SHTF small cooking stove for my BOB

[Camelfilter]

Get yourself some empty tuna cans, rip off carbboard strips a little less than the profile of the tuna can, and coil them up in the can. Pour melted paraffin wax into it until full, let cool... you have a decent (and cheap) waterproof, lightweight, non volitile heat source to heat up your sissy-boy "hot food".

Excellent suggestion! Thanks.

 

[11Charlie]

Excellent suggestion! Thanks.

I'm glad I'm not the only sissy boy that likes hot food

 

[Stomper]

I'm glad I'm not the only sissy boy that likes hot food

The bigger they are, the more they need their mommy.

 

[Jamie6.5]

Get yourself some empty tuna cans, rip off carbboard strips a little less than the profile of the tuna can, and coil them up in the can. Pour melted paraffin wax into it until full, let cool... you have a decent (and cheap) waterproof, lightweight, non volitile heat source to heat up your sissy-boy "hot food".

LOL
I swear Stomper, you are the forum king when it comes to including a "slapdown"in a post full of practical, helpful and otherwise sound advice.

Excellent suggestion! Thanks.

It really is. It's amazing how hot they burn and how long they burn.

 

[Stomper]

LOL
I swear Stomper, you are the forum king when it comes to including a "slapdown"in a post full of practical, helpful and otherwise sound advice.


It really is. It's amazing how hot they burn and how long they burn.

If I'm not picking on you, that means I don't like you... but you known that, buck-o.


Speaking of fire-lit field appliances, how did that project of yours work out with the pyroseal I gave you?

 

[Jamie6.5]

If I'm not picking on you, that means I don't like you... but you known that, buck-o.


Speaking of fire-lit field appliances, how did that project of yours work out with the pyroseal I gave you?

Funny you should mention that, as it's been getting a lot of use/attention this past week.
The Pyroseal is okay. It's half hard in the tub, so I'm having to reconstitute it with water.
And I'm slowly figuring out how much of it to mix with a given amount of the perlite to get the strength I want without any more weight than is necessary.
And since it is being cast into sections much thicker than Pyroseal was intended for, I've discovered dry times before firing are much longer than I anticipated.
And it doesn't like much heat before it's mostly dry.

But the Pyroseal seems to make a good hotfacing.

 

[P7M13]

An Optimus (a lot like a Whisperlite) was my first stove, bought back in 1984, IIRC $59, which was a lot for me then.
I loaned it out and never got it back, but still had the can of white gas I purchased with it. Found a old MSR at a garage sale for $5, and my white gas still works just fine.
I also have MSR propanes. They work but I'd much rather carry a bottle of liquid fuel than rely on LPG. Easier to refuel, less bulky, and you can carry much more fuel in a single canister. White gas stoves are also more effective at high altitudes, and less susceptible to wind, IMO. Just get extra o-rings and seals for your bottles and pump.
@Stomper, thanks for the tuna / paraffin idea - I have a few pounds, will put that idea to work.

 

[11Charlie]

The bigger they are, the more they need their mommy.

Your just jealous cuz your a runt!

 

[Stomper]

Your just jealous cuz your a runt!

Dude, Goliath is a runt standing next to you... Im good with that!

 

[11Charlie]

Dude, Goliath is a runt standing next to you... Im good with that!

SHTF situation it might come in handy. Never seen a tree shoot back

 

[Stomper]

SHTF situation it might come in handy. Never seen a tree shoot back

Not to mention all the shade you'd provide your squad!

 

[Koda]

if you guys really want to geek out on compact travel stoves check this site out, includes all the data you need to choose as well as detailed instructions on how to make your own backpacking stoves of about any variety of styles.

Ive messed around with a few, made some alcohol stoves from soda cans. Made a small wood burning stove from 2 simple food cans. The bottom line for me was how much dicking around in the field they needed. They all work but nothing is more efficient and easier to use than those isobutane gas canister stoves or 2nd choice a whitegas stove like the MSR wisperlite international.

Zen Backpacking Stoves - How to Choose a Stove

 

[darkminstrel]

I have a JetBoil stove and the french press accessory. Heats up some tasty bean water and cooks quickly. Can fit 2 fuel canisters in the container or one and the cooking head. About the size of a standard Nalgene bottle and fits into pouches made for those.

 

[bbbass]

I've had two MSR Whisperlite stoves, as I mentioned in the "other" thread. One for me and one for the wife. We could make two dishes at the same time, or make coffee or hot water on one and eggs or fish on the other.

Having had propane and butane stoves for backpacking, I really like white gas. Burns hotter and lasts longer, so you get more BTU's for what you are packing around. One bottle/stove of WG lasted us a week.

For best results use a windscreen. The wife and I both had foil but I made some out of canvas with pockets for little rods/stakes that I really liked because when staked the wind doesn't move the screen about.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Poke some holes in a can and drop a puck of sterno in. Stuff keeps forever. For a SHTF bag it'll cost you $5-6.


The others are cool for sure but I'd want to use them more then once a decade or more for the price.

