A very hobo stove! + pic's

[Samon]

*UPDATED*

Fancied a go a hobo stove last night and figured I'd make one like I did when I was young..

Oh yeah, a bean can

Now I've seen the fancy ones people make from stainless steel containers and they are certainly very creative but in my opinion not very hobo.

So, out with a can of beans and beans out the can.. I simpley cut out an opening in the bottom and cut air vents into the top with an old knife.

that's pretty much it, simple and very hobo!

tried it out earlier to make a cup of tea and it worked quite well. Took a few minutes to get the water hot and didn't use that much wood.

So here it is..

now I forgot to take a picture of it in action but I'm sure this helps other aspiring hobos!

I used my c.s bushman to shave up some curls and a few fuzz sticks so it would take the flint rod and steel nicely and then chopped up some thicker sticks so I could stoke it up for a longer cooking sesion. (actually used this stove earlier to cook up a mess tin full of stuff so that's why it's already dirty)


Now for those who don't have much wood or sticks around to feed their hobo stove I made a very simple meths burning version that also worked very well..infact worked faster and quite a bit easier.

For this I just cut out two pieces of metal from the top to allow better air flow and a few air slits in the sides, simple as that.

And some pictures of it in action and next to the wood stove..

Making these was fun and reminded me of my days when I was younger, not only that but it's cheap and anyone can do it.

I'll make another tomorrow froma bigger tin and I'll make a few improved designs

thanks for looking, hope you enjoy the hoboness!


*UPDATE*


Made another hobo stove this morning from a dog food tin, bit bigger than the last one and with a few design differences.. who's the flashest hobo in town now?

made a cup of tea first, nice and strong for a hard working hobo and then cooked an egg in a splash of water, very yummy!

the can is also thicker so will last longer and is very good indeed for a few minute job, makes water hot withing a few minutes!

So for the pictures..

Hope you enjoyed that, so lets see yours!

 

[Samon]

*updated*

anyone else made one lately?

 

[Miyagi]

I made a hobo stove, not unlike yours, last autumn.

Took the dog out into Craigie woods, emptied the dog food onto the ground and set about doing the air holes etc.

It worked a treat for a brew except for one thing.

It honked so much even the dog kept his distance - I should've washed it out first, it was giving me the boak.


Liam

 

[Samon]

I made a hobo stove, not unlike yours, last autumn.

Took the dog out into Craigie woods, emptied the dog food onto the ground and set about doing the air holes etc.

It worked a treat for a brew except for one thing.

It honked so much even the dog kept his distance - I should've washed it out first, it was giving me the boak.


Liam

haha! I've cooked up dog food before to try and eat and it smelt rank..but burnt on the can must have been extra special!

these stoves work surprisingly well and considering they are made in minutes and last many uses are certainly worth doing.

 

[GordonM]

Hi Samon! Here is one I made for heat tabs (can't shake the indoc. ) but it works great with pine cones, too. It is made from an 12 oz Hormel Roast Beef & Gravy can. Although, I must reveal, this hobo made use of a dremel tool (happened to wonder upon a "tools for hobos" event ).

Here with an Esbit tab just lit.

Brew up trial.

Here it is being used in "pleasure" to heat chicken gumbo while on an outing.

ATB,

Gordy

 

[Samon]

brilliant!

how long do those fire cubes last once lit?

I found a splash of meths was enough to cook a cup of tea.

 

[GordonM]

how long do those fire cubes last once lit?

Esbit has "Approximately 13 minutes burn time per cube!" written on the packaging but I tend to get closer to 17 minutes per cube in my time trials.

Gordy

 

[Samon]

That's pretty good, easier than carrying a bottle of meths and collecting wood if it's p'ing itdown outside!

I don't think the dremel is a problem aslong as it was also made from a bean can

I'll keep checking the charity shops for coffee pots as they'll make good strong hobo stoves..might even whip out my fancy tools for that!

 

[BillyBlade]

Gordon, that just about takes the award for the flashest hobo stove I've ever seen mate! I love it

 

[beenn]

That's pretty good, easier than carrying a bottle of meths and collecting wood if it's p'ing itdown outside!

I don't think the dremel is a problem aslong as it was also made from a bean can

I'll keep checking the charity shops for coffee pots as they'll make good strong hobo stoves..might even whip out my fancy tools for that!

Asda have 3 for £5- made for tea/coffee/sugar.
Fit around a nalgene bottle nicely

 

[Dougster]

Love the fact you are using a tin mug. Love an enamelled mug me.

 

[Samon]

Love the fact you are using a tin mug. Love an enamelled mug me.

They are pretty neat little cups, only cost about £2.50 and they cook on the flames just fine!

I mighh check asda if I get time!

 

[Hugo]

I use the same mug in Red, a bit old school.
Great little burner Gordon.

 

[Samon]

check out that beast!

they are sold in my local Co op and when I saw it I had to take a pic as I've never seen a can that massive!

I might get one and make a bbq or a small fire barrel.

What do you guys think it would make? (other than alot of beans on toast haha)

 

[Miyagi]

Hahahahaha what size is that Samon, 1kg tin?

Liam

 

[Samon]

not sure on size.. but it's huge!

I'll see if they have any left tommorow and I'll take some more pictures and hopefully get some ideas of what to do with it..

 

[shortymcsteve]

Check out the family size Heinz Tomato soup tins, they are smaller but i think the quantity is double the size of a normal can.
I tried out a normal sized can about a month ago and could not get a fire going in the dam thing, wood all around be was wet and even the driest wood i could gather didn't want to light. My bbq fuel blocks failed me so all i had was some alcohol hand sanitizer & even with that lit i had no luck keeping a fire going after 5 minutes
I think it's the only time i have failed to get a fire going and i had quite a few things i wanted to cook!!
Gotta get out and give it another try, not sure what my mistake was.

 

[Samon]

Check out the family size Heinz Tomato soup tins, they are smaller but i think the quantity is double the size of a normal can.
I tried out a normal sized can about a month ago and could not get a fire going in the dam thing, wood all around be was wet and even the driest wood i could gather didn't want to light. My bbq fuel blocks failed me so all i had was some alcohol hand sanitizer & even with that lit i had no luck keeping a fire going after 5 minutes
I think it's the only time i have failed to get a fire going and i had quite a few things i wanted to cook!!
Gotta get out and give it another try, not sure what my mistake was.

it was most likely just the terrible weather being a git as always!

My advice is use the bigger soup tin but take a packable length of wood with you, just one piece ..like a arm length branch that's as thick as a banana!

The wood I used to cook a mess tin and a cuppa and just to keep the fire going was just a strip of pine about 2 inches thick and arm length, very light weight too!

or give a meth stove a go, liquid meth spirits are easy to get and a splash will do a cuppa.

 

[The Ratcatcher]

Having scrounged half a dozen catering-size baked bean tins from my son's school canteen, I am now the proud owner of a benghazi burner and a 2 litre pot to do boil-in-the-bag meals for the family. The next project is a charcoal brazier, because a benghazi burner, while very effective, isn't particularly safe to use.

 

[Samon]

popped down to co op earlier and they don't have any mega cans left!

shame, could have had alot fun with that.