Best stove for bushcraft???

[BushTucker]

Hi all

I would like your thoughts on the best stove for bushcraft?
It would have to be light, preferably (similar to the trangia) have attached cooking pots, be fuel efficient.

I am at present using two, one is the swiss trangia and the other is a small cartridge camping gaz stove. I dont trust the camping gaz stove because the cartridges let you down, they are meant to self seal, but i have had a few fail and purge its gas till empty, not much use in the wild and miles from anywhere.

Thanks

Don

 

[pumbaa]

Hi mate ,
I use the swedish army trangja for days out , but generaly carry a pocket woodburning stove or my volcano kettle if out for longer .

pocket cooker


eco-kettle

Cheers Pumbaa

 

[SimonM]

I have several stoves but prefer to use my "Swiss Volcano stove" which i picked up for a fiver from my local surplus store. It is designed to be used with solid fuel (hexy) but once lit will burn small twigs, paper etc (much like a Kelly Kettle). It boils water faster than my Primus multi fuel and has the advantage that you can have a campfire when the stars come out!

Follow the link if you want to buy one (No connection to seller, just found it when looking)

http://www.militarymart.co.uk/prod6.asp?prod_id=8401&id=194&sub_cat=534&grpid=8401&msg=&offset=

I should have said that the mug can also be used for cooking as it fits into the neck of the stove and is large enough to hold pasta for one. Combined with my Crusader mug and cooker i can cook and brew up with minimum fuss and best of all it is dirt cheap!

 

[Fin]

I've owned loads of stoves in order to find the "best" for my needs.To me the best bushcraft stoves should be multifuel (wood and one or two others), tailored to fit your gear and fun to use - that usually involves homemade.

Check out Waylands:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20206&highlight=morrisons

I have made a very similar one for the 10cm billy and it works very well.

My favorite stove, however is this one:

http://bushbuddy.ca/index1.html

It's eye wateringly expensive but very effective and fits into a 12cm billy with room to spare. It'll also take a Trangia burner and the base doesn't get hot - so won't scar the ground. I sometimes use it on the (wooden) garden table if we're sat out at night!

 

[BushTucker]

Certainly food for thought, thanks guys.

 

[jon1]

I have had loads of stoves over the years and the best ones allways seem to be the ones that you make yourself. They can be small and light, wood or meths and you get a sense of satisfaction when you use them. These are a couple of my latest ones.

The meths burner is made from a deoderant spray can, It's like a trangia one but with an afterburner and only takes 15 secs to full burn. I don't have a photo burning wood yet.
The woodburner stove comes apart when you remove the two rods at the pan stand.
Cheers
John

 

[Fin]

John,

That's a seriously impressive design - when you say "comes apart" is it flatpack?

Also what's it made out of? (Aluminium? SS?). If Aluminium - wouldn't there be a melt risk with wood? Does it burn esbits?

I'm only asking all this because I've always thought that if someone could come up with a true all round bushcraft/ camp stove, made it portable, simple and rugged enough to last a lifetime - a "one stove solution" if you like (must be able to burn available fuel - i.e. wood, alcohol and esbits), coupled with a pleasing aesthetic quality (which your stove has) - then that person could make a killing.

Just looking at the photos and comparing scales (with the pots), I thought "I want one!"

 

[jon1]

Hi Fin.
Yes the stove does burn fuel tablets, thats the first thing that i tried with it. I then thought that i would give the stove a try with one of my many meths burners that i have made. the stove is made of galvanized steel and the oval opening is made from stainless steel. it should last a few years. the reason that the opening is the way it is, is to rest wood on it and just feed it in as it burns. It does flat pack once you remove the two rods at the top. As i have only just finished it i havn't tried wood yet but watch this space and i will try it tomorrow and post some pics for you. My intention though is to use "heat Beads" they burn for 4 hours at a time and i use them all the time in my main multi-fuel stove. thats another story though.
Cheers
John.

 

[Fin]

John,

Keep us posted mate - if you can successfully burn wood (and feeding the fire shouldn't be a problem with the moderately wind protected opening - plus the chimney effect of the tapered design should work) - I think you're on to a winner - your design "looks right" if you know what I mean - be prepared for some demand for this!!

 

[jon1]

just one last thing for tonight. the pan stand at the top is solid on both sides to protect the pan handles from the heat. once it boils you can take the pan off without burning your hands.
I also made the three 9 hour candle lamp this week. it works great.
John.

