Hobo Stove Gallery (Probably picture heavy)

[DavidEnoch]

I made one of the Garlington WoodGas stoves this weekend. It is tiny stove! It measures 7.5 cm (3") in dia. and 11.5 cm (4 1/2") high. I had trouble making the pot supports to match the ones on the web site. I broke up tiny stick up to pencil diameter into 3 cm (1") lengths as suggested and placed enogh sticks to stack up to about 7.5 cm (3") high. That is only a handful of short bits of sticks with the smallest ones on top. Since I was having trouble with the pot supports, I put the stove below the grate of my charcoal grill and put a 2 qt. pot of water on the grate. This doesn't work as well since there isn't a way to contain the heat from the stove up to the pot. I used about 1 teaspoon of charcoal lighter fluid to start the fire from the top as directed. We had about 30 mph winds and 40 degree temperature outside. The stove smoked just a little for about 30 seconds and then burned without smoke for the next 15 minutes. The water was close to a boil but didn't boil. I am sure I would have had a quick boil if I had the proper pot holder and a wind screen wrapped around the stove and pot. I was quite impressed with the little stove. Now, I just have to firgure out the pot supports. Once I get the pot supports figured out I will take some pictures and check my boil time.

I want to tell you guys that I have been very impressed with the cook kits I have seen in this thread. They are quite impressive.

David Enoch

 

[Bergh]

Can anyone help me Getting those Morrisons Pots/Canisters that Wayland uses for his kit?

I have my self a Zebra Billy can 10cm and 12cm i both want to have fitting Morrison Pots to use as Hobo Stoves. And i cant get anything of use i Denmark

I will ofcourse play ALL expenses and a bit for your trouble helping me.

A site link to where i can get the Morrison s/s pots would also be help full.

Kind Regards
Brian Bergh

 

[addo]

I cant help at the moment Brian, but these sort of canisters are available from many supermarkets and hardware stores and Ikea type homeware places. Just a case of taking measurements and a tape to the store, to make sure you get the ones that fit and dont need too much work to convert, the difference in the lids can make you change your mind also.

If stuggling to find them still, im sure someone could help you out from here.

 

[Jimcatt]

If you have a dog, a 800g tin of Chppie gives him a meal and you a nice size tin to play with

 

[Bergh]

Danish Supermarkets and stores dont care much in s/s steel canisters sadly.

 

[Neanderthal]

Scene One, Act One. (At Tescos)

Me: "I fancy a big tin of Tomato Soup."
Wife: "You're making another Hobo Stove aren't you?"
Me: "No, I just fancy some tomato soup."
Wife: "You're making another Hobo Stove aren't you?"
Me: "Yes."

Packed and Unpacked
Components: Bag, chain for hanging over open fire, cotton wool balls, Meths, Red Bull can Alchohol burner, Hexi Blocks, Matches, Beverage ingredients,
Plastic blowpipe with brass pipe insert. Pint Mug with handle removed.

Hexi Mode, Alcohol Mode, Wood Burning Mode.

Holes around the top and bottom were made with a Church Key can opener. I used an Opinel penknife to hack out the big hole in the side to feed in the fuel.
The mesh in the bottom allows good air intake from below which made a big improvement. This also provides a raised base for the alcohol and Hexi options.
The Billy is a coffee storage can from Morrisons with a brake cable handle pop riveted on.

The stove is sat on the foil tray from a quiche and protects the grass long enough to make a brew.

Stu

 

[dogwood]

For years I've used a hobo stove made from a simple coffee can. Everything nests, it works pretty well, but nothing fancy. Actually, it's pretty ratty. But it feeds me and keeps me warm(ish) and it costs nothing.

My teenage daughter has finally agreed to accompany me backpacking (the fact that her boyfriend backpacks helps) so we're off to the woods the week after Christmas.

Wayland inspired me to make her a fancy hobo stove (she makes fun of my battered can) as a present before the trip.

Here's a picture of the results and then an explanation of a couple of oddball touches.

Requirements: it had to be shiny and work well. So I picked up a stainless steel cutlery container for a couple of dollars and cut various holes in it.

However, I've been interested in a particular design aspect of the bushbuddy stove: it has a raised wire stand where the wood and coals sit. My coffee can has an annoying quality: as time wears on the coals and ash load up a the bottom and soon don't have enough oxygen to burn well.

The bushbudy design eliminates that problem by allowing the ash to fall through while the coals and burning wood stay suspended over a a grill of open air.

I set out to mimic this behavior by bolting a stainless steel kitchen drain in the bottom of my daughter's stove. Here is one view:

and another, which also shows the top "grill" (more plumbing -- in the case a SS shower drain cover)

My *hope* is the wood and coals will accumulate in the drain basket and ash will fall through. I worry that the holes in the drain basket might be a little too fine to let the ash through efficiently, but we'll see. The drain has about inch of elevation off the bottom of the stove.

