Homemade camp stove vs. Survival Stove

Today I created a homemade lightweight camping stove.

I took two Foster's beer cans and cut the bottoms off. I then took the bottom of one and drilled several holes around the outer edge, plus 5 holes in the center. I then placed a small amount of attic insulation in the bottom can. Next I put the bottom with holes drilled into it inside the other. I filled the can with HEET which is a fuel line deicer, and extremely combustible.

I got this idea originally from a web site called www.itstactical.com. I then saw how to make it in the latest issue of Backwoods Home magazine (July/August 2010). I decided to test this stove against a small pocket / survival stove I bought from REI for about $10. It's called an Esbit Pocket stove (see below). It was about 8:00 p.m., and 85 degrees out when I did this comparison. The humidity was typical of Georgia for this time of year (which means A Lot!!!). There was no wind, and the weather was quite mild.

 Now to put the two to a test. I filled the beer can stove with the HEET and placed a tin cup filled with 2 cups of cold water on it to see how long it would take to reach a rolling boil.

It took a total of 10 minutes and 46 seconds for the water to come to a rolling boil. The stove continued to burn itself out after about a total of 15 minutes.

Next up was the Esbit Pocket Stove. This compact little stove is made in Germany, and uses solid fuel cubes as fuel. I placed another 2 cups of cold water in the tin cup, and began the test again. The packaging states that this unit will bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil in under 8 minutes. Sadly my high expectation were dashed. after 11 minutes all I achieved were small bubbles at the bottom of the tin.

Needless to say the homemade beer can stove won the competition. Both units cost less than $15, and both are lightweight, compact, and easy to use. I may carry both when I go hiking next. I think the Esbit would have reached a rolling boil if I had used two fuel cubes at once, or if I was only trying to purify 1 cup. I still like the unit, and I don't think you can beat the price. But the homemade stove will be much more fun for you to make. One it's always good to challenge yourself. Two it's even more of a challenge to make one after drinking 2 Foster's oil cans!!! If you have any questions feel free to ask.