Natural Bushcraft - The True Spirit of Bushcraft

Pop Can Meths Stove

Things you will need:

1.    2x empty pop cans (250ml or 500ml)

2.    Craft knife

3.    Ruler (preferably metal)

4.    Scissors

5.    Pliers (preferably needle-nose)

6.    Plastic topped drawing pin

7.    Cutting board/surface

8.    Aluminium tape (preferable but optional)

Disclaimer: Before you start, please note that you will be dealing with a sharp knife, flamable chemicals and fire, do not attempt this on your own if you are a child, seek help from an adult. Do not try this indoors, if you get it wrong meths could easily leak and fire could spread rapidly so only test/use the stove outdoors away from anything that could catch on fire.

Step 1: Cutting the two halves for your stove.

Rest your craft knife on a roll of tape (or a flat surface of similar height), and press the can gently against the blade. Slowly turn the can, maintaining the pressure against the blade, until you have scored a ring around the entire circumference of the can. Continue this process, until you have gone over the scored line two or three times.

Carefully push the point of the knife through the line that you have scored. Then, using your thumbnail, press on the edge of the scored line nearest the centre of the can, and the can should neatly tear along the line you have scored, separating the bottom of the can with a nice clean edge.

Repeat this process with the other can. Do not discard the middle section of the can, as we will need this part too.

Step 2: The top half of the stove

Take one of the halves that you have cut for the top of your stove. Score around the inside rim of the base. The metal on the base is considerably thicker than the sides, so you need to go around the edge a good half dozen times before you attempt to remove the centre.

Again, push your knife through the scored line, and then simply push down on the internal edge and the centre piece should just tear away along the line you've created. At this stage, you could give the edges a quick rub down with some course sandpaper to make sure they're not sharp, but unless you plan on sticking your fingers in your stove a lot, it's by no means essential.

The next step is to make the flame vents around the rim of the stove. Take your plastic topped drawing pin, and make a hole approximately half-way down the sloping rim of the can. Make the next hole at the same level, but directly opposite on the circumference.

The next hole goes in the middle between these two (on both sides), and so on, until you have a total of sixteen evenly placed holes around the circumference of your can.

The top section is now complete, so you can put it to one side for now.

Step 3: The internal fuel chamber

Take one of the sections of the pop cans that we had left over from Step 1, and remove the top the same way as we removed the bottom in Step 1. This will leave you with a cylinder of can.

With your scissors, cut this cylinder along the seam, and flatten it out into a sheet.

Using your craft knife or scissors, square off the two long sides, as they can sometimes be a little uneven after removing the top and bottom of the can.

You now need to make an educated guess about the height of your finished stove. To do this, measure one of your halves (they should both be about the same height), adding about 10-15mm (half an inch), to this measurement. Then cut your flat sheet of can to this height (measured on the short edge).

Next, take your pliers and crimp the entire outer edge of the bottom section of the stove. This allows you to push the two halves together at the next stage.

Roll the flat sheet into a cylinder, so that it sits neatly in the recess in the base of your can bottom.

You now need to cut four small slots in the bottom of this cylinder (keeping it at the diameter you just established). Bending back the little tabs this creates, will help to keep the cylinder in shape. These allow the fuel to get to the external chamber of the stove.

Then replace the cylinder in the base, and being careful to locate the top of the cylinder in its equivalent position, press the top of the stove down over the base and into position.

You could call your stove finished at this point, and I have used them successfully in at this stage. However, to really finish it off, I like to seal the join between the two halves of the stove with aluminium sticky tape (can be found at most large hardware stores), to prevent any leakage of fuel from the joins. Once this is done, your stove is ready to go!

Step 4: Lighting and using your new stove.

This may seem fairly simple, and in fact it is, but I thought it best to include some basic information to get you started if you're not familiar with alcohol based stoves.

Fuel

These stoves run on denatured alcohol. In the UK we use Methelated Spirits or ‘Meths', a clean burning purple liquid. The main drawback with this type of fuel is that because it burns so cleanly, it is sometimes difficult to see if the stove is lit at all in daylight (the stove below is lit).

This is probably the cause of most accidents with this type of stove, so be aware.

Filling and lighting

Because these stoves cannot be extinguished once lit, it is useful to get an idea of how much burn time you get from filling your stove by varying amounts. Only experience will tell you this, but to begin with don't over fill your stove. You can always re-fill and light it again to finish what you're doing. Don't fill these stoves past the level of the vent holes in the sides, even though your internal chamber comes right to the top. This will turn your stove into a ball of flame!

These stoves can be lit with a lighter, but because of the downward angle (causing burnt fingers), I prefer to light mine with a ferrosteel. Just remember, pull the steel away from the striker, don't push the striker down the steel, or you'll send the stove and possibly flaming meths everywhere!

Be careful when checking if you are lit.

Priming

These stoves need to be primed. That is to say, they need to be lit and then allowed to reach the correct temperature before you attempt to cook on them. Failure to get this right will usually result in you putting the stove out with your pan (not the end of the world, but it can cause frustration until you're used to it). Wait for the uneven flame to change to small jets coming from the holes around your stove, and for the meths in the centre chamber to come to the boil.

Cooking

These are a very flexible little stove. They can be used in conjunction with most Hobo stove and Trangia stove setups. I have a small one that sits in the base of my Crusader Cup cook system and also fits neatly into my Hobo stove turning it into a multi-fuel.

However, with the addition of a small wind shield (easily made from more aluminium tape), you can place your pan directly on top of these stoves (once primed), removing the need for any other system. This is an extremely light weight cook system, weighing only grams (ounces).

Pros and cons

The up-side of these stoves are as follows:

1.    Very light/small

2.    Very cheap to make

3.    No moving parts

4.    Easily sourced materials

5.    Cheap to run (and de-natured alcohol is easily available worldwide)

6.    Easy to light

7.    Clean burning

The down-side of these stoves are as follows:

1.    Slow cook times (if you're in a hurry)

2.    Uncontrollable cooking temperature (you only get the one setting...on!)

3.    Easily crushed if not protected

4.    Not posh ‘branded' kit (unless you include the brand ‘Pepsi')

5.    Once you start making them, you end up making them for all your mates too!

Disclaimer: Before you start, please note that you will be dealing with a sharp knife, flamable chemicals and fire, do not attempt this on your own if you are a child, seek help from an adult. Do not try this indoors, if you get it wrong meths could easily leak and fire could spread rapidly so only test/use the stove outdoors away from anything that could catch on fire.