Whats your favorite way to cook on the move ?

masculinist

I have a single burner gas stove here http://www.lidl-service.com/cps/rde/SID-858C4E5A-70D2A201/lsp/hs.xsl/product.html?id=41339749

and was investigating a Kelly Kettle but it appears the Kelly Kettle has a lot of disadvantages for cooking such as needing to keep it always full of water, being most suited to boiling water etc being no different from cooking in a tin can if you remove the chimney part.

Does anyone use a hobo stove or something else for cooking ? I'd love to hear the benefit of any of your experiences.

Tabnabs

I like the humble hobo stove for solo cooking. Fits neatly in a PLCE Water Bottle Pouch with room for a small billy inside it. At less than a tenner to buy and make, it's not the end of the world if it gets lost or broken.

masculinist

Tabnabs wrote: »

I like the humble hobo stove for solo cooking. Fits neatly in a PLCE Water Bottle Pouch with room for a small billy inside it. At less than a tenner to buy and make, it's not the end of the world if it gets lost or broken.

where did you get yours from ? It sort of looks like one of those utensil holders from Ikea.

I have seen a variety of different ones you can buy off the shelf [up to 50 euro or so], some made of stainless steel and some of titanium. I saw a design to make out of a paint bucket but I think if the metal is painted on or galvanized then harmful fumes will be emitted when it burns.

I'm thinking a Hobo stove [ and its chimney firestarting action] might be the perfect partner for my little gas stove. I just need to choose one off the shelf or decide which design to make

Tabnabs

It is a utensil holder from IKEA, cheap and eminently suitable. I have modded it now with three hinges on the base to allow a tripod stand underneath,

my3cents

I have loads of options because I collect stoves but the one I use most is a very simple petrol Optimus Svea 123R. It fits inside a round small mess tin set, I don't bother with the little pan that comes with it.

I use it because of size, weight, heat output, fuel availability, maintainability and reliability. Down side is cost of a new one but they last a lifetime and much longer. I run it on Aspen fuel but for a limited time it will also run on pump petrol. Over time pump petrol messes them up and they need more maintenance. Other possible fuels for petrol stoves are panel wipe (used to clean panels before spray painting) and Coleman fuel.

Its often said the 123R they make now is not a patch on the old and they do turn up second hand quite a lot. Far too expensive most of the time on ebay because there is a market for them created by collectors, but they do turn up at car boot sales etc.

BreadnBuddha

If I have transport, a Trangia with the X2 multifuel burner. Unbeatable setup. It will burn anything you'll have access to, petrol, diesel, kero, avgas, lamp oil. The Trangia has never let me down but gas stoves have. I never depend on butane/propane in cold weather after ending up freezing my arse off on Corran Tuathail with a Jetboil that just wouldn't run because the gas was too cold. That was trying with the MSR 80/20 type mix and a firesteel, not that stupid piezo igniter that was built in. Never again.

For light and simple, the meths burner from the Trangia and a home made stand for it does the job the finest. Small mess tin/cup or pan and a small bottle of fuel and I'm all set. If you don't want the hassle of the meths then the gool ol' MSR pocket rocket and a small can of gas works great, but IMHO, only if it's nicely above zero.

my3cents

I think you need to define a few things before you decide whats best. Main questions are how are you travelling (weight), where are you travelling (available fuel) then what are you cooking (pots and pans) how long you intend to be travelling and are you going solo or as part of a group. There's the not travelling at all option and what stove is good when the power goes off?

What about group cooking, a group out together has far more options. I think a Kelly Kettle is great with a group. Heating water is expensive on fuel and if you can heat most of the water a group is using for free then it makes all the other stoves more fuel efficient. Even if you need to rehydrate something with boiling water then cook it for another 10 minutes its handy to start off with boiling water from the Kelly Kettle. With a group you are going to have use for a lot of boiling water and at that point I think the pot stand for the top of the KK is handy as an extra stove.

liamofT

I have the Kelly kettle stainless scout model with the hobo stove and pan support attachments. it works fine for me for cooking.
The big plus with the kk is its efficiency. You can boil a litre of water with a few sheets of newspaper if you have to.I like the smell of woodsmoke. I have had a Coleman petrol stove in the past but can't stand the smell of petrol or paraffin now. Same goes for hexamine. Something to consider.
Big downside is bulk. Would not bring kk scout on long solo backpack but trekker model might suit. Kk do a pot set but IKEA also do a great 5 piece stainless kids pot set called Duktig for e10. Its what I'm using.

masculinist

We went lakeside today, a nice secluded spot , a flat area of grass on the shore but unseen from the usual paths and I brought my campingas burner and a disposable barbeque which had been gathering dust. The campingas bailed us out of trouble. It burns reliably fierce and well. I am very happy with it. I guess I want a hobo stove of some type to compliment it. Has anybody here bought one or have they just made it ?

