Fuel Can/Coffee Can Stoves

[cekivi]

A long time ago my dad and I made a small stove from a metal coffee can. It burned charcoal and was really good at warming up food when ice fishing. You can also make stoves from fuel cans or really any metal can. The good part is you can use them to burn sticks or charcoal made from larger fires. They wouldn't be super warm but since they are a stove the fire would be windproof since it's in an enclosure. As small, portable objects they can be brought inside snow shelters and can still cook food/boil water as long as you tend to the fire and keep it going.

I think this would be a neat addition since it gives you a way to have fire even in a windstorm or inside a shelter. It won't ever get super hot (max is probably +5C) but you can still boil water and cook. If the cold mechanic is ever extended to model extremities you could also keep your hands warm over your stove so you can still use your fingers.

[Sly]

I heard that small sources of burning fire, even a candle, do some good inside the small shelters. Alpinists of past ages used candles inside their tents, small flower shops use candles inside in winter.

As it appears, one candle has heating power of 80 kcal/hour (93 Watts). Witch is even more then for "some old kerosene lamp with the flat wick"  (60 kcal=70 Watts respectively).

Candle was even able to boil 100 g of water in 32 g metal beaker (small can) in 22 minutes. The outside temperature was 22 degrees Celsius. The heating efficiency for such operation was very good - about 60-80%.

So, small can stove could be a good efficient thing (more efficient then just fire) for snow melting outdoors, but not in the snow shelter like this: just no room to operate, adding fuel.  

Rather candle device could be useful.

http://nepropadu.ru/blog/equipment/8856.html

 

[Joelle Emmily]

A camp stove is essential in this kind of situation. But you don't need a coffee can, you can use a pot or a pan, or anything that'll separate a fire from other combustibles. Colman stoves can use just about any fuel, and just about everyone in Canada owns one, at least those I know, and it'd be realistic to find one somewhere. Also, lost of people have hibachis and little barbecues that would words a small fire holders. In reality, if I was somewhere trying to survive, and there were no appliances for holding I fire, I'd light one on the floor.

I have an example of a makeshift solution. My car broke down, and it took forever for my dad to come help me, so I took some oil from my trunk, pored some on the top of a can of ravioli, ripped off a piece of cloth to use a wick, and sat there for over an hour in relative comfort. I smelled like a garage, but I was reasonably warm.

[Muk_Pile]

+1 for portable coffee-tin stoves!

Here's how I think these kind of stoves would fit into TLD:

• Craftable
  • Can only be built at work benches
  • Requires a tool set to construct (quality tool set reduces crafting time by 50%)
  • Requires 2 scrap metal and 1 tin can (or 2 scrap metal if no tins cans are available)
  • Takes 2 hours to construct with tin can and simple tool set; 3 hours without tin can
• Features
  • Weighs 0.55 lbs / 0.25 kg
  • Portable when not burning fires
  • Windproof
  • Usable in both outdoor and indoor environments
  • Food and water can be cooked on it
  • Can be used for 100 fires (i.e. degrades by 1% for each fire it lights)
  • Provides sufficient light to perform light-restricted activities (e.g. repair clothing, read books, craft at work benches)
  • Non-repairable
  • Can only burn sticks, reclaimed wood, coal, books, & torches; cedar and fir logs are too big to fit
  • Will not discourage predators from attacking you
  • Fires must be dumped out before stove can be picked back up; however, dumped fires will labeled as embers, still give off heat, and can be restoked as a campfire
  • Small chance (<5%) of burning yourself when dumping out fires while not wearing gloves or mittens

Also, I found this neat little article detailing how to craft a coffee-tin stove with nothing more than a coat hanger, a can-opener, and a screwdriver.  Check it out in the following link:

http://www.practicalsurvivor.com/hobostove