View Full Version : Best stove for BOB
scoops_uk
29-10-2008, 19:04
I recently got an Optimus Crux (http://www.optimus.se/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=65) as part of a job lot on ebay which I'm pleased with. It's nice and compact and very powerful, ideal for a BOB.
Scoops
Mr Adoby
29-10-2008, 19:10
Kelly kettle and a food thermos.
A.
Maybe I'm being thicker than a thick thing during thick week of thick season.
But what's BOB?
Mr Adoby
29-10-2008, 19:23
Bug out bag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug_out_bag)
A.
scoops_uk
29-10-2008, 19:25
But what's BOB?
Bug out bag, grab bag whatever you choose to call it. A bag to grab when leaving in a hurry.
Scoops
the optimus crux looks nice
Esbit cube wrapped in tin foil.
Stand the pot on three pebbles and put the cube under it on the foil with the edges turned up for a windshield.
Simple, effective and almost weightless.
scoops_uk
29-10-2008, 19:32
the optimus crux looks nice
It's pretty nifty, but a bit pricey new. MSR Pocket Rocket is worth a look too, plenty around.
Scoops
johnnytheboy
29-10-2008, 23:32
scoops i'll second the pocket rocket got one and the titanium msr pot set as well, great kit
Go for a meths burner Tengu, gas is crap in the cold
Spikey DaPikey
30-10-2008, 02:55
Hexy burner with foil tray windshield ? Cheap, does the job.
Graham_S
30-10-2008, 03:13
I have a multifuel stove I got off ebay in mine. It'll burn gas or any flammable liquid. It's very reliable (so far)
I also have a windshield and three steel tent pegs plus a pack of BBQ firelighter matches (a fibrous firelighter with match head chemicals on one end) a couple of them will boil a cup of water)
I also have a few other bits an pieces in mine for brewing up.
If it's important enough to have in your bag, have two.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/DIY/Quick-Cheap-Pocket-Stove-To-Make.html
If you intend a 72hour BoB this could be an option.
It's small and cheap and simple enough to have them all over the place so that you will always have one pocketed.
My first thought when I saw the article was BoB.
Tatonka meths burner & stand. Burns longer than a Trangia.
Simon
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/index.php/DIY/Quick-Cheap-Pocket-Stove-To-Make.html
If you intend a 72hour BoB this could be an option.
It's small and cheap and simple enough to have them all over the place so that you will always have one pocketed.
My first thought when I saw the article was BoB.
I do a similar thing but with tea lights, slightly wittled down and a single layer of corrugated card wrapped around the outside and put back into the little case. Very smokey and sooty though but quick, easy and very cheap. a slightly more sophisticated and slightly cleaner burning version is to score 4 grooves up the sides make a cross of 2 longer bits of corrugated card ( long enough to wrap underneath the tealight and up the sides plus 5mm ) giving a tealight with essentially 5 wicks.
For a BoB stove the Swiss Army Volcano plus some tealight burners or hexi blocks and mini pop can alcohol stove ( to use fill mini alcohol stove, hold it level between finger and thumb, hold volcano stove horizontal, insert ministove into hole and turn volcano stove vertical, chuck a little extra meths into bottom of volcano stove which really helps prime and light at egde of gap ) will cover most bases including twigs and pine cones.
To make it even more flexible ( which I might do later today ) take one of the multifuel ebay stoves Rik_UK3 introduced us to http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28765 and the top from a glass jar. Remove multi burner from stand ( one nut ) drill hole through middle of jar top, place burner ontop of lid with bolt end through hole and put the nut back on. The whoile assembly can be dropped down the center of the volcano stove. This should come close to Jetboil/ETA Express levels of speed and efficiancy though I'd be little worried about prolonged use as the Volcano is only aluminium.
What you can end up with is a simple stove combination that is truly multifuel, wood, meths, hexi, gas, petrol and (if memory serves) parrafin. What more could you want from a BoB stove ;)
[Update] Well that took a whole 3 minutes, used the top from a jar of pickled eggs approx 73mm diameter, fits down the Volcano with only a little fiddling but any bigger might be a problem, made the hole with a braddle and srewdriver while the cordless drill was recharging ;)
If I can find some gas I'll do a speed test outdoors later.
