Thanks for bumping this soon 10year old thread.I feel here lays factors that could explain a persons interest in the field of off-grid cooking, heating and lighting - devices. However this doomsday scenario is not defined and so it has variables. Is this a neuclear scenario or is the moon falling down? Are we confined back into the caves or are we living in our homes? There is no single stove that would solve any scenario outcome in any climate. Lets be optimistic and say your house is inhabitable but the powergrid is permanently gone. Then you would like to have a wood burning kitchenstove both for heating and cooking. The cave-scenario suggests a stove that burns any dry biological material. A selfpowered fan assisted twigstove that makes heat, cooks and could generate some electricity would be appreciated in this scenario - as in the Biolite concept.
Agreed @haknuts . Liquid or gas stoves are a good solution for short term situations. Shouldn't be too hard to have enough kero or white gas to last a couple weeks to a month. Beyond that, wood is the answer if you live outside a city. Hobo stove, Kelly Kettle, etc., for those of us who can't accommodate a full size wood stove in the home. FWIW, I think too many people prep for a very low probability end of world scenario, but fail to address more likely situations. Pretty silly to be ready for the zombie apocalypse but not have any life insurance to get your family buy should you have a heart attack. Just saying.
Wood burning backpacking stoves should be the lightest as you never have to carry fuel. I always thought the 10 ounce titanium sierra wood burning zip stove I carried on all three of my thru-hikes was the best bug out stove due to its long term renewable fuel resource. I have over 10,000 miles hiking with it and it hasn't failed me yet. Of course battery needs would eventually become an issue long term much like the limiting fuel stoves using petro & alcohol. Lithium AA batteries are lighter and just one will last a good month in the zip stove on a long distance hike. Maybe a solar battery set-up can extend its use. Then again you really don't need the battery operated fan to make a fire, but it does help it become a spectacular heat machine with any type of dried vegetation. I've even used dried horse dung on the Pacific Crest & Continental Divide Trails. The Appalachian Trail was a little more challenging starting a fire in the zip stove at times due to the much more humid & wet weather of the East.
I have built rocket stoves and they are wonderful. They helped me become a proud Stovoholic. I will have to build another. I want to try burning dung in one.
Looking outside just now (UK north 10AM), it looks like the end of the world about to start! True end of world? Doesn't matter lol. but for a stove for shtf senario's? how about tge kelly kettle? will burn nearly any solid fuel including dung or leaves. only really good for boiling water but does that very well!
I was just thinking about the kelly kettle... I've never used one but I appreciate its simplicity. Volcano cooker could be added in with all the mess kit type cookers from crusader cup to USGI canteen cups. If real cooking, heat and multi fuel were a concern I'd suggest Mil-surplus tent heater like the M-1941 or other varieties sometimes discussed as "Alaskan tent stoves". I've got a very unique cast iron tent stove called a Not-a-Bolt stove. It keys and locks together. Apart, it stacks flat and compact but cast iron isn't exactly light weight. I still need to procure a vent pipe and hope that a mil-surplus will fit. I pretty sure this old reference is to the one I purchased. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1920-039-s-...Foundry-amp-Machine-Company-Inc-/270881979612
Add a wide mouth vacuum bottle to a system that boils water and you can cook just about anything. Boiling foods like rice, pasta, beans and other hard vegetables wastes a lot of fuel. Finding a balance between the thermal mass of the food to cook and water. Small quantities may yield a direct throw it in and forget about it approach while large quantities may need to all come to a boil together to add enough heat to follow through in the vacuum bottle. If you've never tried your hand at this I'd suggest looking into (Thermos) Vacuum Bottle Cooking Want rice for supper, prep it at lunch Want steel cut oats for breakfast, prep them before going to bed then if the kidneys don't object you could wake up to breakfast in bed(sleeping bag) Fuel usage will be a major concern in any real emergency. Selecting cooking systems and food preparation techniques to cook faster should be a concern which is one more reason that vacuum bottle cooking can be a valuable technique to be familiar with. Perhaps a wok could be helpful?
Yes - but - for cooking - kettle need to be filled for 1,5 liter of "food" - You need - ~ 3 liter of "fresh" water
oh yeah, the Kelley Kettle. I forgot I have one still in the box unused. That would be a simpler unit than the zip stove for packing and on the move travel. Then all you need is a little cast iron Norwegian Jotul 602. It would be a great primary stove once you have an established home site.
Oh, no worries - I am sure we (as a species) find some other, more efficient way of ending the world as far as we are concerned way before the Sun runs out of hydrogen to burn. My end-of-the-world stove would be anything which could brew me a cuppa quickly; after all, I'd only need it for a cup of tea while watching the major cities getting taken out on CNN - then wait for whoever pushed the button to get around to annihilating my neck of the woods, too. Shouldn't take too long, hence the need to boil water quickly. I might even settle for a JetBoil. :-/
I'm heavily vested in the "Lead Standard" and at the end of the world cartridges will be more valuable than gold. I'm also set well with CF, Kero, Mineral Spirits and Meths.
