have to look for suitable rocks, etc, etc. And it's a lot easier to get going if you do need to use it in the rain.

[tuswm]

I just made one to fit on the inside of my solo pot with room for alcohol and a small red bull contraption.

My first try made a lot of smoke and a lot of sap on the bottom of the cooking pot. I put the pot on before there was any embers. are you supposed to wait till there are embers? It also heated the water real slowly.

Also if I keep this in my cooking pot will the taste / smell get into my food. this seams like a lot of soot. I never had this much mess on an open fire. Ill try again after dinner.

[Treefingers]

hobo stoves maybe more efficient and the gassification issue also comes into play though i do not know a whole lot about it. it seems most thru hikers are lazy about building campfires, as i dont see one at most shelters unless there is an abundance of wood right at the hut. i try to make a camp fire at most places i stay and i enjoy the smell heat and enjoymet of watching one. in no way is it bad etiquette to throw a pot on a campfire to cook yourself a meal as far as im concerned. nobody owns a campfire

Here is my question? If you are going to go to the trouble of making a fire why not just prop the cooking pot on a few rocks? why carry the extra weight? why not just go stoveless? I was thinking about carrying a stove as a back up or for cooking (not boiling water) and cooking in fire pits. I do this now just to save fuel.

Question for NOBO thru hikers: From what I understand is you guys tend to have trail family's and often get to shelters with other hikers. How often do you get to camp to find a fire already going? Is it bad etiquette to just go cook on it?

[NorthCountryWoods]

In my limited experience with one gasification stove I found it boils water quicker, create almost no ash and doesn't make your pots as sooty as a conventional hobo/wood burner.

I love mine, just wish it was lighter.

[tuswm]

My hobo stove must suck. it cant even boil water. Im a bad HOBO.

[take-a-knee]

In my limited experience with one gasification stove I found it boils water quicker, create almost no ash and doesn't make your pots as sooty as a conventional hobo/wood burner.

I love mine, just wish it was lighter.

Like this one:

http://bushbuddy.ca/indexs.html