[Update 2] I abandoned doing the speed boil test, after only 30 seconds, with the gas burner metal ( presumably steel ) glowing red about an inch away from the aliminium of the Volcano stove I figured caution was in order, hardly being set up to deal with if the aluminium casing melted, as the water may have then spilt onto it too.
crazyclimber
30-10-2008, 12:51
Depends on where you plan on bugging out to I guess; for some people where worst case would be the local leisure centre when their house gets flooded a gas stove would be good and clean so choose something like the crux or pocketrocket. For outdoors (head to the woods type thing) best IMO is to take esbit / hexamine. Foolproof, 100% reliable, light them with a lighter, matches or a firesteel (I'd take all 3), you can support a pot and make a windshield from all sorts of things. Perhaps combine that with a bushbuddy inside a SP900 pot with the 300 pot inside it and you've got an excellent woodburner too for longer term should you need it. If need be improvising is also quite easy then; liquid fuels can be burnt in a can full of sand, you could always punch holes into the side of your SP900 to suspend it billy-style over an open fire (did I just say that about a £30+ pot? :eek: )... most important part I think is not the stove but a pot and something to light a fire with. With those two you can always find something to burn
Graham_S
30-10-2008, 13:57
After a root around/clean out of my camping cupboard, I found a small stove I made with my scout group a couple of years ago.
it's an old shoe polish tin with corrugated cardboard coiled up inside it, then filled up with wax.
more heat than a tealight version plus a handy lid.
plus it's waterproof.
Cheap too :D
I might do a boil test later.
scoops_uk
30-10-2008, 18:56
Go for a meths burner Tengu, gas is crap in the cold
Whilst canoeing on the Tay last weekend we were brewing up on the bank and the Pocket Rocket owner boiled the kettle for the Trangia owner because we wanted to get back on the river and you could measure his boil time with a calendar.
Depends how cold and whether you insulate the gas canister from the ground etc.
Scoops
I was thinking of hexi, hobo and maybe something more sphisticated...a gas stove maybe?
There are none of those US multi fuel stoves on sale at the moment...a pity.
Minotaur
31-10-2008, 01:16
I was thinking of hexi, hobo and maybe something more sphisticated...a gas stove maybe?
There are none of those US multi fuel stoves on sale at the moment...a pity.
I think the hobo wins because you can add a meths burner to it really easily. Which gives you the best of both worlds.
andywinkk
31-10-2008, 01:35
whats bob ?
Mr Adoby
31-10-2008, 05:59
whats bob ?
Earlier in this thread there are several explanations and even a wikipedia link.
A.
Depends where you are bugging out from and to and how long you'll be staying there.
scoops_uk
01-11-2008, 17:22
Depends where you are bugging out from and to and how long you'll be staying there.
If you could foresee that, you wouldn't need to bug out. :rolleyes:
Scoops
Whilst canoeing on the Tay last weekend we were brewing up on the bank and the Pocket Rocket owner boiled the kettle for the Trangia owner because we wanted to get back on the river and you could measure his boil time with a calendar.
Depends how cold and whether you insulate the gas canister from the ground etc.
Scoops
Gas stoves with a 'remote' canister give best performance as you can turn the canister upside down to increase the flow of cold gas, this stove will fit the bill and not break the band, works well on liquid fuel and gas, and you can invert the can
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Camping-Stove-Gasoline-Gas-Multi-Stove-S-9-x1set_W0QQitemZ260273684702QQi hZ016QQcategoryZ62117QQtcZphot oQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742 .m153.l1262
If your on a budget I would stick to a Trangia meths stoves 100% reliable and will work in the cold, after all, 000's of Scandinavians use them in temperatures much colder than the UK
If you have a few quid to spare get a Primus Omnifuel or Optimus Nova, both of which you can mount in a Trangia (as you can the cheap stove I linked). You can't limit a BOB stove to just wood, it will be easier to use a liquid fuel stove in an emergency
500ml of paraffin will give you hours of controllable heat (a few days worth for sure), how many hexi blocks do you need to do that and give you simmer power as well as full on heat? If you have good pans, like the civvie Trangia, you can use them over a fire as an when the opportunity arises
I like the Hobo stoves, Wayland is the master there, but if you need a cooking kit at short notice they will limit you
scoops_uk
01-11-2008, 18:02
500ml of paraffin will give you hours of controllable heat (a few days worth for sure)
I'll second that my Nova positively sips the stuff and as Rik says a small bottle lasts and lasts.
