Swedish Torch vs. Wood Rocket Stove, The Fire Challenge 

To do a true comparison you should have used the same wood for both. Preferably even from the same Log.

Swedish torch needs no hole, just wood stick inside to prevent it from burning in the bottom. The rocket stove version needs to have some tinder added to the chimney part to start the log catching fire on the inside. reality is that very few will carry a 2 inch forstner bit and the drill to go with it. If done by hand, the energy and water spent making the effort will deplete you of your calories asap. Swedish torch can be made from 1 piece of log split or smaller rounds of timber side by side. You wil have your hot coffee after you had your meal before you even completed drilling a rocket stove by hand...Conserving energy and strength is at a premium when in survival mode.

I always thought the rocket stove design was about conserving fuel, using as little as possible, certainly not burning the stove up itself. Having said that, I also agree that if the test is about how each burns itself up, the two logs should be cut from the same tree and be the same dimension, etc. I think you can make a rocket stove without a drill. You can saw halfway through the log about 4 inches from the base, split that half off and then split it again and take a little out of the center and bottom of one of the quarters and put everything back together, plug the cracks with mud (ask the primitive technology guy about using mud for everything and anything, he wouldn't fool around, he'd just make that whole rocket stove out of mud). Thanks for putting your time into making the video.

As you noted yourself, the vent for the rocket stove was not pointed in the direction of the wind but the vent you put in the Swedish torch was. This put the rocket stove at a severe disadvantage as the you forced the air to go about a quarter way around the stove before it could enter. The wind blowing across the opening creating lower air pressure there due to the Bernoulli effect. This will oppose the draft effect of the chimney (perhaps why the fire burned out through the vent in the first place). The opening on the torch, facing the wind will have a higher pressure, forcing more air in. To make a fair test, you should align the direction of the vents with the wind for maximum benefit to each. (same material and size would also make for a better comparison)

Nice side by side comparison. It would have more validity using the same species with the same diameter.

I've never thought to only cut the Swedish Torch only part way down so you don't have to bind it back together. I'm going to have to try that sometime!

I like the rocket stove over the Swedish stove because you can control the heat better but then again I also use a hobo stove what the heck they all work great thanks for the video

I've used both and of course they behave quite differently even with the same wood. I find the rocket stove is better for cooking if you put supports under your pot due to a less intense flame and much longer burning time, up to 5 hours for a 12 inch Spruce log.

Also the kindling should be down the center of the rocket stove not in the air vent. That vent is just for air you burned out the vent before you had the stove going.

Should have used the same wood for both. Poor test. Nice idea to see how the both do.

thanks for showing the comparison. helps understand what this is better

Guys the wood comparison is irrelevant because they’re different concepts. The Swedish actually burns the stove and the rocket doesn’t. So finding appropriate material for each design is part of the idea.

Swedish torch is supposed to be cut all the way through. You can control flame and burn rate by separating or pushing the pieces together.

It's all trial and error with these types of stove. Different logs burn at different speeds but the more you practice the better your chances are. Good video

I made a rocket stove with a Hackberry log and it burned 4-1/2 hours before it fell apart.

I like them both, sometimes we don't have a drill along so the Swedish torch is the only option then, I like the controllable of the rocket torch if you plug the holes you could extend the burn time or even put the fire out and use again later.....

The rocket stove needs the intake hole to be wider than the fire hole for it t o work better. Or you could just drill a hole right through the log connecting the fire hole to double the air intake capacity. The Rocket stove would be easier to handle once it is burning. you can move fit fairly safely. and have a lkonger burning fire.

A cracking demonstration and comparison. Thank you for sharing. Happy wandering. Paul :)

The rocket stove is a cedar log and it may have something to do with it. I would like to try an oak some time and see how it burns. The next time I get a piece of cured oak, I'll try this again and make another video. Thanks for the comment!

cool vid mate, seems in the bush without a power drill for holes, the split quartered swedish log is the real winner in a bush or survival situation... awesome comparison. Tack.

