Author Topic: J. Falk Bushwhacker Stove (Read 2914 times)

teamnelson · « **on:** March 21, 2011, 07:15:51 PM »

http://www.bwsguide.has.it

After looking at a bunch of different DIY stove designs, I settled on this one. I actually went ahead and bought one premade; sometimes its easier for me to reverse engineer than follow the directions. Its a portable wood gas stove, made out of a 1 quart paint can, and a smaller can. Just finished our first trial test burn, and brewed a canteen cup of tea. As advertised, it took about 4 mins to get up to heat (175 degrees measured), and then it stayed that hot for 40 mins. Boiling water in about 10 minutes. By comparison to a camp fire, it only took one small split of pine, about 15" long, 2" square, battoned into chips and tinder. I used a finger size piece of duraflame log as starter. That's a lot of burn, heat and time, for a small amount of wood. And that was a first burn. I was futzing around with the cup and it sloshed about a 1/4 cup of water onto the side of the stove. Kept on cooking! All in all I'm impressed. Left a tiny amount of ash.

I also added his alcohol burner backup, which fits inside the stove for packing. Good for damp weather. Haven't tested it yet, but its really basic.

I'm confident that after a couple more tests with this stove, regular cooking will be a snap. I like that it puts out so much heat for so long just off of wood. The hobo stoves are similar, but no where near as efficient. The pepsi can alcohol stoves are good too, but you have to have alcohol. Plan to use it at home in a power failure, save the propane for bigger things. But it packs into itself, so you can throw it in a pack nicely as well if you have to leave for some reason. I'll probably make about 3 more to keep in the BOBs, and also to get used to making them on the fly.

myronman3 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2011, 04:20:58 AM »

i have a scorpion stove i bought years ago when i was serving. i needed something that put off no signature (essential when trying to cook some pogue bait and keeping it a secret from everyone else-or they would want to use it and share some of the pogue bait; as well as to hide it from the opposition). other than that, i cant see lugging around alot of weight (or pack space) on cooking equipment.
for times i am not worried about putting off a signature, i just use a fire built on the ground. something to cook over a campfire with is about all i would need; and many times something like that can be scavenged.

teamnelson · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2011, 03:10:52 PM »

myronman3, I used to do the same thing with a $1 stove attachment to the small green propane bottles. Packed right in the outside pocket of the ALICE.

This one weighs in at 6.5oz, which is less than several other camp style stoves w/a full fuel bottle, but is stout enough to bear the weight of a 6cup coffeepot. I like the idea of a high efficiency wood burner in lieu of a campfire, to minimize a trail and pack weight. I also hate carrying liquid or pressurized explosives in my pack ... close encounters with IEDs learned me.

If we reach the point where we're using it to cook on a regular basis, people in general will have a heightened sense of smell, so cooking itself will be a risk. I know several folks that have wood burning stoves in their secluded cabins ... that probably put off a plume you can see miles away, and a smell anyone downwind can recognize instantly. The electric alternative ... I once got separated from my Company on an exercise in the fields around Odessa; I had been on KP at Brigade, we got off after the sun went down, and my unit had jumped. Knowing my unit, I aimed my ears to the loudest conflaguration of generators, walked a couple of miles of open terrain, and right into our Offcier's Hooch. I know some folks have a small generator and a hot plate they're going to use ... which gives off a sound signature a blind man can follow. I run at night alot, and you can hear things and smell things from distances that you wouldn't notice in the day.

Victor3 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2011, 08:55:06 PM »

Careful TN, I've found little cooking gyzmos to be addicting.

I recently got this little BBQ off ebay for ~$30. Enameled cast iron with a 5" diameter stainless steel grill. At 5# it's no backpacking stove but at home a 20# bag of Kingsford will cook a lot of meals. I could also set an alcohol stove/sterno can inside so the BBQ serves as a windscreen and pot holder-upper.

