Camp Stoves

Experiment with 3 tin-can Hex burners

I have been interested in the ‘outdoors’ for some time. When I say ‘outdoors’ that encompasses woodcraft, desert, jungle and arctic living and survival.


Anyway, I decided to test out three ultra simple burners made from tin cans and each using a single square Hexamine fuel tablet to see if they would work. The photo shows the three burner designs I experimented with. In all cases I used an army Crusader mug. This was filled with 500ml of cold water. A lid was made from a fairly thick aluminium foil obtained from a ready-meal of some sort. I put a hole in the lid to be able to see a jet of steam issue when boiling point was reached, rather than constantly lifting the lid.







Burner one  was a Tomato can with triangular holes cut with an old fashioned can punch and the large cut-outs made with some kitchen scissors. This burner did not work well with the tablet burning out after 12 ½ minutes, and before boiling was reached.

Burner two was made from a small Spam can. This was not as good as I had hoped and just managed to boil before the Hex tablet burnt out, again at 12 ½ mins.

Burner three  was made from another Tomato can but with the sides cut away and bent to locate the base of the Crusader mug as can be seen in the photo. This was the best burner, producing a hard boil in less than 10 minutes (tablet burnout 12 ½ mins.).

I did not use a wind shield and all three burners were tried out at the same time on several occasions, hence the rusty condition of the cans. A fireproof base is needed, as the burners get very hot and could cause grass or wood to catch fire, also flames around the mug can be quite large. I don’t like the Hex fuel tablets for the mess they make as they burn although it does wash off the mug fairly easily.

In short, the experiment continues.

RKDC