 

[Matt Weir]

Jon1,

I love your stove mate! Let me know when you start taking orders please!

 

[FGYT]

these guys in the US appear to sell Titanium sheet for stove building if you want lightweight

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/windscreens.html

Jon1 the meths burner any chance of some piccys and a how to make
im just starting to think about using Meths as its cheaper than Green heat and cleaner than hexi

ATB

Duncan

 

[Mastino]

Oops, wrong thread

 

[jon1]

I gave the stove a try today and it was very windy but i am pleased with the results. first off i took some pictures of the stove flatpacked. All in it weighed 560 grams. I put the stove in an old towel bag and as you can see there is room for a few fuel blocks to get the stove going nicely. The meths burner is in my mug with a little fuel

I then lit the stove using some scrap wood, the funnel efect worked perfectly and as you can see i fed the wood into the fire as it burnt. the wood was a little to uniform for a propper test but i am going camping for a week on Sunday. That should give me plenty of time to play around with it.

When i lifted the pan off the stove the handles were only warm to the touch

As this is the first time that i have used the stove i have found a couple of things that i need to adjust. i want to make it as user friendly as possible. Then when i am satisfied with it i am going to use better materials and purchase a couple of tools to make life easier. to make this i used a pair of tin snips, a three inch hobby vice, a dremmel multi tool and a hammer. Very low tech...

FOR FGYT. If you are just starting out with meths may i suggest using a standard Triangia one for now. at least untill you find out the pro' and cons of meths burners. I would love to share with you how i made mine but i took no pics when i did and it can be frustrating sometimes when you make a mistake. I don't want to put you off before you even get started.

Cheers
John.

 

[chem_doc]

Not to be a worry wart, but...

I'd rethink the use of the galvanized metal in the stove. The zinc (which is the galvanizing agent) can come off in the heat as a vapor and be rather nasty to inhale. So you're running the risk of poisoning by the zinc fumes as well as the steel eventually becoming "ungalvanized" and rusting anyway.

But other than that, I'm impressed with the design! Very impressed!

 

[jon1]

Not to be a worry wart, but...

I'd rethink the use of the galvanized metal in the stove. The zinc (which is the galvanizing agent) can come off in the heat as a vapor and be rather nasty to inhale. So you're running the risk of poisoning by the zinc fumes as well as the steel eventually becoming "ungalvanized" and rusting anyway.

But other than that, I'm impressed with the design! Very impressed!

Thanks chem doc. as i only had the galvanised steel to hand i thought it would be ok for the prototype, this is one of the things that i have to change for the next one, thanks for the info anyway as i may not have realised that problem. also the brass rod that i have used to hold the stove together expands and looses the tension required to keep it tight. that one is easily solved though.
Cheers
John.

 

[chem_doc]

Something else to bear in mind too...

I'll have to dig around to be sure, but I hae this niggling thought that brass on bare steel will cause corrosion if they're left in conctact. If you take it apart after using the stove, though, it may not be a problem... Then again, long term storage in the same container may be...

OK, I'll stop now.

 

[FGYT]

FOR FGYT. If you are just starting out with meths may i suggest using a standard Triangia one for now. at least untill you find out the pro' and cons of meths burners. I would love to share with you how i made mine but i took no pics when i did and it can be frustrating sometimes when you make a mistake. I don't want to put you off before you even get started.

Cheers
John.

i just bought a Trangia lookalike in Lidles today for £8.99 mainly for the burner
havent used one for 20+years
im hoping to make something that fits in a Crusader cup stove it already has a shoe polish tin size dish welded in but has little head room for a trangia burner

oh ive got a couple of 25ltr drums of the Industral clear meths knocking about so it will make brews cheaper amasing what happens when you get one number out on a NATO stock number im sure my mate ordered 25ml size

ATB

Duncan

 

[BushTucker]

LMAO

 

[jon1]

Something else to bear in mind too...

I'll have to dig around to be sure, but I hae this niggling thought that brass on bare steel will cause corrosion if they're left in conctact. If you take it apart after using the stove, though, it may not be a problem... Then again, long term storage in the same container may be...

OK, I'll stop now.

No problem doc. I have loads of bits of metal from other projects so i just used them. perhaps you may be able to advise me on the best materials to use once i have the design right. It would be a great help.
Cheers.