I make meals and coffee water afield by burning a couple small trigs in a pocket stove I made out of a cut and pounded tin can, then store it in a sucretes tin that fits in my trouser or backpack pocket. Cost = $0. Time to make. less is than 15 minutes. Time to heat water is 5-10 minutes.

The Swedish torch can use air from any direction and have far more internal surface area exposed than the Wood Rocket. Nice to see the rocket demonstrated, but NO f+++ing way am I carrying my brace and bit into the woods nor am I gonna bust azz drilling those holes by hand in some emergency situation. At home with a Milwaukee Hole Hawg? No problem. What either would be great for is campsites where you truck in your own firewood. Not "real" camping but it's common enough and making a few before your party would be easy with power tools.

Try using three pebbles if you can find them or bring three large fastening nuts to keep the stove open when you set the pan or pot over the fire 🔥 hole 🕳 instead of the sticks that Try to roll. Also wished you'd have used same type of wood for a more controlled experiment but excellent idea and video thank you sweetheart!!! And you might just be impressed with my video titled (detachable auger Settlers Wrench).

Rocket: You should experiment with the angle of the side hole. I bet if it was angled up as it goes to the middle you would get more air in rather than fire out the side. Probably cut down the smoke too. Swedish: Have you tried less cuts. Three or Four instead of Six Maybe it would stay lit longer and not as hot.

I'm not sure if you made the rocket incorrectly, but when I use them they produce unholy amounts of heat and that hole in the side never expands to that extent. The point of the rocket is to have a condensed combustion chamber so that the heat is intensified. That thing should burn steady for a few hours (obviously depends somewhat on the wood as well). Just my opinion, but if I am able I always go with the rocket over the torch.

It's good that you cover the rocket stove with soil so that when the wood burns out, only the soil rocket stove remains

Okay if you want to carry a drill and bit into the forrest with you.Swedish stove ran hotter cos of more air flow,rocket stove ran slow cos the restricted air flowwhere flame came out,why it burnt up so much at the bottom.You dont normally drill a hole in the bottom of swedish stove.

. . . torches - in general - are lit from the (near) top. BTW, need some help for a clean up in your backyard ?

HEY, JUST WATCHED, I NOTICED YOU HAD SOME Name calling with a lot of you did'nt do this & you did this wrong etc. etc., well im not an expert and i don't watch so i can watch then act like i am and call folks a dumb ass etc. etc. , its been awhile since you made this video like most of us you get better with time, me i can start a fire many diffrent ways with many diffrent materials but, i do watch cause diffrent minds think of diffrent ways to do all kinds of things in a survival situation and knowledge is what may save our lives one day. im sure by now you have alot more tricks up your sleeves. so any way glad you are practicing your skills, unlike alot of know it all's. DON'T LET THE NAME CALLING ETC. GET YOU DOWN. KEEP MARCHING ON. GOOD LUCK, GOD BLESS YOUR EFFORTS . NAME CALLING JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH THEY STILL NEED TO LEARN!!!!

It’s 2021…. Time to do a NEW UPDATE to this video. 👍🏽

Good stuff! Thanks

good thing scientists dont work this way, we would have results all out of wack. If your gonna do a test, you have to minimalise variables. 1 -use the same type of wood, 2- use the same diameter log, 3- use the same tree as it will have dried equivalently 4- 2 continuous cut logs ''so the diameter is similar''. Even better, if you could get ''pressed bio logs'', would be the same weight, same size, same dryness etc.

The way if burns in this case probably has more to do with the wood type than the design. can't compare two types of wood with different stove types and learn much.

The Swedish torch is supposed to burn from the top down. You build a little fire of kindling on top and it turns the log beneath it into burning coals.

would have been nice to use the same type of wood for your comparison.

