Hobo Stove

[Beprepared]

Alright folks, there is a place for camp stoves, I love mine. But why worry about fuel in a SHTF scenario. The Hobo Stove has been well known since the 20's. There are many designs floating around the internet. Whats your favorite?

Here is just one example...
http://practicalsurvivor.com/hobostove

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_stove

Or if you want to get a little more elaborate, there is wood gasification. Now thats some cool stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRbr3...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZitu...eature=related

Or just for giggles a pocket alcohol stove.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj7PI...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sekjz...eature=related

Wood Gas Generators

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gasification

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...2353533644927#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F258s13UxfY

[testify4]

I've always wanted to build a small wood gasifier after seeing some builds on the internet.

Problem is, I always forget to save my cans so I can piece something together. I usually remember the day after the recycling goes!

It would be nice and light for backpacking or if you needed to heat a small pot of water. It would also be a smaller and less conspicuous fire with little smoke.

[cowboykjohnson]

I like the little pocket alcohol stoves made from beer cans and a penny.

[Irving]

Really cool links. Thanks for posting!

[SU405]

I like the pocket/penny can stoves. I could see those being really useful with limited resources. The compact size comes into play when in a pack BOB etc.

[Irving]

I'm going to make that penny can stove tonight. I'm going to use cotton balls instead of insulation, punch all the holes in the can before I cut it, and use zippo lighter fluid as the fuel. I think I happen to have some head gasket RV sealant in my tool box. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Later, I'd like to try and make that Rocket Stove and bring it up to the bunk house for use up there.

[Irving]

Penny/Can stove is built and the RTV sealant is drying on the porch. I'll fill it up with as much zippo fluid as I have left and see how long it burns. In fact, I'll also time how long it takes to boil water. Gloria doesn't think it will last long, we'll see.

[Irving]

UPDATE: I made the penny can stove. It worked wonderfully, boiled water in about 7 minutes, and I even cooked a package of Top Ramon noodles.

Notes:

-I did this experiment in my fireplace.
-Even though the holes are to the side, if you set the pot directly onto the can it will put the fire out in about a minute. Once I re-lit the stove, I just used the log holder in the fire place with about 1" between the rim of the stove and the bottom of the pot and that worked fine.
-It turned my pot black. So now I have to clean it or get a new one.
-I used about half a bottle of $1.99 Zippo lighter fluid and had the stove going for at least 30 minutes. I got bored watching it and put it out.
-Blowing it out doesn't work.
-REMEMBER TO KEEP THE PENNY OR BOLT OVER THE FILL HOLE.
-I took video, but don't know what format it is in and can't upload it to photo bucket.

Only draw back I see is having fuel on hand. Otherwise, very compact and handy.

[Beprepared]

Thanks for that Stuart. Glad you enjoyed it. Just found this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3u3E...eature=related

The cheap $10 still. The first minute has a great can cutting technique, the rest I wish there was more explanation. I think in a SHTF scenario, fuel would be a great commodity. If I could cheaply make it form any sugar/vegetable/fruit that would be a tremendous boon. Heck prisoners make their own boose from juice.

[Irving]

Definitely a lack of info in that last video you posted.

I forgot to mention that I want to do some tests between alcohol and petroleum jelly. I'd like some input from anyone who might already know.

I figure first I'll soak a cotton ball in petroleum jelly and one in alcohol, light them at the same time and see which burns longer.

Then I'll investigate the cost of petroleum jelly vs alcohol. It seems like with petroleum jelly you could just pack the penny stove full of it, and not have to worry about it drying out or evaporating like you would alcohol. *Every Zippo I've ever had in my life has never worked because I'm not a smoker and never used them often enough to keep them wet.*

One thing that I suspect is that the jelly might not burn as quick/hot as the alcohol and may not be hot enough to cook with. Also, in those videos, they always spray/waste some alcohol all over the outside to get the stove going. I'm wondering what kind of issues I'd run into with jelly, and if I could devise some sort of temporary wick system or something. All comments are welcome.

If the jelly idea pans out, then I think I'll spend $11 and make about 10 of those penny/can stoves at a time and just pack them away.