Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Outdoor Activities => Northern Ireland Camping and Bushcraft => Topic started by: chris on July 10, 2009
-
Tried today, after spying one online, to make a wood buring stove. The Instructions said to use a large can but I thought i'd be clever and use one of the slightly smaller fruit tin ones so it fit in my mug resulting in a super lightweight stove/pot thing. After a couple of hours faffing around with this i stank of smoke, my eyes were raw and my cheeks were wet with tears but no boiled water.
Anyone an avid user of these? or even have any experience? I did get better and by my last attempt I was able to keep a fire going for half an hour before i gave up. I need some tips please as this seems like a good system.
-
I wouldn't bother. I have tried a few in my time and they are all pretty much useless. You spend almost all of your time feeding them with small twigs which seldom get hot enough to cook with. They need constant attention or they go out. I would advise making a proper fire or using a stove.
-
i got it working today. Took me half an hour to boil one cup of water. I'm not overly convinced that the massive reduction in weight at one end is worth it compared to the amount of time and energy you expend at the other given the results produced!
Although some people swear by them, I just cant understand it.
-
I am with Celt on this, I have even spent money on a commercial one and wished I hadn't, they are a complete waste of time and energy to try to keep going. I would use my time trying to built a hobo stove for meths, you can make them to fit inside your mug if you are wanting to go light, next to an open fire meths burners are my most reliable way of getting a brew.
If you goggle h
how to make a hobo stove I am sure you will get a tutorial on how to make one.
Davy
-
yeah i was thinking of doing that, jst using the burner from my trangia for it all. I just liked the idea of not having to carry fuel with me but I guess as with most things it's too good to be true!
-
I know what you mean Chris. it's a catch 22 situation. To carry fuel or not. If you carry it, then you have aditional weight, but at least you have it there to hand. if you don't carry it, then you have to source fire wood and may need to cut it, requiring additional cutting tools and the effert required to cut it. for just a day out, I'd carry the fuel. 300ml of meths or petrol in a trangia or small petrol stove will last all day with no problem. Not very Bushcrafty I know, but it's more practicle.
-
Have you tried a Kelly Kettle? - sort of a wood burning stove for boiling water.
I got one and used it last summer (in Fermanagh in the rain) and it got the water boiling occasionally and warm enough for hot chocolate every time - but I spent ages trying to get the fire lit.
I am the world's worst fire lighter though.
-
Have you tried a Kelly Kettle? - sort of a wood burning stove for boiling water.
I got one and used it last summer (in Fermanagh in the rain) and it got the water boiling occasionally and warm enough for hot chocolate every time - but I spent ages trying to get the fire lit.
I am the world's worst fire lighter though.
I've not tried a kelly kettle, but it's the same principle. You are using very small pieces of fuel to try and boil water with. It's slow and laborious. Fine if you have nothing else to do, but not ideal if you have other things to be getting on with.
-
What stove would you go for if lite weight hiking. I recently bought a Primus stove pretty small and lite but to be honest i was more swayed by the price £17.00 from cotswold.
-
What stove would you go for if lite weight hiking. I recently bought a Primus stove pretty small and lite but to be honest i was more swayed by the price £17.00 from cotswold.
Something like that is ideal, if you don't mind buying the gas. I tend to use either a trangia type or a pertol type as fuel is cheaper.
-
I second the trangia. Got myself a mini and at 330g inc pot, pan, burner, windshield/stand and pot handle for £25.
If its light weight you want for the price of two tins of beer(your choice) i'll make a custom 666_pack beer can stove 11g.
-
I must get round to making a pop can stove - does someone want to post piccies or a link? I have a trangia and love it but it's useless for cooking for more than 2. Celt is right that both a hobo and kelly kettle are a pain because you have to keep feeding them. However I still think it's worth it when you can't (or dont't have the time) have a proper fire.
-
A 7up can stove (well that's what I made mine from!) is dead easy - you don't really need much in the way of instruction.
2 cans
cut them and squeeze the bottoms together
hammer in lots of pinholes in a line round the angled bit outside at the top
make a couple of bigger holes in the centre at the top.
fill it with meths through the bigger holes (I always spill a bit extra in a tray below it for priming)
set a penny over those holes and pour on some extra meths
light her up.
You're wanting to heat the meths so it comes out the holes as a gas; it's that gas that burns and cooks.
