You may be able to stick a couple of metal tent pegs through the holes near the top, both holding it open and allowing you to place a pot directly on top. Great idea!
Great idea. I expect the pot will need to be smaller than the opening of the stove to prevent blocking air flow. Will give it a try. Thanks for commenting
I have had one of these for a couple of years. I put a spirit stove inside and a cake cooling rack on top to cook on and can also use it as a small bbq with charcoals in the bottom and the cake rack as the food rack.
I must say, your "inexperience" DIY projects may be my most favourite segment of your channel. I think your previous projects may have inspired me to buy a used sewing machine and revive my grade 9 Home Ec. skills. 🤣 Keep up the great work Mark!
Hey Mark. This is an awesome idea. I used it the other day to melt ice in my backyard and it worked very well. It's a great survival tool. It's even a great way to quickly warm the hands when outdoors in winter. Thanks for the video! :)
Way to think outside the box! Value Village trips always get the wheels ‘a spinnin.... reminds me of that scene in the movie ‘Airplane’.... “What can you make out of this?” “I can make a hat, or a broach....”... Or a rocket stove! Thanks for the great ideas! Cheers
Hi Mark, Excellent video. I love re-purposing cheap, available items. And of course, I love experimenting with fire and outdoor cooking. Thanks for sharing! -Duane
I use Lge Siege bars on 13 cm. Top bars hold sides vertical. Remove legs and replace with bottom bars for stability. Coal or pellets are easy. I use starter under stove. Can even use Stanley camp pro gear on it !! G’day from Oz. Love your work.
Looks like the steamer works quite well. I was brainstorming and wondering if a person bent short 90's on the ends of two wire type tent stakes or those barbecue skewers so that you could cross them in an X and place on top of teh partially opened steamer if those 90's might "lock" the steamer to keep it from opening any fuller. Also I wonder if a person could break, saw or cut off the top third of 4 different "leaves" of the steamer. That might give room for more efficient exhaust when a skillet or other large cooking pot covered the top of the steamer when in use. That might keep the steamer stove fire from choking and going out. Don't know though if cutting a third off of the height of some of the leaves would play havoc with the steamer's ability to properly fan out while also staying together.
Couple of great suggestions Lonnie. I had been thinking of some type of easy, cheap crossbar setup. I had not thought about cutting the "leaves". One idea I had was a small diameter cake rack laid across the top. As long as the pot is smaller than the opening of the stove it should still vent well. Lots of ideas to try. Thanks for commenting
Nifty idea Mark - seems that it would effectively limit serious scaring of the earth below and allow for a small contained fire for cooking or warmth. I often find myself making camp fires that are larger than needed and require more wood as a result. This 'container' would encourage a more minimal approach. As for cooking, I like what others have already commented re finding a way to put pegs or metal braces across the top (through the holes?). This would a) keep the sides from spreading b) provide a cooking surface and c) be much lighter than an extra grill. The only downside I see are those pointy legs on the bottom, inhibiting compact packing. Are they potentially removable for transportation?
Great minds think alike , lovely video, I found a very similar product in the UK from a cheap shop called Wilkinson, got mine about 2 years ago for £4, big difference from say the UCO version which is £15 here in the UK, I used my for quick fires were we aren't allowed proper fires on the ground, I keep a folded up piece of thick foil (from a disposable foil baking tray) in the veg strainer and place on the ground so the strainer stands on it, that stops the ground from getting too hot and scorching and catches any embers/ash, I too used my coghans pack grill over the top, using my gsi kettle I got a good boil time with it, used a few times so far, with twigs and with pine cones, worked well with both, loving your videos, looking forward to the next one cheers craig
You said it... twig fire, trangia type stove, pellet, charcoal, Ikea stove base, fatwood burner and steamer...a very useful piece of kit. I use mine as a base to keep the "bio-mass" stove off the ground...makes me feel better about embers falling to the ground. Another great "Dollar Store" equipment review.
It's a great idea Mark, I just watched a video by Swedwoods called "The Stealth Ember Stove " he used one and it worked great as well. I really love your videos, lots of great ideas!
I remember Mother using 1 of these all the time, I guess I better go on the hunt. Sure worked well for Coffee Which we didn't get to see You Bad ! Ha ! Be Well, Friend ! ATB T God Bless
Maybe you could carry a finishing nail to put through a couple of holes to lock the sides in place to hold a pot? I have seen a larger version of these used in Sweden to burn on.
Great video, Sir ! I had one of these a while back. I ended up drilling and filing a few holes that I used some old wire hanger pieces to keep it from collapsing all the way down. It also allowed me to put my cooking pots, of that time (soup cans of various sizes, including the big ones that have a gallon or so of stewed tomatoes or potatoes, etc....I had just stopped being homeless and didn't have much.) A little bit of care and maintenance will keep it moving freely for cleaning or transporting. The legs can be the biggest pain, and can be cut off, but trying to find 3-4 stable rocks/stones of the same size can be difficult (not so much in an urban environment, due to the availability of bricks and cinder blocks). Again, Sir, GREAT video ! Keep up the great work !!!