Scoops
Swiss Army Notkocher 71, got to be the best BOB stove I've ever seen.
http://www.green-store.ch/images/product_images/popup_images/312_0.jpg
http://www.green-store.ch/images/product_images/popup_images/312_1.jpg
£4.50, brand new with matches and stand, still shrink wrapped from Hoods UK, military mart
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/
“What stove for a bug out bag”
Looking back its not a straightforward question. If you KNOW where you are going, then fine, if its well stocked woodland, take a small woodburner; but think again, if you have to leave home in a hurry and not sure where you will end up, you will need kit that will work anywhere regardless of local conditions.
Simple and reliable would mean the Trangia setup for those who don’t feel confident using liquid fuel stoves (although, they are not hard to use or maintain); on a personal level, I would not rely on a gas stove, simply because of poor cold weather performance, and the ability to get fuel for it in an emergency. Again, on a personal level, my stove of choice would be a pukka Trangia and an Omnifuel, the reason for picking the Omnifuel over the Nova is that it can use gas canisters, so although I won’t take a gas only stove, the Omnifuel opens up fuel options and as said in an earlier reply, the civvies Trangia pans can be used over an open fire.
The Swedish Army ‘Trangia’s’ I would not pick, this is just a personal opinion, for whilst the pans are open fire friendly, the burner is slower that the civvies version and the pans are a little small for me, and the conversion options of using a real stove on them is very limited. Than said, I need to buy a Tatonka burner off Lurch for a review/comparison test; but the limitations of the pan sizes would still rule this out for me in all likelihood.
I don’t have a bug out bag as such, but I do keep a Bergen ready to pick up and go for an overnighter
Hex3 and nest insert
Highlander self inflating mat
Sleeping bag (to match season)
Cheap head torch
Lots of the Deals Extreme 25p button lights clipped onto all sorts
1X24 hour rat pack
Spare pants, socks, waterproof trousers, Jacket,
Army water bottle and the dreaded Crusader mug
Trangia 27/Nova stove
2 and 4 pint Bulldog billy cans
Mora knife and Laplander
K&M match safe
Fire starter kit
Wash kit and scouring pad
Extra tea and biscuits/choc bars
Small FAK
10 litre roll up water carrier and Millbank Bag
The bltt I wear has a mobile phone (Nokia 6310i + spare battery) and a leatherman
Change my clothes and footwear and away I go.
Swiss Army Notkocher 71, got to be the best BOB stove I've ever seen.
http://www.green-store.ch/images/product_images/popup_images/312_0.jpg
http://www.green-store.ch/images/product_images/popup_images/312_1.jpg
£4.50, brand new with matches and stand, still shrink wrapped from Hoods UK, military mart
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/
But not exactly fast, and how do you refill them? You could take a can of Sterno I guess;)
But not exactly fast, and how do you refill them? You could take a can of Sterno I guess;)
Though I believe the Swiss Army Notkocher 71 is small enough to fit in the Swiss Army Volcano Stove, whereas a can of Sterno is just a little too wide.
Alcohol gel can be bought in large tins and spooned into the Notkocher so yes could be refilled, as you say it'll probably be a lot slower than most of the other types but hey a few minutes really probably won't make to much difference unless your in an Escape and Evade mode, which is very unlikely over here.
