Wood Gas Stoves?

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Gadgetaholic

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Nov 5, 2009
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Someone mentioned building a wood gas stove and I was curious so I googled and read a little - it seems like an interesting concept, do any of you guys have experience with these? Currently I have a propane/butane gas stove that I have used a few times and I have played around building and testing a few different designs of soda can alcohol stoves - but I haven't tried a wood gas stove.

I like the idea of better burning of the wood (and the gases given off) for a smokeless (or near smokeless) fire. I like the idea of being able to boil water with nothing more than a few dry twigs you gather from the ground. I like the idea of being able to go into the bush without needing to bring an adequate supply of fuel for however long you will be there for - more benefit for longer term camping obviously.

It strikes me that in a major WTSHTF situation where you may need to spend months living off the land (or just choosing to live off the land for months) this would be one of the best cooking solutions - no need to buy and haul several months worth of fuel. In a survival situation where you don't want to draw attention to yourself the smokeless fire would have a big benefit compared to cooking with a standard camp fire.

I'm kinda put off building my own wood gas stove because they are much trickier than the soda can stoves I have built and it isn't so easy to find the right sized cans to fit one into the other. Getting the design right tends to take a bit of trial and error, it is rare to build and use a home made stove and have it work exactly as you want on the first try.

I am thinking about trying something that I can just buy, a google search for wood gas stove find this:
http://woodgas-stove.com/
It looks pretty good, but even though I am not expecting to be in a long term survival situation or to go bush for several months I just don't like the reliance on working batteries to run the fan - I'd prefer something that works well and requires nothing but the fuel which can be easily found. Still they look like pretty cool stoves to play with.
Going through more links and reading some articles I came across this:
http://www.fourdog.com/index_files/bushcooker.htm
That's more what I had in mind - titanium construction would give more strength, less weight and VERY long term usability without failure, with no batteries required for long term sustainability. Has anyone here tried these?

I'm thinking that a small wood gas stove stored inside a small pot would be a pretty worthwhile addition to an emergency kit/bugout bag. Thoughts, opinions, sharing of experience?
 
I've been eying this setup for a while. Looking forward to reading thru this thread as it is replied to.
 
I have a number of wood stoves. Everything from a $100 bushbuddy

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To a $10 sterno stove

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Including a zip stove (big and not too good), Vargo titainium (light and compact) and a few others.


All will make your pots black and messy. The Bushbuddy burns the cleanest but that is relative. All require a lot of attention to operate as they have small fuel chambers. The easiest one to use is the Kelly Kettle but it just boils water and is pretty big. I personally like the sterno stove because you can move the cup or pan around on the grate to control temperature and use it as a little fireplace.
 
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HornyToad said:
All will make you pots black and messy. The Bushbuddy burns the cleanest but that is relative.
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The bushbuddy seems to be a true wood gas stove - burning the smoke/gas should make it cleaner burning. How do you find it for smoke? Do you bother cleaning the pots or just let them be blackened?
 
i have a evernew it is high but it is the best/hottest alcohol stove out there,it will burn wood/twigs and fuel tabs..
 
They are effective and I have made my own. The only downside is if you do a lot of winter or altitude camping they are a PITA. Also if you cook alot in your shelter or tent, like I do, they are not good
 
THE PUNISHER said:
i have a evernew it is high but it is the best/hottest alcohol stove out there,it will burn wood/twigs and fuel tabs..
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I was curious so I googled 'evernew' and found their website and also some reviews. The reviews and the comments from others reading the reviews suggest that the evernew isn't the best/hottest alcohol stove and doesn't even equal the performance of a homemade soda can stove.
e.g. http://thunderinthenight.blogspot.com/2010/06/evernew-ti-dx-stove-set-review.html

I like the titanium for better strength and longer life - Ti can take more heat than Al or even steel. But Ti isn't necessarily the best option for performance on alcohol burners - the lower heat conduction can mean that the alcohol doesn't boil as well as it would with Al. Since you say it is the hottest alcohol stove out there I'd like to know - how quickly does it boil water than other alcohol stoves you've tried? What other alcohol stoves are you comparing it to?

tomcrx said:
They are effective and I have made my own. The only downside is if you do a lot of winter or altitude camping they are a PITA. Also if you cook alot in your shelter or tent, like I do, they are not good
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Indeed - this type of stove may be the best thing ever or no where near as good as the other options, depending on where you use it and how you use it. I can see that for 3 days camping it is probably easier to just take a gas stove and gas canister to run it - it is always good to consider the pros & cons of different equipment.

skab8541 said:
I have made using this tutorial, works great and was easy to make.

http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6270&highlight=wood+gasifier
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If only it was easy here - I have never even seen empty paint cans for sale and I don't even know what size 1 quart is. BTW - did you get it working great on your first try? It looks like you did get an excellent result and for a good price too.

