Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I Believe Its Important to Be Self Reliant

I know this may not look like much but its a famous "Hobo Stove "
This little joker made from just 4 cans and some kitty litter , is able to boil water in about 5 Min, maybe 10 if you are not experienced using one and that is from starting the fire to boiling water which only takes a few min once it is good and hot .
We have lots of things to cook on and with in the event we loose power for any amount of time ,
but the small amount of wood required to use this little stove is why I love them
So just in case I made a new one .
Its the little things when all hell is breaking lose that comforts folks
I love it when I have tea and coffee and people ask how did you make coffee in these conditions ,,then I show them one of my little toys .all thrown together from basically trash .
I have a gas stove ,lots of water ,12 volt pump so my water still comes on when you crack a valve ,lots of powerful Led lights that run off quick chargers and easy to charge with a solar cell of a car lighter socket so we are not spending a fortune trying to run generators (especially now when gas and water is hard to find ) ,
So the ability to cook and heat water are basic comforts in bad conditions.
I made this little helper in about 20 min, only power tool was a drill to cut little holes to make the big ones with wire cutters but I could have made them too with a nail and a hammer .
You can look up how to build them on You Tube if you may not have gas
The large cans were from Greens and Applesauce ,the chimney cans are green peanut cans you can get cheap from a dollar store and enjoy some boiled peanuts while you build an easy to store and use Hobo Stove
You can always build a fire if you have dry wood thats true ,but cooking on them is the trick
These little jokers can be used to cook and boil water pretty darn quick
but as I said
I love how little wood it takes to use them
Well just a thought for some who might find yourself without power in the Hurricanes
build yourself a hobo stove
yall stay safe out there
God bless

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

SW-User

Do you have to keep it dry all the time for it to work properly?

rckt148 · 61-69, M

@SW-User the stove NO ,if it gets rain in it just dump it out ,,
you need a little metal rack in it to keep the wood off the very bottom of your burn chamber so air can get around the coals that build up ( the bottom of a can bent like a taco works ,mine I have a little rack built in with holes in it ,just some added ventilation for the wood ,but getting wet won't hurt it .

but I found if you have prep time for your wood ,,that makes a huge difference as to how quick you are cooking or boiling water .

my wood I cut up in pieces about 6" long and I put it in the oven for about a 1/2 hour ,when I started smelling wood I knew it was dry ,
The reason I did that was so it started faster .(with wood I did not dry you could actually see water boiling out of it ,and the wood did not burn properly until it was gone )
I did use some wood that was wet from the rain ,busted up into small pieces ,,but I used hand sanitizer for my fire starter ,alcohol based sanitizer works real good to get a fire going ,
But as the alcohol burned off ,it had to be repeated a few times to get the wood dry enough to burn properly ,,it finally did work ,but just a little prep work making sure I had dry wood made all the difference in the world .

I used my chop saw ,(Miter saw )cut wood into 6" lengths ,cut them in half and then half again so they look like 1/4 rounds , put them on a rack in the oven (I could have cut them up with my hatchet but I had a chop saw handy )
So now all I need is a cotton ball saturated with Vaseline ,or a little cap of charcoal starter fluid ,sanitizer ,or fat lighter works best ,just a piece the size of a match and off you go .
So the prep work paid off ,,,I can light it with little work and in about 4 min its boiling water ,(I have seen other stoves that are easier to make but they take about 20 min to boil water ,and they require more wood ,this one is faster )
I even put a pan over it upside down to come up with a way to smother it out and until I blocked off the port you feed the wood in, it kept burning nicely ,in fact it made a good cooking surface ,,spray the back side of a cast iron skillet with some cooking spray and cook on it for a cooking surface ,,a mini grill LOL

if it gets some rain inside from sitting out its not going to hurt it ,its basically a little wood heater ,,just instead of using the exhaust pipe to get smoke outside ,,you cook over it

SW-User

Wow! That’s awesome! Thank you for all the detail. I’ll have to make one! @rckt148