As a knock up a brew, soup, noddles or hot water for dehydrated meal I still think the SAVS is hard to beat ( especially as I've now made the mutifuel burner fit into it ) for the cost, there's a Group Buy currently going on for them. I've just checked and the Trangia civie / Tatonka burners will fit in them. The technique to do so I used was to fill burner pick up by finger & thumb around the screww thread, insert middle finger of the other hand through the SAVS fuel hole and strectch up into centre, lower the burner onto finger and down to base of stove. If you have particularly large hands this might not be too easy, if you've small hands you may be able to place it in the bittom just using the 1 hand.
I guess the real question, as you have said previously, is what Tengu wants forn her BoB stove and her budget. I'm presuming lowish budget, not take up much space and a basic hot water boiler. If it's more for general uplanned camping night out, as yours seems to be, then yeah a cheap Trangia clone would possibly be the way to go, with the ability to add a few bits to it afterward ( eg multifuel burner ) If it's a bit off both that would also seem to be the way to go as the SAVS is a little limited in what and how much you can cook with it.
But not exactly fast, and how do you refill them? You could take a can of Sterno I guess;)
You can buy tubes of ethanol gel from the same place, your right they're not very fast but really practical cos of there size. Just a preference, I had a refillable gas stove once aswell, little tiny thing that was handy for a quick grab and go, dont know what happened to that, it was absolutely crap anyway lol.
nordboen
01-11-2008, 22:08
I'm looking for a tiny stove suitable for all terrain and situation. Hobo stoves are the best way to go (in my opinion). That will become my BOB equipment definatly. I try to find material that won't let me down even in a long time situation, the hobo stove never lets you down - never!
That's the best I found so far:
- outreq WK15 http://www.outreq.de/html/kocher.html (German Website)
its weight is only 470g (1.04 lbs) and you NEVER have to carry fuel
There was an other hobo stove, made of titanium, on the market. I would love to purchase that one but can't find it. There is a private group in Germany working on something similar. The weight is about 300g (0.66 lbs)!!! and it folds up to the size of a postcard.
Pictures of the original can be seen here:
http://forum.outdoorseiten.net/showthread.php?t=24315
IF YOU KNOW WHERE SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS AWAILABLE, SEND A MESSAGE!!!
Best regards,
nordboen
scoops_uk
01-11-2008, 22:18
Hi Norboen,
Weclome to the forum. If you are wanting a hobo stove why not have a go at making one (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15468).
http://www.skeels.net//bushcraftuk/nimblewill/lit.JPG
Scoops
The little Swiss Army Volcano Stove are fun, I gave a few away to members here a couple of years ago. They work well for their size and were designed to take a Borde petrol stove, that is a great water boiler combo.
Not my setup, but you can get the idea
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2308/1840915477_6d90c54d80.jpg?v=0
I also gave away two Sterno stoves and refils, sorry, I can't take them as a serious cooking option
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j188/rik_uk4/bordesheet.jpg
There was an other hobo stove, made of titanium, on the market. I would love to purchase that one but can't find it.
Sounds like the Four Dogs Titanium BushCooker http://www.fourdog.com/cat_files/Page281.htm
or the titanim version of the Caldera Cone the TI-Tri might be another option you might like
http://www.traildesigns.com/products01.html
Personally I'm waiting the extra 2(?) weeks or so till we get to find out more about Podcastbob's Honey Stove before even thinking about another stove.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=452095#post45 2095
drewdunnrespect
07-11-2008, 22:40
hobo stove me needs to build one
Short stay BOB cooker should be one or more gel cans or hexi/esbit tablets. Gas or liquid fuel's neither reliable, stable, nor flexible enough.
Scots_Charles_River
04-01-2009, 13:44
The army hexistove can't be beaten for 72 hrs. Fuel lites easily, smokeless, no searching for dry fuel.
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/graphics/product_images/SOLIDFUELSTOVEGELERT.jpg
We used the SAVS yesterday, great stove. Luckily there was plenty of dry bracken and birch about as the twigs were damp. It's tiny and very light with water bottle and mug built in.
Nick