Great video Mark. I passed one of these a month or so ago in a Salvo shop. Damn, I'll pick any up I see now! Yes, wood pellets and an 'inbuilt adjustable height' advantage may help with boil or grill times using wood pellets. Please do this wood pellet test with adjustable height. Something like boil some water then grill a steak on the ambers with lowered, or in this case, more collapsed sides, stove. Oh my,....
Nice video Mark, I've often looked at those steamers and thought about using them as a twig stove, but adding the tripod is a great plus, never thought of that, well done. Also a great idea with the bag of pellets, great for wet days and utilizes the void the steamer makes when folded down, nice. As for a pot support, would it be possible to add three or four small gauge bolts with nuts and washers? You may have to enlarge the holes but might be worth a try plus they can be removed and packed away after use. Great work, thanks for sharing Mark, atb, Paul.
By the number of them I see at the thrift store I think a lot of people don't use them for their intended purpose. Good to give them a second life out on the woods. Thanks for commenting
Use thin metal and cut the metal that will cover most of the hole's on the steamer leaving only a few hole's down the side when you open the steamer. Use a cookie tin cut a fuel hopper into like a rocket stove then place the steamer into cookie tin. If you get it just right? You may be able to generate a nice up draft that will generate a vortex to concentrate the heat to the center of the steamer which you can use has a grill. Or remove one or two leaf's on the steamer so you can feed in wood and use a deep lid from a cookie tin to set the steamer down into leaving the bottom of the steamer the grill top. A cookie tin that you can pack the steamer and fuel in and a few utinsel's in? A cookie tin you can use like a pot to boil water and to cook in? Crazy idea's for you. 😁👍
Cookie tin the steamer can set fown into closed and are able to close the lid on the cookie tin with steamer closed and up side down. Use L metal bracket's and bolt's and place them in the bottom of the cookie tin. Ise metal rod's you can screw into the bottom of the cookie tin to give it leg's. You should be able to set the steamer down into the cookie tin with out it falling in like a regular grill on a barbeque. Use screw's you can screw into one of the hole's on the steamer with knob's that uou can hold onto to so you can open and close the leaf's to cover what ever your grilling. Add in a slide air vent in the bottom of the cookie tim for a mini stove mini barbeque. Thw only bad thing about giving a mini barbeque gill is that ot may run away with someone. 😏😂
Pretty cool Mark! I've had one in my camp stuff, I too picked up at Goodwill for $.99. I haven't tried it yet. Think I'll get it out and see what I can do! -Mike
My roommate has one he never uses. I've been eyeing it to do exactly the same thing. I have a couple ideas to deal with the same problem. I'll share them with you if they work.
Other idea use two steamer's in a metal sheat you unroll and hook together to form a cylinder. Make air vent's in metal and little notches to hold the closed steamer full of wood pellets in the bottom and the open steamer on the top. Think rocket stove if you were to generate a nice up draft in the cylinder? You will have to play around with the length of the cylinder and maybe have a base with a metal circle to place the cylinder down into? Be a neat little recreational mini barbeque since you can roll up the the cylinder or you could make the cylinder out of thin Titanium held in a cylinder with metal ring's with a steamer full of wood pellets at the bottom abd a steamer grill at the top held on by clip's into the cylinder. The thin titanium would become radiant and heat an area up through radiant heat has well. A rocket stove steamer barbeque heater? 😊👍
Tried it. Really small, clumsy fire and you have to constantly feed it and have/carry external supports to even heat a billy. It isn't a compact pack item. The pellets make this strainer more useful. It is a tiny fire ring, so if there is a burn ban, you shouldn't use it. A BBQ charcoal starter can is your most effective, ergonomic, ready made under $10 stick stove for bulk cooking. The tin cans and utensil cannisters are the best budget cup stoves for packs. 2 grams and nest with your water bottle inside.
I picked it up on eBay for $17.00CDN. I see they have gone up in price a bit since. I will likely do a review on it at some point soon. Thanks for commenting
please quit all these great ideas... I have, within the last two weeks, reviewed ALL of your videos. Do you have any idea how much has been spent on everything I can find that you recommend? I am now owner of multiple stoves, cook set, knives, food hydrator vacuum sealer, stuff bags aplenty,water filters, coffee presses....and more.... been to the thrift stores too... my shop looks like an outdoor store... I am an avid fisherman.. you don't mention adding fresh trout/salmon to you meals???? looking forward to more videos..
LOL...sorry to be such a trouble maker. The only reason I haven't added fresh trout is because my luck at fishing is kind of poor. At least in the area I hike. I do much better ocean fishing. I will be sure to add fish to the menu when my luck turns. Thanks for commenting
Anyone else blow the screen to get the fire going? Probably only me then. Good idea I'll look in the UK poundlandworldshop see if they have them. I hope so.
Yeah, it was a bit slow to get going probably because of the damp wood but once it did it worked well. Have you checked out my follow up video? Thanks for commenting.
