The Big thread of Tiny Stoves

Many in the colder parts of the world keep a survival kit in their vehicles, in case they break down on the road. I don't go far north, anymore, especially in the winter, but even when there's no snow, it can get pretty cold out, especially at night. I have no budget for one of those little tent stoves or fuel, to simply sit unused (potentially/ hopefully forever), in the trunk. But, I'd love to have means to heat a tent & cook a simple meal with minimal wood fuel.

Toward that end, I've looked at plans for several different DIY mini stoves, including coffee can rockets with perlite/ cement, stacked cinder blocks (seems kinda hazardous in a tent), 5gallon bucket ones (these are too big, btw), and canned food ones that use waxes, or oils (again, oil/wax seems hazardous in a tent).

With the understanding that there will always be a need for ventilation, have you found something DIY you like, for this? The DIY, mini size, & no-cost fuel are important.

During my days of extensive driving, I kept a survival kit in my car. This was prompted by a story about a woman found trapped in her car maybe two weeks after it slid into a ravine.   I wanted to keep things at a sane level cost and volume wise. So I kept matches, a dozen road flares, and a few cans of Steno. Both the flares and Sterno served multiple functions….light source, signal, fire starter, cooking, warmth, cooking, etc. of course, I had other items as well.

We boondocked extensively for our 3 years of full time rv travel. We cold keep the RV warm and cook meals on a paraffin iron stove. If the temp was over 45 degrees, it would heat us up to the 70's inside. I still use it in our tent when I tent camp with the kids and just about every morning watching the chickens and drinking coffee. It has a real nice ambiance. In the canvas 10x14 tent, it'll keep the temps nice inside down to 50 outside. I have a $10 battery powered CO2 alarm I keep with us. That could be part of the kit. This would allow you to stay in the car and heat it up.

You can google paraffin oil stove or DIY paraffin oil stove and then diy that with the oil/wick/can/small cast iron skillet or plate. With the CO2 detector and some common sense, it is a safe solution.

Otherwise, you'd want a hot tent and hot tent stove. That would be quite an investment for a just in case kit as you mention. You could risk a lot sitting next to a campfire if you don't have a way to block the wind and reflect the heat to yourself. I am not sure fire making supplies would be a solution without shelter or shelter making supplies.

For those of you that have money to spend or relatives that like to buy you things, this looks like the non diy version of what I mean:

https://winnerwell.us/collections/iron-stove-collection/products/iron-stove-essentials-bundle

Carla Burke wrote: With the understanding that there will always be a need for ventilation, have you found something DIY you like, for this? The DIY, mini size, & no-cost fuel are important.

Personally, the safest option for a tent (or in the car itself), is the approach of having some sort of a wind shelter outside, and a homemade version of the canned food type on which you heat up water, then transfer the water into a hot water bottle or other heat tolerant bottle that can flex to accommodate the change in volume as it cools.

That way the "burning" part happens outside, but water is really good at releasing its heat gradually, to keep you warm long enough to get some sleep.

I have tried making the tin can with perlite rocket, and it wouldn't work for me if the wood is at all damp. I've since read that perlite really isn't the best stuff for the job and insulated cob (straw and clay slip) would work better. The trick would be having the right size wood and being able to watch it carefully. Again, I would not be happy with it in a tent. Tents go up like Roman Candles and we've had way too many bad fires in homeless camps from heat sources inside tents. I'm biased - I like my permies alive!

I've thought about sterno & DIY sterno, and that might still be the route I go. I like the battery operated co2 idea. The 'tent' wouldn't be much more than a wind/rain break, to start with, as it would be comprised of a tarp, the car door or trunk lid, or a tree (to keep it off me) & some tie-downs. Our family (though not me, personally) has had too much loss - including life - to fires, for me to get stupid with it. That said, not everyone has, and it's good to reiterate.

I'm still searching, and found this, that I'm going to try,  on a smaller scale:    He also strongly recommends & describes safety precautions. A similar one I've seen was tightly rolled cardboard, as the wick, with wax melted and poured in, where he's using denatured alcohol. That's also on my radar.

Nice video. I like that it's something that can be put on a shelf and not have a best before date, although I wonder if the fuel he's using would slowly seep out through the rim, since it's close to a gas.