If it works the way I hope, in theory it could be a pretty efficient burner (I may need some additional air holes, but we'll see.)

Why bolt the drain basket in place rather tan suspending it on skewers so I can make the height variable for multi fuel? One reason: it's present and I thought having too many individual parts might turn my daughter off.

If the overall concept works, I'll make another one -- smaller and lighter with an adjustable drain basket height.

Here it is packed up with its cup inside:

(Yes, I need to shorten the skewers so it will fit well inside its bag, I just didn't get around to it before these photos.)

I'll report back on the performance of the "suspended coal basket" approach once we're back from our post-Christmas trip.

Thoughts?

P.S. Thanks for Wayland to starting this thread, as a hobo stove user of many years, I've seen a ton of interesting ideas that never occurred to me...

 

[Wilderbeast]

wow that's cool, i think i'll try one myself!!!

 

[jddubber]

hi guys, loving these stoves , i will make one soon would these tins of gel fuel be any good ? obviously itll have the wood burnin capability too
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=260215282092&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

 

[dogwood]

When I was a kid I used sterno sometimes and regretted it. It has a bad odor and seems to smoke stuff up -- plus I found that it tended to warm things rather than cook them.

But it's cheap enough, so give a can a try and see how you feel about it. Your reaction might be different than mine (and it might I have changed, I haven't tried sterno in 25 years)

If you want a fuel backup (for times when wood might not be available) I recommend esbit tablets.

hi guys, loving these stoves , i will make one soon would these tins of gel fuel be any good ? obviously itll have the wood burnin capability too
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=260215282092&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=016

 

[DavidEnoch]

I have not had any luck finding nesting stainless steel containers. I did pick up a set of 4seamless nesting canisters (no lids) made of aluminum at a thrift store for a couple dollars. Will aluminum work for the stove and pot?

Thanks,

David Enoch

 

[dogwood]

In my experience, it depends on the aluminum and its weight: the problem I've seen is burn through and warping on lighter weight aluminum.

However, the burn through should only happen if you blow a lots on a bed of coals or charcoal (at least that's the only time I've seen it), so you should be OK if you only want to boil a bit of water.

But steel is better by a large margin.

If you don't care about how it looks, consider using a couple of sizes of steel cans that nest -- often you can find tomatos in different sized cans that are perfect for this. They'll get you going and then, as opportunity permits, you can find slightly better finished ones.

I've used a can stove for a long time - the one I made for my daughter is the first fancy one I've ever done. It was fun.

Good luck!

 

[BossCat]

I dont think aluminium would be any good as its a weak metal and as dogwood says it may warp buckle? Thats the last thing you want on a trip out is your dinner ending up in the fire due to a dodgy tin.

Try scouting around supermarkets for large fameily size tins of soup/spaggettie/beans etc
If pushed you could even buy a large tin of dog food just for the tin and give nextdoors dog an Xmass treat

Carboot sales is a good place to browse around, only last week I bought a set of 3 small nesting tins for £2.

Keep yer eyes peeled. Most members like myself cant go into a strore or whatever and pass a tin/bucket/container without thinking - That would make a good hobo stove

Tom

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

yet another hobo stove...
http://www.survivalbill.ca/phpBB3/wordpress.php

 

[Chris G]

Looks good. Have you tried it yet and also how much did it cost to make?

 

[Wayland]

Nice one Bill, I like the legs on that, do they get soft when the stove heats up though?

 

[xpolex]

ohh **** guess whos of to the arcade for a coffee tin and a drainer ...maybe being stuck in the city's not so bad after all....

 

[andybysea]

heres my attempt, its a very basic Wayland(ish) design,my misses wants new accesseries for the kitchen so ive made use of the old ones,

here is it packed up

and laid out, its a woolworths drainer,a ss coffee pot,a meths burner(ti) a old pellet tin(contains hexi's) a meths bottle, two steel rods,a old ss cup for a lid,and a pot grabber,and bag,

here is is heating, using some sticks taken from back of garden,

,


finally boiling (quite quick under 5)

 

[OldFingersGreen]

nice thread guys! couldn't help getting invlolved.

mine is a lot smaller than most of these, it boils about 3/4l at the max but it does it quickly. It isn't actually finished yet, needs a few more holes drilling and the insides filing down a little.

above is the hobo stove set up, the cup goes on top when i'm cooking, surprisingly does not get too hot to hold. i take teabags, a sponge, charcloth, a home made oak spoon and a simple home made hexi block style thingy.

and this si it all packed down ready to go in the flectarn pouch.


great to see some of the craftsmanship that has gone in to some of these, some really impressive work!

 

[Elines]

The article here
http://www.bushcraftnorthwest.com/articles/stove%20article.htm
looks to be on a useful portabele wood burning stove - it is based on a Sterno Folding Stove (measures 6.5”x 6.5&#8221. I cannot find this for sale in the UK - is there a near equivalent in size,weight , function etc. ( I am not into metal work and so cannot make one)