One thing that's helpful with the wood gas stoves is a piece of plastic tubing to blow into a vent hole to get the fire going faster.

teamnelson · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2011, 10:37:34 PM »

That's a cool little BBQ! Guess I'll head over to eBay now ...

myronman3 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 23, 2011, 04:29:44 AM »

yup, at night, noise and everything else travels a long way.
when it came to cooking, if i could do it and the guys in my squad didnt know, i figured i was probably able to keep it secret from anyone else.
as far as explosive fuel containers.... i did actually consider all of that. i figured it would not be any different from the h.e. m203 rounds, claymores, or grenades we carried. we used to jump all of our gear, and if it can survive all of that, then it could probably survive just about anything that i would survive.

blind ear · « **Reply #6 on:** March 23, 2011, 05:50:20 AM »

Myronman3, How do you keep the cooking from giving off the aroma of food cooking, especially cooking pogue bait? ear

myronman3 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 23, 2011, 08:17:11 AM »

easy....mainly, i would heat water. get it boiling hot, then shut the stove down. while the stove was cooling, i would slip mre packets into the boiling water to heat them. they would remain sealed until i opened it to eat it. then, while the water was still very hot, mix up my stuff. mostly i would cook ramen and coffee. i would also do it when most the other guys were sleeping. once things were heated and cooked, they didnt last long...i would get it on the inside of me very quickly. you would be surprised what it can do for your spirit.
every once in a while, i might hook a person up. the problem was once someone knew about it, the jig was up. it is funny how everyone wanted to use your stuff, but no one would want to pony up to carry fuel or help buy fuel. when you have 30+ guys wanting to use it, fuel doesnt last long. but for one person, it was just the ticket. that is why i kept it on the down low.

blind ear · « **Reply #8 on:** March 23, 2011, 12:51:24 PM »

Where were you cooking the pogue bait? (Is pogue bait for attracting fish or people or somethng else?) ear

myronman3 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 24, 2011, 08:19:46 AM »

pogue bait is for attracting pogues... lol. and as for where, where ever we happened to be; which was always in "the suck".

teamnelson · « **Reply #10 on:** March 24, 2011, 11:16:29 AM »

Tested the alcohol backup burner last night that fits inside the bushwhacker; everything including a bottle of denatured alcohol fits inside the qt paintcan that serves as the base. Lit up great, faster cook time, but much shorter of course. This puppy is gonna get a lot of duty.

Speaking of bait ... was on a fieldex in Louisiana once long time ago, and a guy on my team broke out his stove to cook a 1/2 chicken he had packed out with us (just felt like having chicken I guess). Gator crawled up out of the swamp and snagged the chicken - they got into a tug of war. I haven't laughed like that in a while. Pogues are easier to scare off

Hit or Miss · « **Reply #11 on:** March 27, 2011, 12:27:47 PM »

Good link! That's probably one of the slickest stove builds I've seen. I've been putting it off for far too long, better get one built! V3, good tip on the tubing too! That little Q has me thinking too!

myronman3 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 28, 2011, 02:25:30 AM »

anyone tried this? http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/whitelaw/ind_fire/indfir.htm

teamnelson · « **Reply #13 on:** March 28, 2011, 10:33:25 AM »

Quote from: myronman3 on March 28, 2011, 02:25:30 AM

anyone tried this? http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/whitelaw/ind_fire/indfir.htm

Not yet ... that looks like a great idea! I like that you can regulate the flow with the windbreak on the upwind hole. If you had to be in place for a while, you could keep the embers going a long time, without a large flame signature.

myronman3 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 28, 2011, 01:44:38 PM »

i definately will be trying it out this summer. it looks promising.

Pat/Rick · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2011, 02:51:30 PM »

indian fire. Also known as a Dakota Hole. Very efficient for its basic design and fairly concealable as well. If placed in a depression and good dry wood is used almost invisible as far as fires go.