That's where doing the rolled cardboard and melted wax might be good.

I do like that he's using sand as a bit of a safety gap.

Agreed! It's one of the main reasons I'm looking at the wax - that and cardboard (especially the sizes I'd use for this) is already a waste material. And, the fact that I already have everything on hand!

Using a whole TP roll as a lamp wick is a new one on me! In 2020 we would have been aghast! LMAO!

Alcohol fuels don't burn very hot. In completely calm, controlled conditions they are useful. In an emergency in the great outdoors, any wind will severely reduce its usefulness for cooking, and it might not burn as clean as you'd like (noxious fumes).

Personally I would always keep liquid fuel sealed in its original, approved container until I was ready to use it.

I wonder if something like a Kelly Kettle could be improvised out of a big old stainless steel thermos from a thrift shop.

Carla, are you familiar with the Kelly Kettle?  (Might be kelley kettle)

Free fuel:  twigs, dry grass, paper.

The fire goes up through a stainless steel tube.  The cooking place surrounds the fire.  I don’t know what skills you and H have, but building a substitute is way out of my league.  It’s the water tight, fire safe and food safe combination that would convince me to buy the kettle.

When I first heard of the contraption I wanted one.  Probably the reason that prevented me from getting one then was because I couldn’t figure out what size and who to buy from.  I do tend to complicate things!  

Thekla McDaniels wrote:Carla, are you familiar with the Kelly Kettle?  (Might be kelley kettle)

I believe another, more generic, name for these is "volcano stove".

Thank you, yes, I am familiar, but the key in this, is DIY. There's no budget for it, at all. There are lots of options for purchase, for those who have room in their budget. But, for something that will (hopefully) never be needed, I'm not willing to set aside regularly needed items, for this. And, I know of others who also have to DIY or do without, as well.  

Well, if both stove and fuel need to be free, then the volcano type stove might be the solution.

If you’re not going to drink the water you heat, then solder isn’t a problem, which is the extent of my metal working skills.

I recently made one of those coffee can stoves (not with perlite, but with garden gravel as the insulator, zero budget-needs must etc etc), and I would not use it inside a tent, no way no how. I'm iffy even using it under the (high) roof on my back porch.
It cost zero, and I love having it around if we have a gas shortage (I only really cook with gas anymore when I use my wok, for the rest I use induction-- it gets INSANELY hot and perfect for the wok). I think the idea above about using it outside the tent to heat water/food you bring inside the tent is the way to go.

And the volcano style stove doesn’t need any insulation

Firepan on the bottom
Metal chimney or heat riser goes through a chamber containing water.

Because the water is fluid, as it heats it circulates (convection?), bringing cooler water in contact with the metal chimney (conduction).

Once the water is hot, you could bring it into an enclosed space where it will radiate its heat.😊

So, here's a funny: when you were recommending the volcano, I had to look it up, and this is what kept coming up (which is why I was thinking the DIY part of my request had been missed):
https://volcanogrills.com/product/volcano-3-collapsible-grill-stove/

I definitely don't have that much in disposable income, right now (my goats are eating us out of house and home, this winter!) But, somewhere along my search, I finally came across the Swiss volcano stove:  

That makes a whole lot more sense, AND is very similar to what I was thinking of (the hobo rocket stove) with my food can stove idea!🤣

I'm curious: what would be your wood source?

Carla, your video finally made itself available to me.  I guess the manufactured water bottle takes care of my concerns about possible leak and lead contamination concerns.

Looks like you’re all set!  Let us know how it turns out!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I'm curious: what would be your wood source?

I live in a log home in the woods and use a woodstove, for heat. It would be super easy for me to bundle up appropriately sized twigs and sticks, just walking around my 'yard', and keep them with the stove, in the trunk, nice and dry. Also, we are in the Missouri Ozarks, and rarely go more than an hour or two (at about 65mph) from home. My personal concern is getting stranded somewhere without cell service, and being stuck on the side of the road overnight. I'm just enough disabled that hoofing it more than a mile or so in inclement weather would end up, at the very least, with me laid up for a couple weeks. And on these dark, hilly, curvy country roads, *if* a car happens by, after dark, they're more likely to hit me, before they knew I was there, than stop to help. I would just be far safer, staying put, until daylight - as long as I have a heat & water heating source. I'm hypoglycemic, so too many hours without sustenance, and things can go south, fast. But, I'd not ever expect to need it more than a single night - which is why I'd bundle enough for three. 😜 Even if John and I were together - his health is far more precarious than mine.

