DIY Brew Kit for those cold winter days

JonnyMacM

If you want something better than a flask of warm tea when out shooting this compact and easy to make kit might be for you. It will cost anything from free to about £15 or £20 depending on what you have lying around in the garage. It will boil a cup of water in about 6mins and can fit in a large pocket.
The mug I am using is stainless steel with a good lid, holds 500ml and cost £4.67 inc P&P from eBay.


Wrapped around the handle is some 4mm fiberglass rope (£2 a meter), it is glued on with J B Wield epoxy. This stays cool enough so you can pickup the mug even as flames are coming up the side.


The burner is made from the bottom 3cms of two redbull cans pressed together, poke a hole in the middle with a medium sized Philips head screwdriver. Put 16-20 thumbtack sized hole around the side and glue another length of fiberglass rope around the middle with JB Wield. This will make lighting much easier. Do a YouTube search for penny stoves for lots more info.
The wind shield is made from 0.5mm aluminum sheet with 4 holes punched 5cm up (£5.70 inc P&p). Hole placement is important for height above the burner and for the length of the wire, If the wire is to long it will not allow the lit to close fully when transporting.
The 2 wires that hold the cup up are nothing more than a few bits of coat hanger with the ends bent at a angle

The collapsible green cup(£3) is not necessary but i find that steel mugs have a tendency to burn your lips so i use this to drink from instead.
The white bottle holds about 2oz of methylated spirits which is enough for 2-3 cups of tea. In a former life it contained a stay-awake caffeine shot that you get in petrol stations

Here you can see everything stored away. I normally keep the meths bottle, burner, lighter and penny in a small zip lock bag to keep the mug free from tasting like meths but that doesn't make for a useful photograph.


pour in about 1oz of meths into the large hole in the center and then put the penny over the hole. Pour a little on the rope around the side and light. put your cup of water on top and wait 5 to 6mins for boiling water.

I got a cheap vacuum sealer from lidl and I make small boil in the bag meals/snacks with left over dinners that can be reheated in the cup. Pop them into the freezer until needed.

Sparks

Not much to do with shooting, per se, but I know where this thread would be right at home!

Geads

Excellent sir

JonnyMacM

thanks mate, you should try and make one yourself they are fun to play with :-)

krissovo

Nice post, I like these practical threads and this has 3 great tips; the metal mug, the cooker and what I will personally take away is the shield/stand.

My only very minor gripe would be the sticky out handle on the mug.

JonnyMacM

Thanks Krissovo
I had thought about removing the handle and just wrapping fiberglass rope around the mug a few times but for me the extra convenience of having a fixed handle outweighed the extra bulk. There are some cheap mugs on eBay with collapsible handles that would work but none that had a good lid as well which I think is more important.

krissovo

I currently have a similar kit but with a old American issue steel mug and no shield. The cup is a little bulky so I will probably copy this set up and see how I get on.

My tip for reducing the burning lips situation is some strategically placed masking tape on the rim.

The handle of the cup should be a entry in the "little things" thread

Where did you get the fiberglass rope from?

JonnyMacM

I have that GI setup as well but the only part that is stamped US Army is the wind shield, the rest of the pattern parts are not quite the same size so nothing fits very well. I will try the tape tonight, is it masking tape or black electrical/pvc tape?
I sent you a pm with the eBay links I bought the cup and rope from. I only used the sellers once and didn't have any issues but you miles may vary

slowburner

Is that stove rope on the handle? The white stuff for sealing doors on stoves etc. - if so, it's asbestos.

JonnyMacM

it is used as stove rope but it is fiberglass rope, asbestos has been banned since the mid 80s