From reading this review: http://thunderinthenight.blogspot.com/2010/07/four-dog-stoves-bushcooker-lt1-stove.html
It looks like the bushcooker titanium stoves and the bushbuddy stainless stoves are considered by the ultralight backpackers to be good choices. Obviously they are going to see the merit in not having to carry fuel which can save them a decent amount of weight on longer hikes.
 
I can imagine the bushcooker becoming a favorite stove, if I get one. I think I'd like it; but,

Don Tryon; owner of Purcell Trench Grill does not use Ti because of embrittlement at robust campfire heat. I think the website is worth a look if you've never heard of them. I have no logs in their fire but allow to get you there http://www.purcelltrench.com/wilderness.htm (a good read but let's me not derail the thread)

I wonder if the same issue(embrittleing) would present itself with the bushcooker.
 
Briarbrow said:
I can imagine the bushcooker becoming a favorite stove, if I get one. I think I'd like it; but,

Don Tryon; owner of Purcell Trench Grill does not use Ti because of embrittlement at robust campfire heat. I think the website is worth a look if you've never heard of them. I have no logs in their fire but allow to get you there http://www.purcelltrench.com/wilderness.htm (a good read but let's me not derail the thread)

I wonder if the same issue(embrittleing) would present itself with the bushcooker.
Click to expand...

This embrittlement idea is interesting - the wood gasification stoves to burn quite hot and titanium has a higher melting point which suggests that it would be better than steel for a hot burning stove. But if titanium becomes brittle due to repeated exposure to heat then that would have implications for these stoves and also for cooking pots & pans & kettles made out of titanium.
I'm doubtful that this is a problem, but I don't really know much about the phenomenon of embrittlement with titanium or titanium alloys. This is the first I have heard of it.

I wonder what it would cost to have a wood gasification stove made from inconel? Probably quite a few thousand dollars I would guess.
 
Gadgetaholic said:
This embrittlement idea is interesting - the wood gasification stoves to burn quite hot and titanium has a higher melting point which suggests that it would be better than steel for a hot burning stove. But if titanium becomes brittle due to repeated exposure to heat then that would have implications for these stoves and also for cooking pots & pans & kettles made out of titanium.
I'm doubtful that this is a problem, but I don't really know much about the phenomenon of embrittlement with titanium or titanium alloys. This is the first I have heard of it.

I wonder what it would cost to have a wood gasification stove made from inconel? Probably quite a few thousand dollars I would guess.
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maybe not so much for pots, pans and mugs unless you burn them empty-having food and/or water in there make makes difference is my guess
 
Briarbrow said:
maybe not so much for pots, pans and mugs unless you burn them empty-having food and/or water in there make makes difference is my guess
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Excellent point - the cookware generally wouldn't get any where near as hot.

I guess for the stove the question would be how brittle and how fast - if it still remains ductile enough so that there is no significant danger of it cracking or breaking for the next 50+ years of use then we wouldn't care about a little embrittlement. Of course we should also consider that embrittlement is something that happens to stainless steel - so we should consider which is likely to last the longest. Then you have to consider the weight - if stainless or Ti are each capable of lasting for decades then the Ti will have the advantage of being lighter to carry for that time.

If the Ti on the bushcooker won't fail in my lifetime then I'd be interested in considering the purchase of one.
 
Gadgetaholic said:
The bushbuddy seems to be a true wood gas stove - burning the smoke/gas should make it cleaner burning. How do you find it for smoke? Do you bother cleaning the pots or just let them be blackened?
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It has less smoke due to better combustion but depends to some extent on the wood/sticks that you burn.

If on a camping trip it is too much trouble to clean the pots each time. Just put them in a separate bag. For in the back yard I clean them afterwards. It seems like Boraxo hand soap (powder) does the best for me.

