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- Nov 28, 2009
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Mods, I understand this thread includes gear, but I placed it here because I intend to emphasize skill. Please feel free to move it if needed.
I've been long intrigued by the idea of a twig stove. I've priced many models and scoured through the threads here. It was suggested by someone to make a twig stove and try it out before purchasing one, just to see if you like the concept. So I saved a smaller coffee can, cut a door in it, drilled some holes and coated it in heat resistant paint. It's been sitting in my GHB for the past month.
Today, the weather finally broke. Although the wind was steady at 15-20 mph, it was a nice 29°! Past week has been VERY windy with single didget temps. This afternoon seemed a fine time to try out my "new" piece of gear.
This is the pack that always rides behind my seat in my work truck. It's a Camelbak something -
Inside the main part is just basics, gloves, mil-spec ponch, SS water bottle, Coleman cup set partly nested in the DIY stove, and three zip pouches - yellow=fire kit, blue=misc tools, black=food/snacks/tea
In my simple fire kit, I have a piece of fatwood, some ranger bands (they burn well on a windy day), sisal rope, matches and of course PJCBs. However, I am not going to use any of this.. Lately, there has been much talk of a firesteel being useless, more of a novelty than anything. It's been said that fire cannot be started without the use if PJCBs or fatwood. RUBBISH I SAY!! I live in central Illinois. You may find this hard to believe, but there is no fatwood around. In fact, there are no pine trees either. The only pine trees I see are ornamental or planted around a house as a wind break. The forests and parks I visit nearby have no pine. Our timber is made up of mainly oak, elm, cherry and maple being most common. If my life depended on starting a fire with the use of pine wood, pine resin/sap, or fatwood, i would die.
So for the purpose of this experiment, I will only use wood from my wood stack - oak and cherry. No matches, no fatwood, no PJCBs.
I'll be using my trusty Bushfinger too.
First start splitting down the cherry. (Notice my DIY stove as well)
Then the oak. In the right corner of this pic you can see my pile of sticks. Sorry, I got caught up and didn't take a pic of all the prep involved. I'm sure you can imagine batoning wood into smaller pieces though!
I carved some small feather sticks, and put plenty of curls inside the stove.
Out comes my firesteel. This one is very similar to your standard LMF rod.
Place the rod on to the stick and make some light shavings of the rod to help with ignition.
For what it's worth, I did have a witness to this whole process. Right Bailey?
Now, I'm not gonna pretend this was a cake walk. The wind was obnoxious. I had flames several times and they went out with a gust of wind. I ended up splitting this stick in half so I had two separate smaller feather sticks, something I could fit in the stove door. It took many strikes, but we had ignition! As fast as I could, I jammed it into the stove before the wind blew it out again.
And then began feeding the fire with the split wood.
Before long, I had a hideous raging inferno!!
Time to add my brackets for the cup, and make some tea. I had about 12 oz of water to boil.
With the wind, it may have taken a little longer to reach a full boil than it would on a calm day. But it still worked!
Since the stove is small, I had to feed it often. But it worked well and burned nicely. I think I'm gonna like using it. In no time, I had a nice cup of tea. No Bailey! Dogs don't drink tea!
All in all, I like the idea of a twig stove. It burned material efficiently enough, clean up was easy. It will maintain its usefulness in my kit.
In closing, here are my personal feelings: you don't need fatwood. You don't need PJCBs. Do they make it easier and faster for fire? OF COURSE! But absolutely necessary? NONESENSE! I find it amusing that so many jump all over a firesteel and criticize it as a useless piece of gear. Firesteels work very well. I have and use all kinds. If an individual has tried and failed with a spark based method, it is THEIR METHOD that is flawed, not the tool itself. I encourage everyone to do their own 'Backyard Bushcrafting' to LEARN SKILLS. Go outside and have fun with your gear.
Thanks for coming along.
I've been long intrigued by the idea of a twig stove. I've priced many models and scoured through the threads here. It was suggested by someone to make a twig stove and try it out before purchasing one, just to see if you like the concept. So I saved a smaller coffee can, cut a door in it, drilled some holes and coated it in heat resistant paint. It's been sitting in my GHB for the past month.
Today, the weather finally broke. Although the wind was steady at 15-20 mph, it was a nice 29°! Past week has been VERY windy with single didget temps. This afternoon seemed a fine time to try out my "new" piece of gear.
This is the pack that always rides behind my seat in my work truck. It's a Camelbak something -
Inside the main part is just basics, gloves, mil-spec ponch, SS water bottle, Coleman cup set partly nested in the DIY stove, and three zip pouches - yellow=fire kit, blue=misc tools, black=food/snacks/tea
In my simple fire kit, I have a piece of fatwood, some ranger bands (they burn well on a windy day), sisal rope, matches and of course PJCBs. However, I am not going to use any of this.. Lately, there has been much talk of a firesteel being useless, more of a novelty than anything. It's been said that fire cannot be started without the use if PJCBs or fatwood. RUBBISH I SAY!! I live in central Illinois. You may find this hard to believe, but there is no fatwood around. In fact, there are no pine trees either. The only pine trees I see are ornamental or planted around a house as a wind break. The forests and parks I visit nearby have no pine. Our timber is made up of mainly oak, elm, cherry and maple being most common. If my life depended on starting a fire with the use of pine wood, pine resin/sap, or fatwood, i would die.
So for the purpose of this experiment, I will only use wood from my wood stack - oak and cherry. No matches, no fatwood, no PJCBs.
I'll be using my trusty Bushfinger too.
First start splitting down the cherry. (Notice my DIY stove as well)
Then the oak. In the right corner of this pic you can see my pile of sticks. Sorry, I got caught up and didn't take a pic of all the prep involved. I'm sure you can imagine batoning wood into smaller pieces though!
I carved some small feather sticks, and put plenty of curls inside the stove.
Out comes my firesteel. This one is very similar to your standard LMF rod.
Place the rod on to the stick and make some light shavings of the rod to help with ignition.
For what it's worth, I did have a witness to this whole process. Right Bailey?
Now, I'm not gonna pretend this was a cake walk. The wind was obnoxious. I had flames several times and they went out with a gust of wind. I ended up splitting this stick in half so I had two separate smaller feather sticks, something I could fit in the stove door. It took many strikes, but we had ignition! As fast as I could, I jammed it into the stove before the wind blew it out again.
And then began feeding the fire with the split wood.
Before long, I had a hideous raging inferno!!
Time to add my brackets for the cup, and make some tea. I had about 12 oz of water to boil.
With the wind, it may have taken a little longer to reach a full boil than it would on a calm day. But it still worked!
Since the stove is small, I had to feed it often. But it worked well and burned nicely. I think I'm gonna like using it. In no time, I had a nice cup of tea. No Bailey! Dogs don't drink tea!
All in all, I like the idea of a twig stove. It burned material efficiently enough, clean up was easy. It will maintain its usefulness in my kit.
In closing, here are my personal feelings: you don't need fatwood. You don't need PJCBs. Do they make it easier and faster for fire? OF COURSE! But absolutely necessary? NONESENSE! I find it amusing that so many jump all over a firesteel and criticize it as a useless piece of gear. Firesteels work very well. I have and use all kinds. If an individual has tried and failed with a spark based method, it is THEIR METHOD that is flawed, not the tool itself. I encourage everyone to do their own 'Backyard Bushcrafting' to LEARN SKILLS. Go outside and have fun with your gear.
Thanks for coming along.
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