They say fire sets humans apart from animals. Well so does beer. It’s generally advisable, however, to keep the two apart: (fire x beer)2 usually equals a news story. But in the wild, some rules don’t apply. The backcountry insists on a little know-how, bit of elbow grease, and sometimes stretching the rules. A good camper is self-reliant and packs the skill set necessary to do cool shit when cool shit’s called for — like making stoves out of cans. Here’s how.
What You’ll Need
One empty can of beer or soda, denatured alcohol, one fire-starter (matches, or a lighter), one pocket knife. Optional: scissors
1 Empty the can (you know how). Cut around the inside rim to remove the lid. (Tip: the lid is made of a stronger alloy and easiest to remove closest to the rim.)
2 Cut can in half horizontally. It’s likely that this cut will fray the aluminum on the ends. Use scissors to clean this up, also trimming the length of the vertical sides so that the top half is slightly taller than the bottom.
3 Shape the combustion chambers. With a knife, dent a vertical groove along the side of the upper half only, stopping where the can begins to taper (don’t cut the aluminum). Repeat this step around the can, creating striations evenly spaced a finger’s width apart. When you assemble the stove, these grooves will create combustion chambers that fill up with vapor from the burning spirit, shaping the flame.
4 Assemble the stove. Tuck the upper half inside the base right-side up. Before filling, puncture a hole inside the tapered neck of the can below the rim.