I was pondering on these twig burners and wondering exactly what it is we want them to do:
1] Windproof
2] Concentrate heat
3] Be able to get fuel under it
4] Light weight
5] Small packed size
6] Perhaps the possible use as a grill
For the most part I'm pretty apathetic to this approach to cooking. Proper stoves are quicker, cleaner, more convenient, safer, and require less effort to use. In the event I do run out of fuel it is easy enough to make something that dangles, and it's straight forward enough to make a windshield from what you can find be that naturally occurring, knitted from sticks, or built up from dug up sods or rocks. Carrying something that weighs between a pint and liter of water, that exclusively serves this function, is well in excess of my tolerance and I'm not a hardcore backpacking light merchant.
I have seen that weight thing partially overcome with some creative home brewed solutions on other forums. A simple rape of the kitchenware section of Tesco [Walmart?] offers up all manner of things like colanders that may be used as crucibles for burning .etc. Random bloke below made his little rig up from a cutlery drainer and a cannibalized coffee thing.
Still, while that works, in order to keep the weight and volume down he is restricted to a very small device that you'd have to keep feeding scrawny little twigs. I lack both the will and the inclination to keep that up for long. I don't really want my mate to have it as his primary method either. I don't want to have drunk mine and be packed up and ready to go and have to wait while he's still finishing off his umpteenth fagot.
My solution is below. I just ramped up the windshield that I use round my normal burner. It's made from a plain old coffee can that I filled with water and froze. The ice inside gives resistance and maintains structural integrity when you whack the nail holes through. Cut the top and bottom off and slit it down the side so it can be rolled up smaller that it was. Remember to dress the nail exit holes on the inside down with a hammer to avoid shrapnel finger. Voila, one super light burner shield that can also be used as a twig burner. Packed size is still bigger than I'd like, but I figure adding a couple of crude hinges with some of that heavy wire used to make your own grip leads should ameliorate much of that. I don't think it is worth much more effort than that. The thing is so light it will burn though eventually with great big hot coals, but just for burning some sticks to cook on it is durable enough. [Don't trip on the lid the kettle is on, that was an experiment it isn't attached. I'd normally just use a couple of pegs across. That was just a test to see if I could keep it going with the lid on to act as a spark guard or whether I needed more air holes. - Thinking nest heater]. Anyway, it is light, has the potential to be more compact, and kills at least two birds with one stone.
Lastly, I've just seen the below and it made me wonder. As it is it strikes me as a bit of an overpriced gimmick BBQ. The grill section would cost $50 USD and the twig cup another $20 USD. Outrageous!
However, it did get me thinking about the advantages of packed size and the ability to get a good amount of fuel under it. Bin the cup bit off and what have you got something that you could make with two aluminium tubes, one smaller in diameter than the other, and 8 tent peg shafts. You could get the whole lot in one tube, plus a good amount of tin foil to go round the outside and it would still weigh very little. Even if you made quite a big one it is still only a bit of work with a drill and saw, and could be very compact and light.
