When camping or bugging out, you will need a convenient way to cook your food and boil your drinking water. You can choose from a variety of portable stoves that best suits your needs, depending on the situation. Each comes with their own share of advantages and disadvantages. Here are the best portable stoves for preppers to choose from in case SHTF. (h/t to SurvivalSullivan.com)
Rocket stoves
Rocket stoves are known for their quick-heating attributes. They're especially useful for heating water up to its boiling point in a short amount of time. For fuel, you only need to use a few dry leaves, twigs, and other types of small tinder. This means that you likely won't run out of fuel if you're stranded in the wilderness. While rocket stoves are fairly small and lightweight, they might not be so easy to carry in a bug-out bag (BOB). Instead, they are best suited for situations where you are staying in a single bug-out location and you don't plan on moving around that much. Rocket stoves cost around $100 on average. If you're trying to avoid detection, make sure to buy a rocket stove without a reflective stainless steel middle.
Hot water rocket stoves
Similar to rocket stoves, hot water rocket stoves are dependable survival cooking systems that can bring water to a boil in around an hour. Standing at less than 24 inches tall, these relatively compact stoves can provide just enough space to boil a single survival food packet, sterilize baby bottles and medical equipment, make a pot of coffee or tea, or purify a small amount of water. They are also easier to carry around than rocket stoves since they weigh only around two pounds. Hot water rocket stoves use a pair of parabolic reflectors to capture solar rays and point them toward an inner vacuum tube filled with water. These vacuum tubes then harness the sun's rays to produce heat. (Related: The 5 types of stoves you need to know how to use for cooking preparedness.)
Hobo stoves
If you don't want to spend money buying a survival stove, then you can easily make your own hobo stove. These DIY stoves are very lightweight and portable, but they take up a considerable amount of space in your BOB. You can create your own hobo stove by turning a used #10 can upside-down and cutting off the bottom part. Save this detached bottom piece for later. You should then cut a four-inch square opening along the lower side of your can and set aside this piece. Take the detached bottom part and let it rest inside the top part of your can. While the can is upside down, use a manual can opener to punch a few ventilation holes near the rim to let the smoke out. Punching these holes will also bend parts of your can inward to serve as supports for your detached bottom piece. This bottom piece will act as a durable double top when you flip the can right-side up. At each side of your square opening, drill two tiny holes. Insert a bolt through each hole and secure each bolt with a washer and a nut inside the can. Attach the ends of a stiff piece of wire to your bolts. Take the detached four-inch square piece and bend the top of it over your wire. Secure the piece over your opening. This door will serve as a damper to keep your fire at the correct level. Once you get the fire started, you can now heat up a can of soup or a small meal over your hobo stove.
Portable stoves are an important part of your survival gear. Learn more about other essential prepping equipment at Gear.news.
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