How to boil water without a pot?

[The REAL Commander]

No-one ( including me ) have mentioned that heated rocks ( normally one that "live" underwater.
Or rapidly cooled rocks can explode/shatter.
Carl

I have had many hot rocks break when they contacted water. I have never actually had one explode, but yes, I have indeed had them break apart with a fairly loud crack. I tend to wonder if the exploding rock stories are just myths. Has anyone ever actually had a rock explode violently on them? Maybe certain specific kinds of rocks do this?

 

[shangchi108]

Hi Friends,

I can see these methods in a pinch, but (if you don't mind my asking) what are three guys who consciously chose to go camping doing with out means to boil water?

Regarding when these methods would be within context, picture hobos picking through trash, trying to survive. Homeless people in California call being homeless and without shelter "camping out".

Another scenario would be being stranded in a third-world country.

It may never happen to most of us, but you never know when you'll find yourself having to use such last-ditch methods to survive.

 

[shangchi108]

I have had many hot rocks break when they contacted water. I have never actually had one explode, but yes, I have indeed had them break apart with a fairly loud crack. I tend to wonder if the exploding rock stories are just myths. Has anyone ever actually had a rock explode violently on them? Maybe certain specific kinds of rocks do this?

River rocks are said to explode in fires, but I've never seen it. What I have seen is fires built on concrete near the beaches in California, causing the trapped water inside the concrete to become steam and blow chips violently into the air. Can be a real hazard to your eyes. Never build a fire on concrete that's been recently wet.

 

[Brian Jones]

Friends of mine ran a sweat lodge, and warned the participants about river rocks. Nonetheless, a person who did not seem to care or believe it picked some to heat without telling anyone.

The shrapnel put several of them in the hospital and the docs said some of it looked like war wounds.

It has happened.

 

[DWK2]

REAL Commander,

I've never seen a rock explode but when I was young I once had some rocks in a fire throw some pretty nasty chips off at high speed. We had to start another fire.

DancesWithKnives

 

[Thomas Linton]

You can boil water in a hat (eg Filson tin cloth packer) by placing hot rocks in. Sounds disgusting, but would work in an emergency if you needed to purify the water.

Ya' wouldna' wanna' do it as a regular thing. Altho' it would help from gittin' a Big Head.

 

[warrigal]

Real commander. I have had rocks crack in a pretty excieting way when put in water. But I haven't had rocks explode around the edge of a fire.
I'm still not keen to come back here in a month and declare I have had river rocks explode. So I will still keep digging pits for my fires.
Carl

 

[The REAL Commander]

I am guessing then that porous rocks that have been submerged for long periods of time are filled with micro pockets of water. Makes sense they would bust up pretty violently if put in a fire. I have never used river rocks in a fire as far as I can recall, so I cannot speak from experience concerning these. I have, however, used rocks that were wet, lying in mud or covered in snow with no signs of cracking or spewing shards. I doubt they were exposed to enough water to have become permiated though.

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

We've boiled water a shitload of times in a milk jug.
I've boiled it once or twice in plastic bottles.
I've seen people boil water in their hat (with rocks, which I think was mentioned), and then watched the further adventure of trying to drink it.
Beer cans, pop cans, soup cans, oven bags (I haven't tried a ziploc bag yet, but I will), coffee cans.
Basically any unlined, food grade type aluminum can.


The water keeps the material it's in below its ignition point. You could boil it in lots of things; there are lots of ways to do it, too. The way I believe it works is that, as long as it isn't too thick, whatever the water is in will act like a skin and take on the temperature of the water through conduction--keeping the material from reaching the temperature at which it combusts.

I've not seen it work with a styrofoam cup though. I guess it's something to do with styrofoam's insulating qualities.

A friend of mine once asked me about drinking water he'd boiled in an aluminum container that welding rods came in.
Can ya guess what my answer was? (Hint: it was the opposite of "oh sure ya can!")

 

[kage]

I've never seen river rocks actually "explode" but I have seen them blow off chips with enough velocity to blind a person if it got you just right. Why risk it?

 

[Grapevine]

How can you tell if an aluminum beverage can, or any sort of food can like a soup can or tomato sauce can, is lined or not?

I know that the ultra light hikers will use the Heineken large can as their cooking pot, but I'm not sure if they're certain whether or not that can is lined with a clear coating. Seems to me those guys are more concerned about lightweight ware than they are about safety.

Canned food cans made of steel seem to be lined with something to keep the inside from rusting. Due to the popularity of the pop can stoves, I've been eyeing other canned goods in grocery stores for other uses and have opened up 3 cans of identical make but from different brands—2 tomato cans from different brands, and 1 canned fruit. The two tomato cans definitely have a lining, one has a white coating inside while the other has some sort of clear yellowish coating that makes the interior look like brass. The fruit can just looks like old tarnished metal inside while its bottom and top has that clear yellowish lining. All three also seem to have thicker linings on their bottoms and tops.