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/the-dakota-fire-hole/

Victor3 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 03, 2011, 12:33:45 AM »

Quote from: myronman3 on March 28, 2011, 02:25:30 AM

anyone tried this? http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/whitelaw/ind_fire/indfir.htm

You can use something like this as a simple forge for melting/casting aluminum & copper-based alloys, and heating steel for blacksmithing projects. Some of the earliest metalworkers employed nearly the same idea.

There are a few custom knife makers out there who use nothing fancier than a length of buried pipe, a hair dryer on one end and a hole full of charcoal on the other as a forge to heat their blades.

Victor3 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 08, 2011, 08:19:22 PM »

I decided to make me a slightly larger wood gas stove than I've done before and try creosote bush sticks out in it. 1st order of business was to go to my favorite creosote hunting spot with my Son last Saturday and shoot some sticks loose with a 22

Then located 32oz and 34.5oz cans, made the stove and filled it up with sticks...

Fired it up using a piece of parafin/sawdust starter. This is five minutes after lighting...

Burned with yellow flame for ~10 minutes, then settled down to low red & blue flame with high heat output and no smoke. Continued in this condition for ~15 more minutes...

~40 minutes after lighting, flame has gone out but it's still plenty hot to cook on...

And can still boil a quart of water after another 10 minutes...

After dinner & coffee, there's still enough heat from the coals to toast some marshmallows

Here's what's left in the bottom when it's done. Note the stainless steel mesh to hold the fuel off the bottom of the inner can...

This is the inner can. You don't have to go nuts making holes like some designs you'll see (unless you want to create a mini blast furnace that burns out in 5 minutes)...

Here's the ash that's left. I can position the mesh on one of the inner can's ribs to support an alcohol stove at different heights...

Notes:

Still have to make a pot stand of some sort.

I did add another 4 holes (for a total of 8 ) around the top and tested it again. It appeared to burn the wood gas better due to adding more air, but that's just by my eyeball. I have no real evidence that it did.

You need an effective windscreen with these things. Even a 10 mph wind can blow them out and you'll end up trying to cook over a smudge pot

The larger the size, the longer the time you'll have to cook.

As I suspected from previous experiments, creosote burns real good in this thing

My Son and I had a lot of fun making and testing this one. It will go with us next time camping. I plan to do a demo on making one with his Boy Scout troop.

teamnelson · « **Reply #18 on:** April 11, 2011, 12:09:28 PM »

Victor, for a windscreen, I used this:
- 3 layers of aluminum foil, folded around the edges, 2' long.
- Use a paper punch along the bottom edge for vent holes for draft.
- Wrap it in a semi circle around the stove.
If you fold it in half along the long axis, it should wrap nicely around the whole stove for storage, and I just use a rubber band along the long axis of the stove to hold it all together for storage.

That's a good trick using the ribs of the can to hold the mesh. You could probably use the triangular vent holes as a support as well, with the bit that turns inside. I made cotter keys out of coat hanger wire, ran them through the stove at the right height, and trimmed them short enough to pack inside the can for carrying. Use that for the alcohol burner.

That's some pretty country right there, I miss it. That's where I grew up!

Victor3 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 12, 2011, 03:52:55 PM »

Aluminum foil is probably the easiest and most compact way to go. A little light if it's blowing much though. Another larger can with both ends cut out and slit down the side to spread it out to larger diameter works too. I've even used a cardboard box with rocks inside to hold it down.

All the "stuff" required for can-based-wood-burners to work well can get a little bulky. Kinda makes them a "win-lose" proposition if you have to pack them. If fuel is all over the place where you're going, efficiency isn't really required. A folding design like this might be better if you have to carry something around with you...

http://www.kuenzi.com/home_e

Bugflipper · « **Reply #20 on:** April 12, 2011, 04:09:39 PM »

One thing I don't care for is most online instructions show galvanized hardware cloth being used. For grilling one could use a spit. If you wanted to use a grill they sale stainless hardware cloth at craft stores. Here's a neat little link that is survival related and may give a couple more ideas on cooking and heat sources. http://wildwoodsurvival.com/