Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => Gear Questions, Information, Reviews and Competitions => Topic started by: Rich.H on July 11, 2011
-
After getting my first kelly kettle a few months ago I began to want a wood burning stove also, this lead me to various "woodgas" stove types that are produced and sold online. However I have seen the odd negative review that states they do nothing more then a traditional hobo stove, and simply do it faster due to blowing air at them.
Has anyone had experience of both a diy hobo stove and a woodgas stove and can offer an opinion on both? I like new gear as much as anyone but really need good cause to go and blow £40+ on something I can make for under a tenner.
-
When I read the thread title I thought what the $@%& is woogas stove??
Have I missed some new Ewok technology ???
Now I realise it was typo :D
I have no experience with a woodgas stove but the hobo stove works a treat. You can get the equipment for as little as £3. I would give the hobo stove a trial first to see if it works for you :)
http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2064.0
On a side note I think Kelly Kettles are awesome ;D I'd love to see one in action; such a simple idea and it works.
-
OK, there are two parts to this:
1. There are vast differences between a hobo and a woodgas stove
2. Are the differences worth the extra money
So to start - a hobo stove merely contains the burning wood in a handy object that also acts as a pot stand. There isn't much more to it than that. The basic elements of a fire are met when a source of ignition is applied to the fuel inside the hobo and oxygen is replenished from outside the hobo. Heat is generated from the burning of the wood.
A woodgas stove on the other hand effectively manages the influx of air and creates a hotter, more efficient flame. This happens because the wood, rather than losing a source of energy in the form of smoke, is turned into a pyrolysed gas, which then mixes with oxygen and burns with a cleaner flame. The result: more energy from less wood, with little smoke and a hotter flame.
If you aren't planning on heading off on multi-day (or multi-week) treks where fuel must be gathered and therefore used efficiently then the expense of buying a pre-made wood gas stove is probably not worth it. If you just need a container to (relatively) safely burn some wood in to boil some water without setting the hills on fire, then a hobo stove is probably what you are looking for.
However, it's not just hobo stoves that can be made relatively easily. There are people out there making Bushbuddy clones from tin cans, so a quick bit of research and a little bit of work later and you could have yourself a hobo woodgas stove.
I have to point out that I have a Bushcooker (a commercial Bushbuddy) clone. It works quite brilliantly, but I'm not convinced that any kind of wood fire is right for the ecosystem that we have in Northern Ireland. Gas, meths, etc all are all more much lower impact and much more appropriate for the terrain in NI.
-
I can only comment on watching a friend use a wood gas stove at the weekend. It took an age tonight and he used lighter fluid to get it lit. It had a battery powering a small internal fan which consumed wood at an alarming rate totally inefficient way of making a cup of tea in my opinion. I'm not however a great fan of the hobo stove either. It can only consume small sticks and needs to be constantly tended and delivers little hear for your effort. I'm an open fire type when I'm at a fixed camp and I will take a small gas stove when I'm constantly on the move more for speed more than anything else. I just really don't see the point of the hobo or woodgas when u can take a gas stove which is more efficient it feels like a bit of a fad. My big concern about hobos and woodgas is that if they are here to replace the speed of a gas stove that someone might shake out the contents in their haste to move on and not extinguish it properly. With an open fire their is generally more time and care taken when putting it out and a gas stove is off with the turn of a switch.