For long term in the woods I would have a Purcell grate (http://www.purcelltrench.com/grills.htm) for over a campfire. I bought the Packer Grill along time ago. It is light but the bars are a little wide for some of the cups/pots I have. I recently bought the Voyageurs Grill because the bars are close together and a bigger surface. For long term you will probably hunker down rather than be constantly on the move. In a fixed location you could make a Dakota fire pit, put the grate on top and have a pretty smokeless cooking fire.
 
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landahl77.jpg
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this is the wood gas stove i made earlier this year
using instructions from bushcraft usa
http://www.bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6270
this pic was its first outing and it worked well, got the gas going readily. since there was fresh fallen snow, i found dry sticks from broken limbs hanging in trees.
found that i had my pot sitting way too high so altered it
fitch77.jpg
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the result being quicker boil time and less fuel used
since then i have altered once more(sorry no pix right now-but will next time its in use)
removing the screen bit and replacing with two strips of steel notched to use as an X and sits down over the lip of can. this seems much more stable to me and allows me to add fuel on any side. i have used this stove many times now and found it quite efficient. and as long as there is fallen wood in yr area, fuel is a simple matter. also use a trangia stove and like it too. they are different beasts. end results the same.
as for finding cans. tho these instructions specify the empty quart size paint can found readily in us hardware stores, and the progresso soup can(after enjoying the soup of course). they sorta fit together with a "click", simplifying construction, i am sure there are endless variations of cans that would work as well. i have seen numerous other places where similar stoves were made. im sure a quick google search or on youtube as previously offered, would result in many variations. they are simple, efficient, take little fuel(which you dont have to carry-unless, of course, you are in a woodless area)smokeless(which is handy when you dont want to attract attention). have used numerous types of small stoves over the years. its sorta like the ferro rod/misch metal comparison. whichever you have access to, or have personal preference for, is the one for you. have fun out there
 
I am curious about the fan assisted wood gasification stoves like this: http://woodgas-stove.com/
Has anyone tried one? I don't really like the idea of needing batteries, but I am curious about whether these work noticeably better than the non fan assisted types (bushbuddy or bushcooker). The one in the link is cheaper and I could understand that the forced airflow may provide improved perfomance.

Has anyone tried a bushbuddy and a fan assisted wood gas stove? It's not easy to find a comparison review.
 
I looked at a lot of DIY versions but just got out the card and ordered a Bushbuddy. It only hurts for a minute. After that, nothing but smiles! It is a great product. It's a wonderful feeling, not having to worry if you have enough fuel, if your fuel is going to leak out of its container onto your other stuff, etc..

The only downside I can see is soot on your stuff, which is really no big deal at all if you plan for it (keep your cooking gear in a lightweight stuff sack).

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Well, I've been thinking hard about stoves and have decided that the Bush Buddy is the way to go. The only problem is that money is tight and there is a bunch of other stuff I want too. I've just ordered an ESEE Lite Machete and I've bought some SAKs from Amazon because of their $10 rebate for buying $50+ worth of Victorinox (2 orders of 2 SAKs, spending $90 instead of $110). I've also bought an MSR Titan Kettle from Amazon for $50.

So yeah, I'll probably get a Bush Buddy stove at some point, but for now I'm just too poor. While I'm waiting to have some money to spare I might keep an eye open for suitable cans to make my own. I was thinking that it would probably be too much work, but the more I look at the construction & design the more I think that it really wouldn't take much to make one. I have my doubts about how well a home made one would last before corroding through, but it would give me something to try and might last long enough to last me till I can buy a Bush Buddy.
It does occur to me that the inner can will corrode the quickest, but it might be fairly easy to swap that one out as necessary, depending on the way it is built. I have a large can of peaches in the cupboard, it might be a suitable size for the inner can. A large coffee can might do for the outer can and I'm sure I can find something to make a pot stand from. I'll take a look at the cans and see about having a go at making one of these.
 
Gadgetaholic said:
So yeah, I'll probably get a Bush Buddy stove at some point, but for now I'm just too poor. While I'm waiting to have some money to spare I might keep an eye open for suitable cans to make my own.
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That sounds like a good plan of action. You never know, you might experience great results with a do-it-yourself gassifier and keep the money for other things....

I tried the DIY route with alcohol stoves. It was fun messing around with different designs, but I never ended up with anything that worked as well as a Trangia. So when I was done experimenting, I bought a Trangia. I considered going the same route with the wood gassifier but decided to skip the home-building and just cough up the dough to get the proven design in the first place.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
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