Small Stoves for Camping and Emergencies

It is always wise to plan for emergencies. You never know when you might get hit by a blizzard or other disaster. There are situations where having an extra way to cook and stay warm could be a lifesaver. For instance, people often get stranded in winter. No doubt the survivors wish they had one of these stoves along, so you might want to carry one in your car just in case. It might be worth having several options available since they’re so inexpensive. (“Two is one and one is none.”) And, of course, these small stoves are also great for camping or car camping. Here are a few small stoves I found on the Internet.

Rocket stoves are probably the most popular because they’re so practical and easy to make. You can watch dozens of YouTube videos to learn how to build rocket stoves in all different types and sizes. You can also buy the one pictured above for $35 from RocketStoves.org.

Emberlit twig burning camp stove This is one of my favorites because it can use most any twigs or debris laying around. They claim there is less feeding of wood than rocket stoves, which need almost constant tending. “It is proudly made in the USA of 304 Stainless steel for years of use, weighs 11.25 oz, and packs down to about 3/16 of an inch, yet it is robust enough to handle a dutch oven.”

BioLite HomeStove The inventors claim this stove consumes 50% less wood, with 95% smoke reduction and nearly eliminates carbon black. The BioLite HomeStove incorporates a small thermoelectric module to produce electricity to charge devices such as cell phones and LED lights.

Paradigm Project Rocket Stove According to their website, one of their rocket stoves can save 33 trees, $280, 1,300 hours of time, and smoke reduction of 60%. The latest version is able to boil and simmer 5 litres of water with 190g of fuel. In cooperation with the Burn Design Lab, they’re gearing up to sell a million stoves in the next decade to countries such as Haiti.

Woodgas cooking stove Dual stage combustion: The WoodGas stove effectively burns the fuel twice. In the first stage, combustion air is driven into the fuel to create some smoke (or wood-gas). In the second stage, more combustion air is driven into the chamber to burn the gas from the first stage. The electric fan provides the combustion air in just the right amounts to produce the gas and burn it completely. Benefits: High efficiency – very little wood produces lots of heat; Low Smoke – campfire smell almost completely eliminated; Hot flame – cooks food quickly.

The Coleman Powerpack Single-Burner Low Profile Stove (currently $35 at Amazon) “With this small economical single burner stove you’ll get consistent cooking performance even in cold weather, high altitudes and when fuel is low. Definitely not designed for cooking for large groups, but better suited to cooking for a single person in situations where packing a large stove is not an option. The 7,500 BTU burner can quickly cook up a small meal or boil water in no time. The nickel chrome grate is easy to clean. The system is lightweight, low-profile design and compact to store. The burner is adjustable from low to high, while the InstaStart system provides fast, dependable matchless lighting.”

Pop can backpacking alcohol stoves work best on denatured alcohol, burning with a nice clean blue flame and no residue. Only slightly less effective is methyl alcohol, still a nice blue clean burn with no residue. Search YouTube for DIY pop can stove videos (the link in the article is not helpful).