bikemig 

Check out solo stoves, https://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-lite/

Alcohol stoves are hard to beat for most applications though. Trangia makes a really solid system that will work well under all sorts of weather conditions. Or, if lightweight is your thing, check out caldera stoves, https://www.traildesigns.com/stoves/caldera-cone-system

tmac100

Yes, you need to use the fuel that you have atm: wood, petrol. alcohol ... or?

No point in being pedantic/philosophical/theoretical ... toilet paper rolls will work - once. And, if once is enough, ...then the heat issue is dealt with






cece is enough, then ... issue dealt with

Ty0604

It's still bad to do it. Bringing your own twigs, depending on how far you're going, could be even worse. All it takes is some pin-head sized insect eggs or a few microscopic fungus spores to cause a new infestation and destroy a forest. I use to go to Home Depot and buy a 6ft long section of untreated cedar for $3 and bust it up at home to take to use with my BioLite.

You'd also be surprised at how much shoots off of a BioLite and other enclosed wood stoves. Part of the reason I stopped using mine was due to the excess of sparks and embers that came out of it. The built in fan causes a lot. A few times I had embers land on the ground and they had to be extinguished.

indyfabz

Biolite=bulky, heavy and useless when everything is wet. Why would you carry something that might be useless when you need? And what's the flame/temperature adjustability. Some of us do more than boil water or heat up canned food. Would its use be off limits in a no burn area?

I'll stick with my liquid fuel stove and fuel bottle.

fietsbob

Fire pit in State Parks , Nothing to Carry..

Machka 

Yes ... as of Dec 13. A Graduate Certificate ... one step closer to a Master's.

jefnvk

No clue where you are at, but I've been to plenty of campgrounds that prohibit the taking of any wood. You may just want a few twigs, but times that by however many campers are at the campground and however many days the place is open, and even those few little twigs can add up, and cause damage when everyone is just looking for a bit of kindling.

AdvXtrm

I hear you, but since apparently not many people actually use these kinds of stoves at camp grounds, I doubt it would cause any serious impact. Now if "everyone" or even the majority of people did, then I could see such a frequently visited area being effected, but that doesn't look to be the case. Also, I wouldn't necessarily just grab some sticks right in the campground itself, but venture out a ways.

In case you missed it, I'm also looking into Solid Fuel stoves, or multi-fuel stoves just for versatility. If sticks are an issue in one place for some reason, then I could always use solid fuel tabs or alcohol.

chrisx

Good link.

I try to cook on the red coals of a fire when possible

sexy cyclist

Pro tip for wood burning stoves.

If you carry a knife its very easy to split wood apart. No matter how much its been raining, the core of inch thick or larger sticks will always be dry.

Find some branches on a fallen tree and snap them off.

Setup the stick vertically, and make sure its resting on something pretty firm.

Set the blade of the knife on top of the stick, so that you've got it right in the middle.

Tap the spine of the blade with another stick and pound it through the wood. Once you've split the first couple of inches you can usually pull your knife out and use your hands to split it the rest of the way.

The technique is called batoning. I don't recommend using a folding knife for this, though there are ones that are up to the task.

Here is a video demonstration of the technique:


If you want a cheap fixed blade that isn't too bulky or heavy that will handle this type of use, check out Mora knives. They're cheap but quality knives from Sweden, and basic models like this run about 8$ and are plenty durable for the job


One more tip: You can find (or buy) fatwood, which is pine heartwood soaked in resin. You can light it with a lighter and it will take flame. Saves you from having to make wood shavings or finding something else to use as tinder. One 1/2 thick, 5 inch long stick of that stuff is enough to light a few fires. They sell it at nearly every hardware store, walmart etc.

Rowan

I get a llitle amused by the ideas about gathering and splitting wood with a knife. While you're doing that, I've set up my Trangia and have my water half way to boiling. With my Pocket Rocket, maybe it is already boiling.

Honestly, take the route of least resistance. Carry your fuel in liquid or gas form with you and you will be much better off. In my estimation.

tmac100

Denatured means humans should not drink it - the penalty is death. Burning it is fine!. Do not think that because something is "not denatured" that it is not harmful. Ethyl alcohol - that folks drink in "legal alcoholic beverages" can also kill you... and it is not denatured.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. The word denatured should be a clue that you don't drink that fuel. Ordinary folks don't use fuel as a food. Just because something is a good fuel (kerosine, white gas) that does not in any way imply that it should be used as a food.