Tabnabs

You can buy a fancy hobo stove like this, but it's much more satisfying to make one yourself.

Thargor

Am I doing it wrong with just 2 mess tins and a fire? One for boiling water one for food? I always find 2 small flat stones to balance them on in the fire and thats perfect for me, does a hobo stove make a huge difference?

Tabnabs

The stove will spark up anywhere that damp ground won't. So wet grass, snow, a bog, a puddle, just needs a bit of dry fuel and off it goes.

Thargor

Ah right, I dont go out in other seasons so it doesnt matter to me, might grab one of the little folding ones on Dealextreme just to try it out though...

aaakev

if im hiking or hunting and stop for a coffee or soup ill just use my steel mug over a small fire or homemade hobo stove. if im camping near the van ill use my single hob gas and the open fire/hot stones from the fire. i like to bring a bit of venison or a rabbit or 2 to cook over the fire if im camping or even better to shoot the rabbits fresh when i get there!

my3cents

Thargor wrote: »

Am I doing it wrong with just 2 mess tins and a fire? One for boiling water one for food? I always find 2 small flat stones to balance them on in the fire and thats perfect for me, does a hobo stove make a huge difference?

Thats fine in Ireland but there are now so many places that people explore (US National Parks for example) where open fires are banned. In some cases even burning any native material is banned to stop more popular areas being stripped bare.

So some of the reasons for using a hobo stove are to reduce the risk of fire, reduce evidence that anyone has been there (think if hundreds of people made fires every year in the same areas) make better more efficient use of available fuel and of course some people would consider convenience. An extreme example of saving on fuel leads me back to the Kelly Kettle.

masculinist

my3cents wrote: »

Thats fine in Ireland but there are now so many places that people explore (US National Parks for example) where open fires are banned.

We had that worry ourselves. Where we went theres some lakes, parkland and basically two ways of accessing it widely separated from each other. At one end theres a ''no fires'' symbol. At the other entrance theres warnings about litter and alerting Gardai but no signage relating to fires or barbeques at all. We walked in from the side with less warnings, found our secret spot, a flat piece of grass on the shore not viewable from anywhere, got some Vitamin D from the sunshine and started cooking. All I can say is we left it exactly as we found it. The earth was un-scorched, litter removed etc but I have no idea what the legal situation is. The priority in making a small fire would be to keep it under control as smokeless as possible so it doesn't let off huge amounts of smoke and alert someone who will call in fire engines and all sorts of trouble like that for something silly.

masculinist

When I saw this my jaw dropped. I thought wow ... holy crap..


Is this too good to be true ? Has anyone seen it in action ?


http://www.outdooradventurestore.ie/products/camping_equipment/solar_powered/campstove-4142.html

Charge your gadgets

By converting heat from the fire into usable electricity, our stoves will recharge your phones, lights and other gadgets while you cook dinner. Unlike solar, BioLite CampStove is a true on-demand source.

my3cents

masculinist wrote: »

When I saw this my jaw dropped. I thought wow ... holy crap..


Is this too good to be true ? Has anyone seen it in action ?


http://www.outdooradventurestore.ie/products/camping_equipment/solar_powered/campstove-4142.html

I'd read some serious reviews by people that know about stoves before spending that sort of money. I'd put it in the gimmick category.

I'd rule it out on weight and bulk alone, its nearly a kilo in weight, thats over 2 pounds! For charging electronic devices you'd be better off with a solar panel. Don't forget the biolite has to be charged before it works fully because it has to power an inbuilt fan that makes the fire run efficiently.

Some useful info about it at spiritburner.com http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/showtopicforreply.php?tid/34949/tp/1/ always a good place to check about stove stuff.

masculinist

my3cents wrote: »

I'd read some serious reviews by people that know about stoves before spending that sort of money. I'd put it in the gimmick category.

