Stove To Go

One simple pleasure owning owning a woodland is creating a little camp and having a spot of lunch in the outdoors. If you want something hot then I expect people either create an open fire or use a camping stove.

I stumbled across a portable wood stove and it's really rather neat. The legs fold under the stove box and the flue pipe comes apart into four sections that also fit inside the stove box. So it all packs down into a very portable unit with carry handle too.



The only downsides are
1) You don't get to stare at an open fire.
2) You can't just pack and go as you need to allow a little time for it to burn out and cool down. It's not like a charcoal BBQ that retains it heat for ages though. About an hour is usually enough so not a major hassle with a little forethought.
3) It's not very heavy but you wouldn't want to be hiking with this in your rucksack. Car trips only.

There's some upsides too.
1) It's much more efficient than an open fire and a few twigs can boil a kettle or fry some bacon.
2) You can fit two medium sized pans on the top plate without a problem so it's easy to cook with.
3) The flue gets the smoke up and away so you don't suffer smoke in the face like you can with a open fire. In fact you get very little smoke at all as it seems to burn efficiently in the box. Once up to temp and using seasoned wood the smoke is clear.
4) For me it's nice not to be leaving an open fire simmering behind when I've left. That's not really so much of a problem working in the woods in winter when it's so damp but it would worry me a little in the summer. I also don't want to build a permanent fire area in case it attracts any bored teenagers to light fires.

I believe it was originally designed for humanitarian needs in disaster zones but offers a unique niche to the camping market too. Not cheap compared to a traditional camping stove but I won't ever need to buy any fuel! They can bought via eBay.

I understand the designer is adding a flue pipe attachment that will act like a kettle giving you even more room. Sounds neat.