Remember you have to let it burn till it runs out of meths, so don't fill it too full or you'll be there all night.
There's lots of variations with glass fibre inside and red bull cans for inner separators and stuff, but that's for the second attempt!
-
some info.
http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm
I find that adding an inner wall will help the stove "jet" without having to prime the stove first.
I love these stoves and find that are addictive.
-
Will the decision as to what kinda stove to use not depend on what activity your planning.... If bush crafting or canoe camping when weight is not an issue, and neither should be time.. wood burning is the way to go, burners like the yukon firebox, and the honeycomb stove are great for open fires and leaving no trace.. i got a BBQ from Sainsburys, looks like two buckets on top of each other, but packs in to its self to make it compact, and its great for woodburning and cooking on. If in the mountains where weight is an issue, any of the many gas/petrol stoves on the market are good.
-
Give me log cabin with wood burner stove, on top of a hill surrounded by trees with lake at bottom of the hill.
The sea close by, thats the life i could live till the day i die. :)
-
here one for you
http://fourdog.com/index_files/bushcooker.htm
· Titanium ultra light bush cookers allows the user to use more fuels with less weight in a manner never before achieved.
· 200 times more non corrosive then stainless steel
· Stronger then steel , in the same thickness at half the weight
· Titanium’s melting temp. is 3,200 degrees compared to
steel with a melting temp. of 2,600 degrees.
· Titanium reduces warping and eliminates burn out.
· A truly life long stove at a weight never before achieved
· Will bring 1 liter of water to a boil in the following times;
· 1 esbett tab 6 min
· 1 oz alcohol 4 min
· 3 oz of dry twigs 6 min
· 4 charcoal s 12 mins with 90 min of cook time
· Always the user to bake using the OUTBACK oven, with wood, charcoal or solid fuel tabs
· Avaible in three size’s that will fit in a 700ml mug, 1 lit pot, 2 lit pot thus saving space. They are designed to be used with all Snow Peak pots as well as others
-
Wow pack that something else, cheers
-
I was chatting to John @ www.onegreatadventure.com today and he introduced me to the fire box idea, i metal box to contain your fire and its ash (hopefully leaving no trace). Some searching on the forum revealed that redleader has something similar, the yukon fire box (http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=358.msg1508#msg1508) , but the one i was shown is the Tentipi Helka Fire Box. http://www.tentipi.co.uk/Tents.aspx?Category=Adventure&Range=HeklaFireBox
(http://www.tentipi.co.uk/App_Themes/Images/Ranges/Hekla-fire-boxes.png)
The Tentipi® Hekla fire box makes it easy to grill, cook, or just enjoy the heat and light from an open fire. It's clever collapsible design means that it takes up very little space when packed. Indispensible if you are going to build a fire on snow. The legs fold out and can be placed on branches or other support material on the snow.
Hekla 30
Large enough for making big fires. Good for Nordic tipi size 7 and larger. When packed flat, it's so small and compact it can be taken everywhere.
510x320x170 mm. 3.95 kg. Packed only 485x170x30 mm.
Hekla 7
Perfect for hiking as an alternative to a spirit stove set. Throws off a comfortable heat which, for our smaller Nordic tipis, is sufficient if temperature is only a few degrees below zero.
345x210x110 mm. 1.00 kg. Packed only 335x110x22 mm.
so who wants to buy one and try it out for me ::) actually found someone who had tried it http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/tentipi_mini_firebox.html
£76 for the biggun, and £56 for the littleun @ http://www.nordicoutdoor.co.uk/tentipi-tents-accessories/stoves-fireboxes.html
-
Mine is not so lightweight or compact but it's the same in principle and disassembles to pack flat. I got it for canoeing, it would be far too heavy for hiking. If anyone wants to borrow it for a go they're welcome to fire away.
(http://i.imgur.com/7zkVI1P.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aklvHal.jpg)
Obviously I mean the firebox, not the BBQ it's sitting one :)
-
If anyone wants to borrow it for a go they're welcome to fire away.
yes can i borrow it next summit camp, i'll collect it at the top, and return it next morning, at the top again ;D
-
Lol. Good luck getting that bag of logs up :P
If anyone wants to borrow it for a go they're welcome to fire away.
yes can i borrow it next summit camp, i'll collect it at the top, and return it next morning, at the top again ;D
-
doh >:(