I generally try to avoid going out alone, later in the day, anyway. But, sometimes, shit happens, and when it does, Murphy's law typically goes into full-on-rage mode, lol.

Okay, I see! I agree that staying with the vehicle is the smart choice.

The bigger your "stove" the better it will perform. Personally I think that tiny wood burners are mostly an exercise in frustration, smoke, and constant feeding with tiny sticks. Please test your system in real-world conditions before you rely on it.

I'm not sure how much extra weight you're willing to carry in the vehicle, but I'm currently experimenting with fibreglass welding blankets in combination with portable wood stoves. These channel heat where I need it without risk of fire. But they're a bit heavy.

Douglas, the welding blankets are a great idea, and I *think* we might even have one or two in the workshop, where John's forges & our welding & metal cutting stuff are stashed. We drive a decent sized sedan that often gets its trunk stuffed with hay, straw, several 50# bags of feed, etc. What I'm looking at, is a list of emergency supplies/ equipment that (aside from a tarp or two, and the blankets) could be contained in a 12"×12×24" or so sized ammunition box, to keep it together and not smooshed, as well as maybe providing me with a seat, if I'm outside for long.

One scenario John and I were talking about as a frighteningly likely one, would be him in the hospital, and a tired, stressed me driving back & forth between him (the closest hospital is 45 minutes away, and the closest GOOD one is about an hour and a half away.) and home to take care of all the critters, hit a deer, and end up off the road, in a ravine, where no one could even see me. Obviously, I'm not looking for this - just preparing, like a good little scout, lol.

Could your ammo box be your wood stove? With a bit of tin can chimney to add draft and move smoke away?

A "cat stove" is a cheap alcohol burning stove.  Basically, use a paper punch to make an array of holes near the top of a cat food or other small (e.g. chopped olive) can.  A printable pattern can be downloaded, here:
https://www.supercatstove.com/docs/SuperCat_HolePunchTemplates.pdf

These are best run on alcohol - high proof grain alcohol or the yellow "HEET" gas line dryer and antifreeze.  In chilly northern climes, it's pretty typical to have a bottle or two of gas line antifreeze in your rig, anyway, and it can do double duty.

I'd tried to build a "capillary hoop" alcohol stove, which basically uses a number of very small channels (thus capillary) as a metal wick to draw up and vaporize alcohol.  They are supposed to be very fuel efficient, but I haven't yet gotten one just right.  Here's a discussion thread on the "White Blaze" forums (dedicated to hiking the Appalachian Trail):
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/115099-Capillary-Hoop-Stove-discussion
And YouTube user tetkoba's  instructions for making one:

It is very tricky to get the channels crimped evenly, and just so, and the tiny jet holes drilled freehand.  I'm sure practice makes perfect, but I am out of V8 juice cans, and am on a low carb kick, so won't be buying any more, at least for a while.  Red Bull cans are also recommended, but unless I pick some up out of the ditch, I won't be acquiring any of those, either, so this line of development is at halt, at least in my basement.

Any of these alcohol stoves (and there are many more designs, including the venerable "penny stove"), will be difficult to light in truly cold weather.  Keeping the fuel in your jacket until needed will help.  This is a common tactic with butane canister stoves, as well.

A few years ago, I made several TLUD (top light updraft) twig burning stoves of the "Midge" pattern from tin cans.  Here's one recipe, but Google will turn up more:
https://www.driveonwood.com/static/media/uploads/pdf/midge_woodgas_stove.pdf
The problem I had was that the combustion was unstable.  When it was working, it was great (pre-heated secondary air allowed for relatively complete and smokeless combustion).  However, I did not seem to have the requisite operator skill to maintain a clean burn through a refueling cycle.  The clean burn seemed to be knife-edge.  I haven't tinkered with it in a few years, though I still have at least one kicking around down in the basement.