And while we're on the subject of food grade cans, what about tins? Are tin lined steel cans safe to boil water in? There are tall cookie tins and good large mug sized chocolate tins that I've been eyeing. They have are tight fitting lids, which is a great feature if they're safe to boil or cook with.

 

[1_BIG_BUNKER]

I have used the aluminum foil to make a small pot to hold water in. I have never been able to get aluminum that has been folded and then unfolded, to ever hold more than a very small amount of water as there are holes in the folds of the aluminum.

Then I take my vacuum sealer food saver bag, that I made into a small water container to fit any size tin I happen to be using, and fill it with water and set it in that cheesy aluminum foil pot with a small amount of water in it. It makes a double boiler so to speak and protects my main water bag. I set the foil pot next to the fire, and as the small amount of water starts to boil, it in turn boils the water in my food saver bag.

The food saver bags are made to be boiled, so there is no problem. Plus I can use any container I happen to find as a double boiler, even an old rusty paint can if I really needed to.

When you do this, make sure you tie off the bag to something overhead so the bag does not tip over.

Below is how I make my bags. The red line is where I will use the food saver to melt the bag together to form the shape I want. You can make them any size you want to fit any size tin you have. The neck is longer so I can fold it over a few times and tie it off to keep spilling down.

If you do decide to make one, you will more than likely need to remove the hold down things on your machine as you will need to use the very edge of your vacuum machine to seal the bag part way across and those hooks or holders or whatever you want to call them get in the way and you can't close the lid completely onto your bag. Start to make one and this will become very clear if it isn't already.

I know they are not as small as a condom, but they will last much longer and duct tape will fix them if needed.

 

[Fonly]

If your depending on aluminum foil to boil your water, I would highly suggest that you bring another way. Once aluminum foil has been folded up, no matter what its going to have holes in it. Unless you can bring a roll with you, its not worth it.

 

[1_BIG_BUNKER]

I agree 100% with you Fonly. Foil is all but worthless in kits as far as I am concerned, but if you double or triple it up in thickness, it will hold a small amount of water to make a double boiler. It can and probably will still leak, but not nearly as fast, and gives me time to boil the water in my bag. As it leaks, I just add a little more water to try and keep the level up.

It is not the best way to do it, but it is better than drinking untreated water or risking your bag to fire right away without at least trying the foil.

If you can't get it to work, the bag itself will take some heat as they are made for that and pretty tough.

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

How can you tell if an aluminum beverage can, or any sort of food can like a soup can or tomato sauce can, is lined or not?

I know that the ultra light hikers will use the Heineken large can as their cooking pot, but I'm not sure if they're certain whether or not that can is lined with a clear coating. Seems to me those guys are more concerned about lightweight ware than they are about safety.

Canned food cans made of steel seem to be lined with something to keep the inside from rusting. Due to the popularity of the pop can stoves, I've been eyeing other canned goods in grocery stores for other uses and have opened up 3 cans of identical make but from different brands—2 tomato cans from different brands, and 1 canned fruit. The two tomato cans definitely have a lining, one has a white coating inside while the other has some sort of clear yellowish coating that makes the interior look like brass. The fruit can just looks like old tarnished metal inside while its bottom and top has that clear yellowish lining. All three also seem to have thicker linings on their bottoms and tops.

And while we're on the subject of food grade cans, what about tins? Are tin lined steel cans safe to boil water in? There are tall cookie tins and good large mug sized chocolate tins that I've been eyeing. They have are tight fitting lids, which is a great feature if they're safe to boil or cook with.

Most times the lining will be visible (white plastic or such). Other than that you can scratch it with the tip of your knife, if you can dig up plastic then it's lined.

The main things you want to be careful with is that:
1.) There's no Zinc in it (usually the case with cheaper tin products)
2.) There's no galvanizing on it.
3.) There's no lead in it.
4.) It's never contained any kind of chemicals.

If it's something that you just plan on using once and getting rid of, it being lined with a little plastic won't kill you and probably won't even hurt you. BSPA has scared the shorts off of everybody, but what a lot of people aren't telling you is that it is harmful over an extended use. Drinking cold/hot water from a polycarbonate Nalgene once in a little while won't hurt.
Doing it everyday, day in and day out will probably not be good...but then again...eating a Big Mac everyday, day in and day out will probably give you a stroke, too.
Moderation is the key, kiddies.

Honestly, if it's something you plan on using alot, just get a good old half pound coffee can and season it with some olive oil so that it don't rust all to hell on you, punch a hole in each side at the top; rig you a bail wire from a clotheshanger and voi-la! You got a dependable water container that you can drink from, cook in, boil in, etc...


And if you use a cookie tin....leave the top off. Nothin' says lovin' like getting scalded by the hot water grenade you made on accident. (those are A number 1 for making char cloth, btw. Just poke a hole in the top, put your cotton cloth inside, and set it on a bed of hot coals. Little while later you got char cloth good as any every bought, your wife'll get pissed if she catches you burning her washcloths though...just an FYI).