1.5oz wood stove

Shorter is perfectly fine / great IF you’re not trying to make an ‘inverted down draft’ style stove. The only downside is that it doesn’t hold as much fuel all at once (not that big of an idea, IMO).

You might look at using a Unibit along with the drill for cleaner holes.

OR you can punch the ‘bottom holes’ with a church key can opener and use a hammer driven ‘punch’ for the top holes.

A hand-punch (Whitney is one brand name – think industrial grade paper hole puncher) for holes, but unless you get the extra big one, it’s ‘reach’ down the sides of the can is limited.

Depending on the size of pots your boyscout troop uses, a shortened coffee can may work better (and still nest)

The Unibit is the best thing since slice bread…

They come in varous sizes, easy to use and give clean and profesional results.

Should be included in everyones tool box

Regards,

Phil,
before making my mini swansons wood stove, I made a very similar design out of a progresso soup can. this stove is slightly wider and I can actually nest my chicken broth can inside. Any way my point is that you dont need to use a drill, the nice round holes from the unibit are better looking, but on my first stove I made the holes square by using a utility knife. It is not quite as nice looking but it works the same and I doubt your scouts will care :-)

also, have you had your scouts make alcohol stoves, I like these and is my favorite type of backpacking stove, all you need to convince them is that freeze dried food tastes good.

all you need to convince them is that freeze dried food tastes good.

I wouldn’t bother trying to convince anyone that freeze dried meals taste even OK! Not when there are so many tasty and more affordable make your own alternatives.

Thanks Ryan and Jim, at the risk of being seriously off topic for this thread, we will also introduce some alternative 1-pot dinners for our next backpacking theme month in the troop. One of my goals is to help the troop really improve its backpacking skills. It’s a lot of small steps — less stuff, better camping skills, lighter gear, smarter food, etc. — all as a balanced approach to backpacking and life.
Thanks,
Phil

Roger, thanks for the tip on a unibit. That is a pretty expensive little tool, $25 and up at the local hardware store. As seldom as I’ll make holes in sheet metal or cans I will stick with a center punch, a church key, or a plain drill bit. But a unibit looks like a great solution.

Phil Barton

An alternative to the overpriced Unibit is Harbor Tool & Freight ‘s Titanium Nitride Coated High Speed Step Drills. They come in a 3pc-pack of assorted sizes $19.99.

Regards

Roger, thanks for the link. That looks identical to the 3 pc. bit set I saw last night at Home Depot for $50.

Nice find roger! Thanks!