My end goal for a "truck stove" emergency shelter setup is a homemade silnylon or other very lightweight pyramid tent and a homemade knockoff of the Hill People Gear Shepherd Stove:

These stoves were only briefly available commercially.  HPG had production issues with the several contract shops which they successively engaged to build these.  They were highly regarded by high altitude sheep and elk hunters, ski tourers and the like.  This is not a cheap solution, even if only built from 0.010" 300-series stainless shim stock, rather then titanium, so probably doesn't fit Carla's criteria.

NightHawkinLight has a video on using a tube of tub silicone to waterproof a bed sheet to make a lightweight tarp:

This would be fairly budget friendly.

A hardware store "blue tarp" can be used to make a relatively cheap pyramid style hot tent, as well, as Lonnie from Far North Bushcraft and Survival teaches:


(Edited: minor spelling/grammatical corrections, and made all of the YT links all embedded)

Hey, Douglas! I thought about that, but that would leave the interior of the ammo box a blackened mess that I wouldn't want to put the other stuff back into, for storage, and I'm trying to keep from needing a 2nd one, because we do need every possible square inch of the trunk for hay, feed, etc. But, if the space was available (in other words, if we weren't using the impala as the farm truck🙄), I think that would be perfect! And, in fact (come to think of it), if there's a bundle of wood...it might be best to have a box to stash the wood in, so yup - still a possibility, there!

Hi, Kevin! Thanks for the videos! You've saved me from hunting (again!) for the waterproofing old sheets one, and the others are new to me. I'm really reluctant to carry the alcohol, in quantities enough to keep me warmish, through a whole night or two, in the same space where I have to haul my livestock's food, though. That's why I was thinking more along the lines of the wax (it would be beeswax) or wood. I'll check out the other videos, too. The tent one, in particular, looks interesting. I mean, I know quite a few ways to make shelters, but the more options I know, the better my chances of getting one of them to work with what's available, in the time of need!

I don't know if this type of stove would be suitable for what you want (although I assume you know it).
https://logcabincooking.com/hobo-tin-can-portable-rocket-stove-class/
I made one years ago and I cook in it frequently, four twigs and that's it.

Hi, Ana, and thank you! Yup - that's a good little stove, and I've made & used them. That's one of the ones that have been in my mind, for this. The downside to it is the small can that sticks out - which is why I was asking for other ideas, too. It's still a possibility.

Good morning Carla!

The Kelly Kettle people make a thing they call a hobo Stove. It doesn’t have the smaller can poking out. You might like the design it’s pretty simple and you could probably make it out of a gallon size tin can

HI Carla,-

First off, I recommend a search for a used down sleeping bag or two, to survive the cold in. I've used big plastic bag vapor barrier ( rule of thumb: Put VP on warm side) within a sleeping bag in very cold weather to great effect  - I was waking up with cold feet, ankles and calves; with bag, woke up with warm toes. Warning - suffocation hazard.

Second, don't rocket stoves burn fast and clean? Don't TLUDs burn slow and almost as clean?

I imagine a two-can TLUD stove might be slowed down by covering its primary air intakes with a sheet metal band ( from another tin can or beer can?) that could be slid up and down to adjust primary intake air. Secondary air, always unrestricted, completes combustion.

About TLUDs (in case some haven't heard of them):
Microgasification: What it is and why it works  https://woodgas.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BP53-Anderson-14.pdf [2007]
See two-can TLUD in photo on page 6 of : https://woodgas.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/TLUD-History-V2-17FEB2016.pdf
Some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzu3BxiZpGg Dr TLUD 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkadnjjO5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAzAeZZDQhg

I think TLUDs can be fueled with wood pellets, a cheap, easy fuel that could store in that ammo box and stay dry. Sawdust won't let through enough air to allow continued  burning, I believe. Wood chips, dried, may be ideal, Or pine cones or pine dead branches, snapped off.

Brian
-

Hi, Brian! Thanks! It's definitely worth looking into, and learning about. It is a bit more complicated than I'm ready to pull together, right away, but maybe after I play around with it, and get comfortable with the whole setup.

Carla, I hope someday to explore the 'Two-Can' TLUD stove, to see if I could make a bunch of them for folks living in the woods around here. Maybe I can, if I make one, show others how to.