I'd rule it out on weight and bulk alone, its nearly a kilo in weight, thats over 2 pounds! For charging electronic devices you'd be better off with a solar panel. Don't forget the biolite has to be charged before it works fully because it has to power an inbuilt fan that makes the fire run efficiently.

Some useful info about it at spiritburner.com http://www.spiritburner.com/fusion/showtopicforreply.php?tid/34949/tp/1/ always a good place to check about stove stuff.

I read some very different reviews too. I guess its' a nice thing to have in a shtf type scenario but otherwise its too small, requires constant attendance to feed the sticks in and fillsup with ash too fast. Then from reports you have to empty it out and start again maybe every 20 minutes.

I came across variations on the thermoelectric generator idea. If they get cheaper I might just waste the money so I never run out of power in any situation [even if it requires a lot of patience to charge with]. Solar panels work only during the day but you can keep something charging and running at night with this type of technology.

http://offgridquest.com/energy/does-your-wood-stove-make-electricity-to


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tucaU6iFT54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ut1aahpd6U

my3cents

Don't forget you can strap a solar panel to your backpack so it has all day to charge your stuff up.

masculinist

my3cents wrote: »

Don't forget you can strap a solar panel to your backpack so it has all day to charge your stuff up.

have you tried this yourself ? Does it work well ?

I could be wrong but imagine for some reason that a little hand cranked charger might have better results than either this or the thermoelectric option.

aaakev

masculinist wrote: »

have you tried this yourself ? Does it work well ?

I could be wrong but imagine for some reason that a little hand cranked charger might have better results than either this or the thermoelectric option.

My mate used one on a 10 day trip to keep his phone charged. Worked perfect

masculinist

aaakev wrote: »

My mate used one on a 10 day trip to keep his phone charged. Worked perfect

was it in Ireland or else somewhere like Australia with plenty of sunshine though ?

I'm also wondering how durable are they ? Since they would be positioned externally, is it easy to break them during strenous activity when your backpack might get a whack of something ?

iainBB

Tried to cook sausages and rashes yesterday on the Kelly kettle with attachments. Was a nightmare

It was the small one so had to keep adding fuel by taking off the pan . No real heat to cook with . And the water boiling off while cooking.

No tea no rashes and no sausages.

aaakev

masculinist wrote: »

was it in Ireland or else somewhere like Australia with plenty of sunshine though ?

I'm also wondering how durable are they ? Since they would be positioned externally, is it easy to break them during strenous activity when your backpack might get a whack of something ?

In Ireland this time last year. Trip from dublin to limerick along the canal and Shannon

liamofT

iainBB wrote: »

Tried to cook sausages and rashes yesterday on the Kelly kettle with attachments. Was a nightmare

It was the small one so had to keep adding fuel by taking off the pan . No real heat to cook with . And the water boiling off while cooking.

No tea no rashes and no sausages.

The pot holder attachment is for making use of waste heat from chimney when boiling water.
If I just want tea I make small fire.
For cooking lay down a good fire. Boil your water and start to fry your rashers.when water is boiled remove main kettle have your tea and continue frying on base. You should have good coals at this stage for fry up.
If you try to fry with water in kettle boiling over you are just wasting fuel.
The hobo stove attachment makes it easier but can be done with tent pegs. (Not sure if hobo stove available for trekker model)
I have scout model which is bigger btw but can easy fry egg in time it takes to boil water

masculinist

I came across this

http://www.ghillie-kettle.co.uk

You may have to scroll a bit down the page and stop the clip and music from annoyingly autoplaying.

is this the same as

http://www.kellykettle.com ?

If the Kelly Kettle is out of patent then are there cheaper alternatives with the same volcano kettle/chimney style of functionality ? This looks like the same thing to me. Has anyone compared them in price, value and usage ?

my3cents

I think Wikipedia answers the question https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Kettle, a 3,600 year old design is bound to have a few different manufacturers.

You'll probably even find a "genuine" insulated SAS* Survival Storm Kettle if you look around the web (* insert military icon of choice, Para, Seals, SBS, Marines etc).

There's also one design to avoid where the water spout/filler is straight up next to the chimney and its to easy to get soot and ash from the chimney in the water. But don't whatever you do boil water with the bung in place because it turns the kettle into a bomb.