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Make a camp stove from a drinks can

26/1/2015

8 Comments

 
Almost everything I know about making a stove from a drinks can, I learnt from Tom Allen's video. It’s a must-see if you’re into lightweight camping gear or DIY fun!

How To Turn A Beer Can Into The Only Camping Stove You'll Ever Need from Tom Allen on Vimeo.

Construction

We got a can from our neighbours - doing our good bit for the environment and our wallets. (No self-respecting Australian drinks Fosters, just so you know.)

It took a while to cut the top out. It was fiddly to do with our little pocket knives and I got a bit annoyed and impatient at myself at this stage! Other people have suggested taking the top out with a traditional can opener, so I might try that next time. Note: If you want to do this with kids, please supervise them closely. I personally wouldn't recommend it for children under secondary school age.

Cutting the can down to size was easier. I was a bit too conservative, though: next time I'd make the stove shorter. As it is, it only just fits into its plastic container (which used to hold paper cases for muffins - hardcore).

Fuel

Before making the stove, I spent a while trawling the internet learning all about fuel, then trawling the high street to find it. From what I read, bio-ethanol seems to be a good choice, but we could only find methylated spirits (in the hardware store) and 90% surgical spirit (at the pharmacy). We bought both, to compare them.

We poured a centimetre or so of surgical spirit into the can and set a match to it. It didn’t seem to light straight away, but after a second the flames shot up - not bright, but definitely there! We put a pot with 500mL of water on top, popped the lid on and timed it to boiling.


The fumes were apparent almost straight away. I was glad we’d opened the door and window and set up a fan to blow the fumes out of the room. It took about 8 minutes to come to a decent boil. I smothered the flame (with the plastic muffin paper case) and poured the remaining fuel back into the bottle, noticing that it had turned blue.

Next, we tried the methylated spirits. This also took a while to light, and it whooshed even higher when it finally did. We put another pot of water on top (I cooled the pot down first; can't give one fuel an unfair advantage). 
I’m not sure if it was the build-up of fumes over two boils, but I thought the metho smelled stronger. This time, the water only took about 7 minutes to come to a really rapid boil, but the process seemed to use slightly more methylated spirits than surgical spirit.

Results

Our current gas-fuelled camp stove, which was never intended for backpacking and hiking, weighs 2.1kg (including case), while the drinks can stove weighs 30g (including storage). That's less than 2% of the weight! The drinks can stove is also absolutely tiny in comparison to the camp stove, so it's much easier to pack when walking.

Comparing fuels, a full can of butane for our camp stove weighs about 250g, as does 250mL of methylated or surgical spirits. However, the liquid can be decanted into smaller bottles.  Methylated spirits is cheaper (just!) per millilitre than surgical spirit and seems to bring water to the boil more swiftly. Surgical spirit seems to smell less and use less fuel.

By the way, we didn’t let all that water go to waste. We had a nice cuppa and biscuit for afternoon tea.
Tools of the trad
Cutting the top out
The can in parts
Making dents
Putting the stove together
Boiling a pot of water
Leftover surgical spirits (blue)

This microadventure-related challenge cost approximately £7 (fuel, tea and biscuits for two). Bargain!

How is your microadventure challenge going? You've got a couple of days left in January to go on a bivvying adventure and/or spend time on top of a hill. Go on, get out there!

8 Comments
Suz link
7/2/2017 23:01:39

This is a brilliant idea. Will be trying it with my boys over half term. Just wondering whether rather than cutting a can down it would work with a small bean tin or similar? off for an experiment while they are at school!

Reply
Jonathan link
7/2/2017 23:21:23

Hi Suz. Good luck with the experiment. I'd imagine the bean tin wouldn't work so well with this method of construction because it would be difficult to make the corrugations in the top half for the flame to come up. Let me know how it goes, though!

Reply
Zoe at Splodz Blogz link
9/2/2017 20:22:27

What a cool project to try - I'm looking for a lightweight stove for backpacking, might have to make one of these and see what it's like!

Reply
Jonathan link
10/2/2017 08:19:27

Good luck and have fun! I've made a few of them since I posted this, and have used them on multi-day walks. They're not quite as convenient and reliable as my Brukit (also new since I posted this!), but not bad either!

Reply
Kids of the Wild link
6/2/2018 23:04:04

Very cool, love that you tried out different fuels too. Keep seeing this idea but yet to try it.

Reply
Jonathan link
7/2/2018 00:47:37

It's quite a fun thing to do. I've used these several times a year since I started making them. Most fuels definitely work better when you're cooking in a slightly warmer environment.

Reply
Annette, Four Acorns / Quatre graines de chêne link
7/2/2018 02:32:32

What a fantastic idea! My husband and sons would love to try this out! Not sure if they could be pushed to use it on a hike instead of our MSR stove or Kelly kettle, but the tiny weight was be a winning factor.
#outdoorbloggers

Reply
Jonathan link
8/2/2018 07:53:36

Hi Annette, it's definitely a fun project to try out - if not for a hike, then for an afternoon on the beach or in the woods! I have to say I do kind of prefer gas, so often take my Brukit instead... but I'm thinking of taking just the drinks can stove and a mug for tea on future day walks. (The stove can fit in the mug, perfect!)

Reply



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