Brian

Carla -

While alcohol (especially in the sealed factory container) is probably safe-ish, I take your point.  The "buddy burner" style of heater, made with corrugated cardboard and paraffin or bees wax is pretty bomb-proof, and the price is right, too.

For more serious heating, either in cold temps, or for the longer term, I think it's hard to beat a wood burner for most locations within the US, outside of some National Parks and a few other places with burn restrictions.

Another solid fuel "stove" (solid fuel, in this case being sticks, twigs, pine cones, twists of grass, etc.) is a "Sibley stove" - basically a cone of sheet iron, with a fuel door and chimney.  The cone is open at the bottom, and the fire is traditionally built directly on the ground.

Here's a page showing an antique original which was for sale:
https://perryadamsantiques.com/shop/sold/civil-war-period-sibley-tent-stove/

There are modern, smaller versions of these made from sheet steel (or even titanium, for the fancy folks!).  The bought ones tend to be un-cheap.  I'll attach or link to a pattern, which could be cut from galvanized flashing or steel shim stock, to DIY a Sibley-esque fire container.  I need to dig through my external hard drive to locate it.

I can also post or link to plans for a couple of other small, packable wood stoves, mostly used for canoe camping or high country hunting.  But, I think as emergency "truck stoves", they hold a lot of promise.

That's pretty neat, Kevin! Thanks!!

Hi Carla, again, I saw this video of an Argentinian cyclist and I thought that maybe it was close to what you want, it is in Spanish but with the subtitles you might be able to understand it (that is how I watch the videos in English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFddFO_rt7w

Oh! That was the alcohol one, it was this other one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS19pC8rohg

Hi, Ana! I'd forgotten all about those! My dad used to have a very similar one that he used in the garage workshop, and they often have them in military surplus stores. This brings back fond memories...

Carla Burke wrote:That's pretty neat, Kevin! Thanks!!

Carla -

Just getting back to you on this now.

Here's Dave Hadfield's recipe for a canoe stove:
http://hadfield.ca/the-wood-stove/

And another on from Lonnie at "Far North Bushcraft and Survival", in 2 parts:
Part 1

Part 2


Neither of these pack down very small, but maybe small enough for keeping in a truck.  They have a flat top, so would be better for cooking.

Cylinder (roll up) stoves do pack pretty small, but cooking on them will be trickier:
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10147424/re-ed-ts-quick-bolt-roll-up-cylinder-stove
There are variations of this one which use SnowPeak titanium backpacking pates for the ends.  I have stainless steel burner covers from Walmart waiting in the wings, but haven't actually gotten to the point of assembling one.  I've been debating how long of a roll of stainless shim stock to buy.  I should just get one big enough to also make the knock-off HPG Shepherd stove.  But, that will be about $200.  I have galvanized flashing, so maybe I should just use that for the prototype.  As Red Green said, "This is temporary - unless it works".

Tim from Down Under had a homemade one for ski camping: that was quite compact
https://timtinker.com/the-kiss-tent-stove-for-alpine-tent-heating/

Knico's Tundra model knocks down flat:
https://www.kni-co.com/tundra_stove
This is quite heavy, but maybe doesn't matter so much for a truck stove, though.  A homemade version would be doable, I think.

There were several commercially available which used continuous (piano) hinges that looked like they'd be easy to replicate at home, but I can't spot any of them now.

And, of course, the one from Hill People Gear, which I previously referenced might be DIY-able.  There are box stove models from Kifaru, Seek Outside and others, but most of them use a bunch of loose hardware that would be fiddly to manage with cold fingers and could be easily misplaced or lost in the snow, so I am not a fan of that style, homemade or otherwise.

Hi, Kevin! Those look great! Probably too big for the trunk of our car, and still be able to use it like we need to, but very neat, and fun to check out - and to keep in mind for later, when we (FINALLY) get a truck. Thank you!

Carla Burke wrote:Hi, Kevin! Those look great! Probably too big for the trunk of our car, and still be able to use it like we need to, but very neat, and fun to check out - and to keep in mind for later, when we (FINALLY) get a truck. Thank you!

