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The Simplest Type of Stove is Simple....if You're Not a Simpleton....
Ah, the return of the "stove" that beat Mike Oscar Hotel. How are you, you over intelligent and stubborn log? For those of you just tuning in, you can find the first two parts of this story here and here. For those of you that have been reading right along, sit back and relax. I come with (some) skill and determination.
So I kept the same log. Why? Because I refuse to lay down and take my lickin' from a piece of wood. I promised people that I'd try it a couple different ways and I will, but not today. Today we focus on the block of wood that beat me.....and almost kept me down.
I might mention, as seen in previous posts, that I had a saw breakdown. My cheap Coleman failed me. Twice. There's this old sayin' in Texas. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice....well......er....um.....you ain't gonna fool me again! I'd been reading the BCUSA forums and heard about the Silky brand saw. I ordered one after watching a pretty amazing video on You Tube. Needless to say, this is not the same saw, but it is still pretty good. For those of you wondering, I ordered it here.
The idea behind this came from Ray Mears. Mears demonstrated this method in his Sweden piece, but had cut it with a chainsaw. I don't carry a chainsaw in the bush, so I wanted to try it with my hand saw. In the first two parts I failed miserably.
Here's where we left off. Thin channels = no air flow.
Here is the aforementioned Silky. OooOoohhhhh........likey! It has a nice lock and a rugged handle. I need to make a case for it. The plan here was to make a second cut next to the first cut at a "V" to make the channel wider, thus increasing air flow, making the log burn from the inside out.
Less than 30 seconds of cutting. Coleman can eat my left boot. I don't want no dang FOP, I'm a silky man!
I slid the pieces of wood out and as you can see, the channels are much wider.
I didn't major in math, but this looks very "positive"!
In goes the tinder....
....and viola, a fire. Actually, it wasn't that easy. I started with my Bic and it wasn't effective. So I moved to charcloth and a ferro rod. Lots of blowing on coals. Lots of blowing. Like no need no-need-for-a-buzz-because-I'm-too-dizzy blowing-and-got-a-natural-buzz-buzz.
Success!
I put on a can of beans to see how long it would take to cook. All in all, about 5 minutes until it was good and warm.
One of the issues that I had was that the flame kept going out. There was still heat and coal inside, but the flame itself would disappear. I think that this had to do with putting it in my fire ring. If I had it out in the open, the wind would probably keep the flame going. Honestly, even without the flame it was cooking well.
Mmmmmm..... Not really. Not my favorite brand, but still pretty good.
...and of course, no day is complete without tea. Decaf. Caf makes me crazy. Seriously.
Boiled in about 6 minutes.
This is one more thing I can check off my list. I'm not sure that this is that practical in use. If you feel comfortable having a fire in your environment, have a fire and build yourself a kitchen and some hangers. The good thing about this is that it is fairly easy to control and move, if you had to move it. It doesn't put out a lot of heat. I guess it is just one more feather to put in your cap. Justin Case should be your best friend. :)
Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum,
Mike, Oscar, Hotel....out.
The last person that I saw make one of those just made kerfs with a chainsaw, made the center of the cut a little lower than the edges and then put a touch of gas in the center to light it with. Not primitive, but it worked like a charm!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny! My dad called me the other day to let me know he had a wreck with a dumptruck in the woods. It was -2 out. He said he started a fire with a firebow. I was really impressed......until he told me he hit his first coal with ether. ;)
ReplyDeleteHmmm...there must be a trick to getting these to burn properly. I'll ask around...
ReplyDeletebmatt
way to be determined, bro! :)
ReplyDeleteI like it. It may very well make a couple appearances in camp next time I'm out.
ReplyDelete