So the great Missoula Gun Show came and went. I played it pretty cheaply, all things considered. And while I bought a few small goodies for myself I did manage to keep from buying the really big tickets I wanted. I love going to gun shows and it’s always a pleasure to just wander the aisles..
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Someone sent me this link about some of the new portable woodburner stoves on the market these days. I’d heard about the Solo stove and have been curious to try one….but, this other stove, Firebox, seems like a real gem, other than it’s weight. Usually when Im just out for the day, I take a little Esbit stove. But for being out in the boonies a bit longer it would be nice to be able to just burn the abundant twigs and other burnable detritus that litters the woods. What’s the difference between these and just building a fire on its own? Generally, these things are designed to create drafts that create hotter burning, more efficient fires. Hey, I’m all about less work at less expense. I went ahead and added the Firebox to my Amazon Wish List and at some point I’ll pick one up and put it through its places.
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Rotated some stored gas today. Fuel from, according to the tag, 2010. About two years of storage. The fuel was treated with a generous dose of PRI Fuel Stabilizer
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Birthday tomorrow. Another gift came in the other day and I need to do a write-up on it. Its one of these (Freeplay FreeCharge 12V 
I haven’t tried it personally but another similar stove is the Emberlit. It looks simple
http://www.emberlit.com/
A note on the military fuel cans, I got some of the 20L military style ones to use for kerosene storage for my space heater and am not impressed. They should work ok for storage at a fixed location but I would not be comfortable trusting them to toss in the back of a vehicle for an evac. The bottoms are dished in so they can sit flat with that seam sticking out. They are also roughly 2/3 the weight of a NATO spec can (guessing here but noticeably lighter).
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=904142
I won’t be getting any more of the fake cans but I wasn’t willing to ship them back as I knew that they weren’t actual military. In some ways I’d rather have good plastic cans and rotate the fuel frequently than trust these things.
I’ve got a few of the 10L military style cans and they’re ok but the build quality is similar to the 20L cans.
On a side note, Cheaper Than Dirt still has unissued NATO cans….
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/ZBQ-1412
I chose to store gas for about one year and rotate in the winter so I should have the gas that’s better for cold weather starting even though it will give me less range. I use Stabil as I can easily find it locally. I cycled through 25+ gallons last winter without any issues in either vehicle and there were times that over half the fuel in the tank was stored.
Steelheart
I’ve had a folding Pocket Cooker for some years now, its sort of a novelty ‘hobo stove’ really. One nice thing about the design is that the fuel can be left a bit longer, pushing in as it burns. A pair of garden shears will cut up the needed fuel very quickly for it. I carry the whole thing in a M16 magazine bag along with the shears – pretty nifty! Downside – its sort of thin in profile, so the cooking container above requires some balancing.