SHTF small cooking stove for my BOB

[Camelfilter]

I just bought my son a Barocook flameless cooker.
https://www.amazon.com/Barocook-Flameless-Cooker-Rectangular-482865/dp/B00DPHPIOS

Due to Colorado having so many fire bans and I wanted something that was small and could stay in his car. This is very light weigh and super easy way to heat food while out in the woods. It is a pricey unit and the fuel packets are also but how often is it going to be used? With freeze dried foods all you need is hot water and this system heats enough to turn all FD foods into a meal. I bought the 50 g. fuel packets for more heat and this system will keep things warm for 1-2 hours if you leave the lid on.

That's different, thanks for sharing. Noted.

-I'd wager that you could use the MRE heater packs. Something to think on, if you come acrossed them on special.

 

[11Charlie]

I just bought my son a Barocook flameless cooker.
https://www.amazon.com/Barocook-Flameless-Cooker-Rectangular-482865/dp/B00DPHPIOS

Due to Colorado having so many fire bans and I wanted something that was small and could stay in his car. This is very light weigh and super easy way to heat food while out in the woods. It is a pricey unit and the fuel packets are also but how often is it going to be used? With freeze dried foods all you need is hot water and this system heats enough to turn all FD foods into a meal. I bought the 50 g. fuel packets for more heat and this system will keep things warm for 1-2 hours if you leave the lid on.

That is interesting. How compact is it? Its kinda hard to tell from the pictures on amazon.

 

[Member 34319]

I have three different stoves with three different uses.

Hiking/backpacking I bring my Jetboil Flash. Self lighting, self containing, boils 2 cups of water in a heartbeat. But it is heavy and takes up room. Also runs on a fuel source, so I see it good for hiking and backpacking only.

GHB. I have the little esbit stoves in our packs. Along with a milsurp canteen cup they will boil 2 cups of water for a freeze dried meal with one tablet here at sea level. They are light, fold up small with six tablets inside and are easily thrown into a get home bag.

BOB. I have a kelly kettle in my get out of dodge bag. The stainless steel variety. This serves two purposes, water treatment, and stove. It is heavy, but durable. If I'm leaving my home, I consider this a weight I'd be willing to carry for its uses.

 

[Motomom34]

That is interesting. How compact is it? Its kinda hard to tell from the pictures on amazon.

About 6" by 4" my son is currently in the Red Woods and is using this cooker. It does take up some room in his bag but the light weight is a bonus. I saw it at a show and after reading reviews I decided it was the way to go. It is light and easy without plus no dealing with fire or propane. I read this review and it sold me. Cooking Without Fire - Barocook Flameless Cooker Review

 

[11Charlie]

About 6" by 4" my son is currently in the Red Woods and is using this cooker. It does take up some room in his bag but the light weight is a bonus. I saw it at a show and after reading reviews I decided it was the way to go. It is light and easy without plus no dealing with fire or propane. I read this review and it sold me. Cooking Without Fire - Barocook Flameless Cooker Review

Thanks I'll check it out.

 

[AK0perator47]

I just bought my son a Barocook flameless cooker.
https://www.amazon.com/Barocook-Flameless-Cooker-Rectangular-482865/dp/B00DPHPIOS

Due to Colorado having so many fire bans and I wanted something that was small and could stay in his car. This is very light weigh and super easy way to heat food while out in the woods. It is a pricey unit and the fuel packets are also but how often is it going to be used? With freeze dried foods all you need is hot water and this system heats enough to turn all FD foods into a meal. I bought the 50 g. fuel packets for more heat and this system will keep things warm for 1-2 hours if you leave the lid on.

Nice. That thing is sweet. Let us know how it works in the real cold weather of the mile high areas! Be interesting to see how it fairs.

 

[gunnut38]

QUOTE="Koda, post: 1771690, member: 32406"]Has anyone ever acrually tried cooking with twigs and sticks?[/QUOTE]
Yes with with the Biolite stove as I posted earlier. It works great. Once it is warmed up there is no smoke and plenty of heat. 1/4 to 1 inch diameter twigs are all you need.
Biolite™ CampStove 2 with Flexlight : Cabela's

 

[DeanMk]

...and some youtube reviews on that Biolite stove ---> cooking with biolite campstove - YouTube

Interesting concept, using the heat from the stove to energize a power pack for charging electrical accessories.
Someone's smart.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.I want to spend time hiking, not scrubbing the bottom of my pans..

yeabut this is about SHTF cookers, not "hiking" cookers

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Has anyone ever acrually tried cooking with twigs and sticks?

Heck yeah! Been doing it for years with a Hobo Stove made from a #10 can. I have a little, folding Corona bypass pruner in my gear! That's all I need to feed the Hobo. It's a small, but very intense, fire! I cut the top completely out of the can, and have a household aluminum pot, (Heaver gage than camping cookware) that fits on the stove perfectly. Hard figurin' says I made my first Hobo stove in 1973.

My super bad azzed Corona survivor pruner!!!

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Heck yeah! Been doing it for years with a Hobo Stove made from a #10 can. I have a little, folding Corona bypass pruner in my gear! That's all I need to feed the Hobo. It's a small, but very intense, fire! I cut the top completely out of the can, and have a household aluminum pot, (Heaver gage than camping cookware) that fits on the stove perfectly. Hard figurin' says I made my first Hobo stove in 1973.

Sarge, I built my first Hobo Stove in 1959. The one like the one you have with the top cut off works great also for starting charcoal in a barbecue. My dad, a WW2 Marine Sgt. got the idea after seeing my Hobo Stove I made in Cub Scouts. Hope you are feeling better.