I guess the only thing I don’t get out of that is I need my DeWalt drill?? Like if I have my chainsaw or a saw I could do the Swedish log-ish but I need a drill to make the rocket stove? Or a solid Johnson-ish?

Possibly a bigger hole would work better?

Rocket stove works best with a second primer fire started in the flue

Each has its own application. Thanks.

Hello from Sweden :)

brand new pot for the video

A battery pack and drill is too heavy for my bugout bag, I will stick with the Swedish torch because I do carry a hatchet and saw.

Erm, the point of a rocket stove is that it pulls the flame up - so, if your log isn't doing that, then you should have drilled a wider bore, to reduce the resistance to airflow. It's like comparing cars when one of them has a broken engine. Also not sure why the Swedish torch had a bore hole, when that's the feature that makes a rocket stove useful - should have been a traditional torch, six wedges bundled and lit from the center. This test was really just comparing "rocket stove with bore hole that's too small" vs "rocket stove with flanges". As far as experimental design, to determine how many hours*heating each produced, to measure useful cooking time and efficiency... put big metal wash basins over each of them, on a platform, and measure the equilibrium temperature, for crude calorimetry - it won't tell you exact joules, but it will tell you ratios between the two. My guess: rocket stove wins, by increasing temperatures in the core, which leads to a higher percentage of combustion of gasses, compared to the torch, which has gasses cooled along the flanges, escaping uncombusted.

Sweedish one would work great for night fishing!You get light and heat both.

I'm just still laughing at the guy whose only comment - and his reason for not subscribing - was that the beep at the beginning of the video was "irritating". Nevermind that the video was fairly informative and interesting.

The rocket stove is actually upside down! Believe it or not timber burns better standing the same way as it was growing. The Swedish one is the right way up.

YES 😃 Thank you I'll try it out. that's so awesome and cool 😎

Softwood Vs hardwood. Not really good having 2 x diff apparatus if you’re comparing the 2 methods.

#2 is "Red Pine" not White Pine.

I expected a "vs" video to be a fair comparison or repeatable test, perhaps semi scientific. e.g. "how long does it take each to boil a liter of water using the same wood?" Did you redo this 'test' later?

That is a red (or a Norway pine) pine log, not a white pine.

How about doing the same video again but change the woods. Make the pine the rocket stove and the cedar the Sweedish Candle? Also, using sticks to balance that coffee pot...DANGEROUS. That's the same way a lady on Naked and Afraid got a huge portion of her body burned with 2nd degree burns and had to be taken off the show. Guy put a pot of water on their campfire where she was lying down next to it, then he walked off. After the wood that he had balanced the pot on burned through, the pot fell over and the boiling water splashed all over her lower back and buttocks. BE SAFE! GREAT VIDEO!

参考になります♪ どうもありがとう～♪

doesn't look like any white pine i've ever seen. scotch pine if i had to guess.

My neighbor heard of a Rocket Stove so we tried to make one. I took pics but we didn't wait long enough.

On the rocket stove, one hole is in the center and the other is not. Causes lack of air flow.

Very informative! Thanks

Winter is coming will you be able to make another video oin cold 2014 winter and fall againg this idea could be good for many homes

why didn't you cut them the same? the cuts on the pine get more air and for surface area to burn...

Neat idea, however, I feel this is overkill useless.Who brings a drill and chainsaw in a camp/survival situation? An ax would be tricky to just cut halfway down too.More effective methods can be accomplished with a bit of sensible ingenuity IMO

Let's compare and not use similar pieces of timber... hmm

Great , do you think it works with smaller pice of woof , like i was think do the same for a fire place .

I'm not familiar with either of these but as soon as I saw how they are cut, how they will burn was obvious. The Swedish torch will get more air so will create more flame. 🤷

"Number 1, it's made of Cyprus" *Wrong, out of the gate. :P

창의적 아이디어 좋은 영감을 얻었네요 감사합니다

Love the rocket stove. Been playing around with them

not enough air intake. i have seen a good one with legs where it suck the air up.