Made these when I was an 8 year old Cub Scout in 1959. We used it on a camping trip when one of my parents either forgot the Colman stove or the fuel.

 

[Joe13]

Made these when I was an 8 year old Cub Scout in 1959. We used it on a camping trip when one of my parents either forgot the Colman stove or the fuel.

Yup, I too was doing survival before it was a fad.

 

[Portaledgepete]

I have a Snow Peak stove for ultra light back packing. Upside is that it packs down to about 2.5"x2"x1.5" and weighs only a couple of ounces. Downside is that it uses Snow Peak butane cans. They keep forever and last a good amount of time, but once they are gone there is no refilling them. I use it with the Snow Peak titanium cook pot/cup. Good stuff but kind of spendy. I also have the Esbit stove, cheap but burns a bit dirty and they don't work quite as well as advertised. My best stove is the MSR dual fuel mountain stove. I have used it hundreds if not closer to thousands of times from the jungles of Central America, to the walls of Yosemite, North Cascades, Canadian tundra in winter (doesn't like those -20 degree temps. The O rings shrink and it srays fuel all over.), and the deserts of the Southwest. Overall this is an excellent stove, but a tad on the heavy side at 1# before fuel, and bulkier than the rest.

For my get home bag I chose the Ti cook cup thing and Esbit.

 

[Siglvr]

I have way too many stoves. None in my BOB but Petes advice seems sound to me. Light is nice in an emergency.

I'm out in the woods a lot and use backpacking stoves in all kinds of conditions. Current stove is the MSR Reactor (Butane canister). It's won all kinds of awards, and will boil water faster than any other stove, but I'm Meh about it. Slightly larger is the Jetboil, mine has an ignition button, which the MSR lacks. I ding the MSR big for the lack of the igniton lighter button. It's a big thing and a nice feature to have. You have to unscrew the top of the Reactor to light it, and it's easy to burn yourself, all while wasting fuel.

I have a Whisperlight too, nice stove. But my precious is a SVEA stove I bought brand new for $15 from REI 46 years ago. It is a single unit, takes white gas and I've resorted to burning unleaded gas as well. For a SHTF kind of thing, MSR makes a multifuel, but this is close behind it in my mind. I've fired that up after it's sat there for years and it still burns. Maybe 3 times in it's life, the nozzel gets clogged, they make a little pin wire device you hit the nozzel and are good to go for years. Grabbed a pic off the internet and see they are over $100 now. Ouch. They are the Coleman stove of backpacking stoves if that tells you anything. Very reliable. I've used mine a bunch, never replaced a thing. The cons are that the small base makes it unstable, and to fire it up you have to pressure the fuel container part of the stove either by warming it up, or pumping, but you have to take off the upper housing (which is easy)

 

[Camelfilter]

I have way too many stoves. None in my BOB but Petes advice seems sound to me. Light is nice in an emergency.

I'm out in the woods a lot and use backpacking stoves in all kinds of conditions. Current stove is the MSR Reactor (Butane canister). It's won all kinds of awards, and will boil water faster than any other stove, but I'm Meh about it. Slightly larger is the Jetboil, mine has an ignition button, which the MSR lacks. I ding the MSR big for the lack of the igniton lighter button. It's a big thing and a nice feature to have. You have to unscrew the top of the Reactor to light it, and it's easy to burn yourself, all while wasting fuel.

I have a Whisperlight too, nice stove. But my precious is a SVEA stove I bought brand new for $15 from REI 46 years ago. It is a single unit, takes white gas and I've resorted to burning unleaded gas as well. For a SHTF kind of thing, MSR makes a multifuel, but this is close behind it in my mind. I've fired that up after it's sat there for years and it still burns. Maybe 3 times in it's life, the nozzel gets clogged, they make a little pin wire device you hit the nozzel and are good to go for years. Grabbed a pic off the internet and see they are over $100 now. Ouch. They are the Coleman stove of backpacking stoves if that tells you anything. Very reliable. I've used mine a bunch, never replaced a thing. The cons are that the small base makes it unstable, and to fire it up you have to pressure the fuel container part of the stove either by warming it up, or pumping, but you have to take off the upper housing (which is easy)

View attachment 393158

Yah, have my Dads SVEA 123, with the little cup which covers the top. Still runs like a champ!

 

[Defense Minister]

I have an MSR Pocket Rocket which is the lightest, most compact stove I have owned. The downside is that it takes canister fuel. I also have a Coleman Peak 1 Apex white gas stove that is similar to the MSR Whisperlite.

For short-term use the Pocket Rocket and similar stoves work great, but for longer-term you can't beat the BTUs per cubic inch of fuel in white gas which also lasts many years in storage. The disadvantage of white gas is it doesn't work well in very cold conditions or high elevation. If you get a liquid fuel stove I would suggest one that burns both white gas and unleaded since it is so common, but keep in mind that you will need to have the ability to clean the generator regularly if you use unleaded as it deposits carbon that can clog things up quickly.

MSR has a stove called the Whisperlite Universal that uses both canister fuels and liquid fuels. It's expensive, but having a stove that uses many different types of fuels has some obvious advantage when the chips are down.