$5 DIY hobo stove

Cool, a stoves thread

I was gonna make one of these too, but I'm planning a longer stay in the (Swedish) woods next summer & feared it either might fall apart on me or rust away after a few weeks of use. So I almost ordered one of those foldable titanium Vargo stoves when I discovered the Solo stove & pot combo. I think I'm going to order that latter combo now as it seems quit durable & still weighs less than my gas stove with a can of gas but without a cooking pot.

The prices for these pre-made backpacking stoves are pretty ridiculous though

Yeah, I always take a cheap fold-out bbq (or two) with me when camping, but after 20 to 30 days of daily use those usually fall apart on me. & with that in mind & seeing how cans just seem to get thinner and thinner these days I rather not rely on something self made for longer trips.

So the stainless steel Solo Stove seemed like a good option to me. I'm a fairly experienced pyromaniac too, but I am not a morning person at all & it's best if I don't have to do too much stuff until after I had my morning coffee. So a small woodstove would be good to carry I think. You just have to gather one or two handfuls of sticks with those to boil a cup of water so it's not too much fire-prepping for my sleepy head, haha.


Do we have a backpacking-thread already btw? I would love to check out what gear you usually carry since I'm still a noob at camping without a vehicle myself.

I was planing on bringing my gas stove (Campingaz Twister Plus PZ) and a can of gas as well originally. But since it adds over a pound of weight to my pack & it's only meant as an emergency-back up I think I'm just gonna leave it at home & take some solid fuel tabs to use in the Solo stove instead. It supposedly works well with an alcohol stove too but I'm not a big fan of those personally, plus it would require me to carry about the same weight in fuel as with the gas stove so I only gave it a brief thought.

What other stoves are you guys looking at btw? I really like the folding firebox as well, but it's just too heavy for backpacking imo. The titanium emberlit looks like a good alternative but imo it is too expensive for what it is plus I'm a little worried that I might loose a part and/or get tired of putting it back together & taking it apart at some point.

Haha, I got everything new this fall! Lightweight big 3 plus backpack & all kinds of little things, so I can walk with it all winter to get used to it. I'm tempted to ask you which one you got, but perhaps we should at least try to stay on topic here & save that for a dedicated backpacking thread instead. Crap, I should've taken some pictures when I was trying out my new gear last week

Yes you should have got some pics I don't have any stoves..I don't carry any...Norse on the other hand has the Emberlit camping stove ( I am dying to try out) he's kinda stuck atm on the Jetboil...I'm not a fan just because the canisters only last for a short while...If I'm going to carry anything I'll carry a little heavier fuel rather than spend more money...cuz well I'm kinda stingy with my money ...I like the Emberlit for it's simplicity and with all the dif types of fuel/fire starters out there ...it seems to be the most convenient and practical

Oh and screw stayin on topic :MAAH:...I don't have time for that :showoff:
...btw Stone got tired of waitin for us :rolleyes:and created the backpacking thread already

Found it


What kinda tinder do people like to carry for longer trips btw, or do you just bring a little & then keep an eye out for fatwood, resins & whatnot?


edit: I had to google that tipi first, but it looks awesome! How much does that weigh?

Re. Tinder, I keep some Tumble Drier lint wiped in Vaseline in a small baggie for emergerncy use.