Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Home made "Trail Stove" as promised

Okay 1st let me say that the edges could be a little more refined but for a proto just to see how it works it is just fine. If I decide to make one out of Ti. I will take it to work and use our breaks, hole saws etc.

The sheet aluminum is a heat reflector from an industrial flood light. Like the ones in parking lots. Cost = 0.00
I used a soda cup for the template so the radias would turn out and everything would sit level. (Ingenious, I know ) as it turns out it is almost exactly the same dim. as the real thing. cost 1.50
1/4 wire mesh, I already have a roll. 3/4" washer for template. I already had, but I noticed that the end of my grunt tube was the same size.
Basic tools, snips, pencil/pen, ruler, drill. I think that was it.

I 1st check to see if my pot would sit on top. Perfect.


I then split the seem of the cup and cut out the bottom. Laied it out on paper to make a pattern.


Then I taped the pattern to the sheet aluminum.


Taking the bolt washer I laid out the holes around the bottom. I got lucky here as I did not measure or calculate the spacing. I just eyeballed it and it came out perfect.




I then used a dixie type cup for the flue.


I used a ruler and a couple clamps to fold over the ends one going to the inside and the other to the outside. This is so they will lock up.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/P1060032.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/P1060033.jpg[/img]

I grabbed some wire mesh and used the bottom of my pot for the pattern. It worked out pretty good too. I pushed it up inside just barley above the holes mad it convex so it hopefuly won't slide down. The bare ends of the wire should gouge into the side sufficiantly to hold the small peices of wood.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/P1060035.jpg[/img]

And there she is. Took me about 1 1/2 hour to make.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/P1060034.jpg[/img]

I have a pretty good cook system right now. It is very compact and everything fits inside my litt pot.

I don't know how much this home made stove weighs but it is significantly lighter. So if it works it is going to be a little bit of a toss up. Weight for compactability. I shall see.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/BrokenHorn/P1060037.jpg[/img]

The only thing left is to fire it up. I will post more pics when I do thet too.

Get out there tonight and fire it up - its blowing like a son of a gun, see how it works in the wind!

Cool idea there Tom!! Can't wait to see how it works....

WOW!! I'm very impressed! There's no way I'll post a photo of the little hobo stove I made with soup cans while waiting for my Trailstove to arrive! Go fire that baby up. I think you'll be amazed at how well it works. You definitely have to buy some Ti now.

Night,
Here's a photo of my Trailstove. If you're making another prototype, you may want to maximize the firebox as much as possible. I took a few measurements for your consideration. The exhaust hole is exactly 2", and is located a 1/2" down from the top. The fire grate sits 1 7/8" from the bottom edge. Total stove height is 8 3/4" with top and bottom diameters of 4" and 5 1/8". Total weight is 11.7oz.


Here's what the fire grate looks like. Your wire mess will let more air through, and the ash will fall out easier, but maybe some burning coals too. I'm excited to hear how yours works.

If your wire mesh lasts for several burns ok and it slips you can just jb weld it in place where you want it.

mark

I think it'd be easier to drill a few small holes and wire the mesh in place.

Any results from a trial run?

Sorry guys. I got it built but have not burned it yet. I've been real busy lately and when I have the time to do it I just haven't felt like doing it.

I'll get it done thoe and I will post my results with pics.

No problem NightBugle. Appreciate your research and your sharing. Just wanted you to know there are some of us who want to benefit from your research.

Where are you? Looks like we are neighbors.

I'm at work.














but I live in Ogden. You?

Live in Layton.

Resuracting this from the dead.
I finaly did a trial burn lastnight. I was pleasantly surprised at how well and efficiant this thing burns. It is very easy to light and get going. Just a little smoke at first but then ones she is burning there is hardly any smoke at all.

The wire mesh fell to the ground with weight of wood that I kept putting in. I have a solution to that.

I also want to do the vent holes a little different.
Needless to say I was impressed with this little stove and the little pile of ash (no wood chunks) that was left behind.

This warrents a little more fine tuning and a sheet of Titanium.

I dig mine. It really is a cool little stove. And fire is a fun tool to use.

You guys have got me confused. Is this effort just a nice exercise in making something for the fun of it? If so, that's great. But I don't understand why anyone would consider actually carrying one of these stoves in a backpack. I say this because I started camping/backing in the 1950's before lightweight backpacking stoves were invented and I cooked over am open fire all the time. Ths dissadvantages of cooking over an open fire is that you get your pots black and that can get things inside your backpack black. You also have to collect fire wood and build a campfire. But you don't have to carry the weight and bulk of the stove. It appears to me that these "trail stoves" combine the worst parts of both situations.

KC

KC,
The nice part about the little trailstoves it that gathering sufficient wood takes a few minutes. They are extremely efficient and put all of the heat where it needs to go. I always thought a big fire while packing was a huge waste of energy. The other thing is at or above treeline there is not a whole lot of wood available and what little is there is enough to get water boiling on something like the trailstove.

Varmintsinc:

I'm not advocating cooking over an open fire. I use a small cannister stove, the MSR Pocket Rocket, for weekend trips. That is much smaller and much lighter weight than your "trail stove" and it doesn't require any campfire at all. The Brunton Crux is even smaller.

I agree with you that open campfires are a big waste of energy. I rarely have a campfire anymore unless I bring the firewood from home. Campfires are a vestige of traditional camping left over from when we didn't know better and there were too few of us to make much impact. They are a luxury that the environment can no longer sustain and they should be discouraged. It's rarely if ever environmentally sound to gather fire building materials above timberline. That environment is just too fragile to sustain much impact.

I know you stated that your "trail stove" uses just the amount of fuelwood that is needed and no more and that's great. So it's better than an open campfire. But I'm not going to carry anything as heavy and bulky as those "trail stoves". I've learned my lessons from 50 years of backpacking experience.

KC

I carry the brunton crux (see my pics) and I really like it. It is very small fits under my fuel canister that fits inside my pot. The trailstove is bulky and I would worry about crushing it in my pack.

It's somewhat of a toss up right now. The trailstove is definatly lighter than my brunton and fuel. Right now I fire up my brunton to bring water to a boil and then shut her down. I have more food options with the trailstove as I could simmer without worry of running out of fuel. With the trailstove you would never have to worry about that.

If I am caught in a long rain I can get under my tarp and light my trailstove and enjoy the added heat and dry out some. I'm sure I could find a tree to get under and build a traditional fire but the fire can't be under the tree and out of the rain.

My design that I'm working on would eliminate blacked pots.

KC,
Were actually on the same page, I thought you were implying cooking over the campfire. I use the snowpeak giga stove and agree the convenience of a light weight gas stove is tough to beat. My kids love the idea of "making a fire" (not pyromaniacs just like the little fire) and the trailstove works for that without to many resources used.

the wood burners seem to be growing in popularity even with the ultralite guys. the weight savings being from carrying no fuel. I think wood burners would shine on extended trips and doubt their small footprint and wood usage causes any significant impact. agreed there is nothing is much more convenient than the pocket rocket, but there's the satisfaction of using a stove built by your own hands.