Carla -

Yup, and if it's too big and bulky, you are likely to jettison it to make room for paying freight, and then not have it in an emergency when you really need it.  Better something that can slide behind or under the bench seat of a standard cab truck, into the trunk of the family sedan, etc.

Here's one of the fold-flat stoves I was thinking of (it just took some digging to unearth it) - pretty easy to DIY since all of the hinges are piano hinges:
https://bigskycanvas.com/products/uncompahgre-collapsible-pack-stove-the-unc

There was another one which had (equilateral) triangular ends, rather than rectangular or square, but still a flat top for cooking.  Wyoming Lost and Found?  I think that was it, but it was some such company or brand.  As I recall, one of the long sides had a hinge in the middle, both of the triangular ends were hinged to a side without the middle hinge, so it folded flat, too.  Somewhat like the chamfered bricks in the bottom of a batch box firebox, the sloping sides of the triangular cross section would keep the hot coals bunched together.  I don't quite remember how the legs were set up on that one.  Maybe I can find something on this stove on the Wayback Machine, since the website seems to be MIA.

In the case of both the Uncompahgre and the Wyoming whatever-it-was, there were no loose parts to misplace.  Even the Knico has a couple of separate pieces, though they are mostly pretty big and harder to misplace.

Another consideration for a "desperate times, desperate measures" stove is how easily it can be set up with one arm/hand functional.  Whether it's frostbite, compound fracture or gunshot wound, if a stove can be set up one-handed, it might be possible to hunker down and heal up or wait for help.  Efficiency of combustion (and of getting that heat to the person/structure being heated, rather than just roaring up the stack) is another important consideration.  If you are hurt from sliding off the road, or are just caught out in a blizzard and forced to fort up somewhere, it's important to make the best use of the easily procurable fuel.  Clean combustion will also reduce olfactory signature - reduced smoke smell - which could make it less likely that someone will find you when you are trying to fly under the radar; you hate to think this way, but you don't know what trouble may come.  Any of these stoves are likely to be better than an open fire in this regard, in any case.

I've also picked up a couple of vintage Pyromid cookers - not quite stoves, but the do fold flat and are in fact pretty efficient when using charcoal briquettes.
https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/description-and-pics-of-the-pyromid-stove-system.50051/
I have baked bread in the oven setup several times, have used it for hot dog and bratwurst cookery as well, but haven't yet tried cooking a chicken.  They are a bit fiddly to assemble, and there are multiple loose pieces, but they are pretty compact.  These do show up on Ebay and the like fairly frequently, but some people seem awfully proud of them and price accordingly.

All of the above figure into why I thought the Hill People Gear Shepherd Stove was a pretty optimal combo.  Lightweight.  Packs quite small.  Two largish pieces, not counting the roll-up chimney.  Probably could be assembled with one hand and some knee squeezing.  Was reputed to burn pretty cleanly and efficiently.  Big enough to keep a floorless tipi/pyramid tent livable, even in below zero F temperatures.

A small folding buck saw might be a good pairing with one of these pack stoves, though a hatchet (I like the little Fiskars model, though I have several) will be handy, too.  I have a Spring Creek saw, but I'm not in love with it ( https://www.springcreek.com/product/paddle-sports/camping/tuff-camp-saw/ - and I'll guarantee you I didn't pay that kind of money for it!).  The handle is quite uncomfortable, and it is also quite noisy when collapsed, with the blade rattling inside the tubular aluminum.  I also have a Sven saw ( https://svensaw.com/shop/saws/sven-saw-21/ - they're also not cheap, anymore; I bought mine with paper route money when I was a Boy Scout), which is a classic pack saw, though the triangular shape artificially limits the size of wood you can cut.  A cheap hardware store bow saw will probably serve equally as well as either of these.  For larger diameter stuff, the saw is much faster than the hatchet.  An old fashioned buck saw would be a good project, and can mostly be made from scrap/pallet wood:
https://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/how-to-make-folding-bucksaw/
One example of many.

I'll get you the patterns for the not-quite-Sibley conical stoves.  I know I have it somewhere, but I must not be using quite the right keywords to search my bid stash-o-stuff drive.

I hope this long winded excursions aren't too tiresome.