 

[MasterChief]

 

[etrain16]

Heck yeah! Been doing it for years with a Hobo Stove made from a #10 can. I have a little, folding Corona bypass pruner in my gear! That's all I need to feed the Hobo. It's a small, but very intense, fire! I cut the top completely out of the can, and have a household aluminum pot, (Heaver gage than camping cookware) that fits on the stove perfectly. Hard figurin' says I made my first Hobo stove in 1973.

My super bad azzed Corona survivor pruner!!!

View attachment 397671

That's a cool tool - where do you find those? Quickie Googly search didn't turn anything like that up.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Sarge, I built my first Hobo Stove in 1959. The one like the one you have with the top cut off works great also for starting charcoal in a barbecue. My dad, a WW2 Marine Sgt. got the idea after seeing my Hobo Stove I made in Cub Scouts. Hope you are feeling better.

Thanks Gringo, I am actually!

Wow, 1959!!! You must be OLD!!!!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

That's a cool tool - where do you find those? Quickie Googly search didn't turn anything like that up.

Got that at City Liquidators a couple years ago.

 

[etrain16]

Got that at City Liquidators a couple years ago.

Ah. Methinks it's out of production now. Bummer, would be good for a car/truck kit.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Ah. Methinks it's out of production now. Bummer, would be good for a car/truck kit.

I know, I've never seen another one! When you get a small bed of coals on the bottom of that #10 can, and start tossing in dry, pencil diameter sticks it will boil water like a blow torch and heat you right out of a tent with the windows and door open!

 

[3MTA3]

Not cheap, but any of the MSR multi fuel stoves would be my first choice. These are designed for mountain climbing so they are very light weight and fold up very compactly. I have a Firefly, one of their first white gas stoves, and it has functioned perfectly since 1980.

Stoves

 

[twa2471]

Me too 3MTA3, and I've had mine that long too, maybe longer. There pretty decent. Any multi fuel stove is a great advantage, the price don't matter so much when survival is at stake. Call me fussy!!

Funny part about where this thread has gone is that I thought we were still talking about BOB stoves for a pack? I've seen everything but a professional 8 burner gas stove brought up so far!! ??

Let me try to tell you where I'm going and some plus's and minus's for each option that's actually practical for a backpack. Some that have been mentioned may have issues that some of you may not have considered.

#1 gas canister stoves,,awesome rigs, but where you going to get fuel when SHTF and your out of fuel? Would you actually even dare consider coming out of hiding for fuel,,probably not. I sure as Hell wouldn't. Plus most anyplace that would even carry fuel for them would likely be in a urban area or city area and that would have been stripped long before you got there and just not a safe place to be overall . There a bit bulky and somewhat heavy when you consider the canister, and you have to consider the complete stove size and weight, not just the burner head size and weight. A super option for in a vehicle emergency bag though.

#2 Wood burners, also good,, IF your not on the run to a bug out location!
The LAST THING you'd want to do is leave a open fire signature,,,, smell , smoke or light, and they do all 3. Lets face it even the best of them give off noticeable traces,, no way around it.
Plus there pretty bulky noisy and normally the heaviest option overall and DEFIANTLY will give your position away faster than anything else. That's one of the ways we found the gooks in Nam. Food and smoke smells along with the faint light in the tree tops.
Remember your on the lamb and in stealth mode if your using your BOB!! Any type of wood stoves are absolutely no good for a BOB,,,,period.

#3 Tranzia/ DIY penny type stoves and Esbits,, IMHO have many many plus's and are probably my favorite choice by far. Super light and compact even with a wind screen and fuel, they can use multiple fuels with no smoke , smell or excess light, very cheap to free depending on if you make your own, they can easily be shielded from giving off any light at all with a piece of aluminum dryer vent tube. Sense they only put out a faint blue flame. No light shows in the trees either. Fuel would always be an issue as with any stove but they can use most any fuel, you just have to get the stove up to temp to make whatever fuel your using most efficient. Hell I've even made some penny stoves that run on vegetable oil and you just need a bit bigger burner holes to make them work well and not smoke or smell.
Those 3 are by far the most versatile and most bullet proof stoves for a BOB IMHO. Period,,,

A Coleman type or any propane stoves ,,,WTF are you thinking??? Who in Hell is going to carry one of those monsters in a BOB ?? Seriously.
HELL,, I'd carry 1K more of 22LR instead ,with about the same amount of space and weight taken up, remember ,,your humping all this chit around on your back and your bugging out!! There not even an option even though they work darn good.
There another good car/truck emergency kit option though.

I know I don't have all the answers by any means , but I used most all of these for extended periods of time and daily on the AT, PCT,in Baxter and while patrolling the AT for 14+ years and about 5-6 more working in a couple different wilderness areas while with the Forest Service plus years of just hiking and camping so I've used most any kind of stove you can think of for probably a good 45-50 years.

Honestly I've found the Tranzias/penny stoves and Esbits to be the best overall options and would consider them the very best options for a BOB. Bar None.

There are many considerations to take into account and I think I covered why those options are best for a BOB.

None of my preferences give off smoke or any noticeable smell, no excess light , super light and compact even with fuel, no parts to break ,ease of obtaining fuel. Esbit maybe not quite so much, but then again you could carry literally a months worth of fuel and it would probably still be < than a pound total, stove and all. Tranzia's and penny stoves can burn almost anything and fuel wouldn't be to much of any issue under most any circumstances if you had to scrounge for fuel, there's many fuel options with those.Oh ya, almost forgot, they work at any altitude or in any weather conditions too, not all the others can say that.

Just my 2 cents worth and my experience's with different type stoves,,,,,