Nothing to do with Big Brother - just organic chemistry and toxicology

sexy cyclist

That path of least resistance is picking up some take-out or groceries n the way to my camping spot for the evening, which is what I do

Like when I got two pulled pork BBQ sandwiches in southern Georgia one summer

Just sharing some tips for finding dry firewood for people inclined to use a wood burning stove to cook their dinners.

Will Wheeler

What about us isopropaholics?

tmac100

You mean "rubbies"? Not good to drink either - even when using the "vagus block" technique to mask/hide the yuckky taste. Still toxic - but a useful fuel for a stove...

AdvXtrm

Thanks!

I may want more versatility. The idea of carrying liquid or solid fuel, but also having the capability of using wood if those run out before you can resupply, or are lost or destroyed sounds good to me.

Chuck Naill

I have noticed that bike touring and back country hiking and camping are similar where weight is of concern. This is why a methanol stove make more sense to me than carrying small sticks. If you just have to have a fire, you need a Sven-Saw, the Famous Campfire Folding Saw


If you want to start wet wood you need fire ribbon, Opentip.com: Mautz 789031 Fire Ribbon


An axe might help, Fiskars Splitting X11 Axe - Gardening Hand Tools - by JENSEN-BYRD CO INC


For me, I use food for fuel. Oatmeal and rice are cheap and light weight. That said, if I were touring from town to town, I would eat with more variety.

indyfabz

Using oatmeal for fuel would clog my fuel lines.

1989Pre 

An established campground is one of the worst places to find the small, short wood pieces that are necessary in these stoves. Usually, prior campers who have searched for "kindling" have already stripped-bare the surrounding areas of the campground. Even if there are some twigs, branches left on the ground, they should be left there. This is why people go to campgrounds: To see the natural environment that has not been "consumed".
These wood stoves also tempt some campers to strip dead wood off of trees. This is unethical, and prohibited at most campgrounds.
M.S.R. and Kovea make fine, white-gas (or multiple-fuel)-burning stoves. An 11-ounce bottle should give you at least 72 hours of cooking time at sea level. Looking for twigs and branches in the woods is iffy at-best. Is it dry enough to burn? Whose land is it? Wood-burning stoves should only be used in an emergency or in your own back yard, with wood collected from your own ground.

bikemig 

I largely disagree (no one can disagree about freedom but the devil is always in the detail since it is not absolute) but if you want to continue to rant about politics, you'll get this thread derailed and kicked off to P&R.

Better to stick to stoves.

jefnvk

True, on the lack of use of those stoves, but not so true considering the fact that the same sticks you want to use are also used as kindling by nearly everyone starting a campfire

I'm not passing judgement, simply pointing out a point I feel was overlooked.

tmac100

But not if you used it in a wood-burning stove

Rowan

Honstly, you are overthinking this whole bicycle touring thing, if that's your approach.

You might also need to clean up your attitudes towards "Big Brother" before you actually, ever get out there on a bike.

mstateglfr 

tmac100

As one fellow who has ridden the Nullabore to another bicyclist who also has, it is MHO that Big Brother does NOT exist when bicycling in outback Australia. I have not bicycle toured in the USA so have no opinion (nor experience) wrt Big Brother and bicycling there


Bicycle touring in the outback certainly brings it's freedoms - and (pardon me Montana) huge expanses of Big Sky Country that seem to stretch forever

WRT fuels, if I can use wood and it is available, then I use it instead of using my liquid fuel (white gas) that is not always easy to find. Heat is heat. Sometimes folks are finishing cooking and have coals for me to heat a simple meal on. When I ask politely they are generous and even leave the grill/frame for me to cook my meal. Sometimes when chatting they produce coffee, desert and even veggies in addition to what I have.

FWIW, I also have been known to buy a spare "supper" on the road and have them the next day. This works in winter in Western Australia when the temps are low teens (Celcius) in the day and just above freezing at night.

Obviously, not everyone can tour within these conditions. But, the KISS principle works well for me.