Thanks for demonstrating what city folk can't. And even I with a half acre of woods on my property is too lazy to do... :D Cheers from Ohio.

Torch implies light, hence use it at dark? You make them burn too quickly. One wants fire, warmth and light lasting for a long time in the dark and cold. Maybe a combination rocket stove and torch with some slits too?

I think the pine itself makes the difference due to the sap that burns in pine.

My wife has always been more partial to the Dutch Oven.

Good video... however, would have been even better had you shown the drilling and cutting.

I thought the whole idea of a Rocket stove is to burn slowly but extracting all the heat and also a secondary burn of the gasses ?

Different woods, heights and diameters. The scientific method weeps.

I think you may not have lit the rocket stove the right way. I use them frequently and don't have the result you did where it burned out the draft hole in the side before lighting the main hole.

Excellent idea and superb presenter:)

cool, but I don't camp with a drill. In my backyard with the kids, a sure thing.

also turning one into the wind and the other across the wind didn't help the comparison.

What kind of drill did you use and you just bored a hole down the middle and in the side?

First time viewing... Overall a reasonable and fun test in your driveway... practice is always a good thing. It's not exactly a well thought out comparison/experiment this vs. that pros and cons at several levels (tho' discovery is well worth it going thru the motions). Different conditions, materials, orientation, and designs prove more worthy in the real wilds based on what you find (the environs, wood sources, seasons and weather) as well as what tools (you have, know how to use effectively, and what sort of efforts with timeline) you are needing to put into the mix. In my opinion from years of both professionally outfitting/guiding and from personal experiences... the Scandinavian Torch or Canadian Candle is by far the best field expedient, possesses advantages/likelihoods outdoor tool-wise being more the norm, and has way more versatility with practicality. The 'Rocket' is facilitated by an internet armchair expert bunch, nearly impractical, combustion chamber dimensions dependent... and who other than a cabin builder or a professional in the practice of arboriculture is going pack such drilling tools? Swede Torch all the way!!!

Could you make a rocket stove with pine?

You are using different woods for both and secondly you made a hole in the torch, which usually is not a part of the deal in Swedish torch case! Hence the observation would remain inconclusive!! Better luck next time buddy! 🙏

Picture this. You have one rocket stove sized chunk of firewood with the hole drilled center and the side hole drilled down at an easy angle,a shitload of twigs and small crap,a pile of sand or soil,and you need to cook yourself meals for a week. Fire that baby up with enough twigs and such,cook,then fill it with damp sand or soil to smother the fire and save your stove to use again,and again. 3 meals per day for a week,try that challenge. Of course you can do seven Saturdays or whatever works with your schedule. Ham and eggs,burger and beans,steak and whatever,freaking Paella for all I care,just cook at least two things in the pan to make it more interesting.

A larger dia chimney would have better draft, and better burn.

The swedish Torch is 100% the best ..have Trang That a LOT.. svensk eldkubbe

You blew it!!!

Huh...... good ole rocket thtoveth and thwedish torcheth. Pretty interethting

Need to use same size rounds off same tree!

start fire in side not from outside , same situation will have much better results, said from experience .

Cedar is a terrible burning wood.

What did you drill that large hole with?

what if you split a log 6 ways and then tied it back together with wire and put some fatwood vertical in the middle for the swedish meatball version? brb, im hungry.

#1 is not cypress or white pine. It's clearly red pine

🇸🇪 👍

Red PIne

Scotch not white

U have to get the rocket fire burning up. It's burning backwards...

I nearly watched that video, but had to stop it because of the music!

That kettle/coffee pot is dying to roll off.. For god's sake just place the sticks at 90 degrees to where they are now and then the kettle will still lean a bit, but can't roll off... And it would help if you stopped them being parallel too, make them (slightly) toe in a bit. It ain't rocket science man.

nice !!