Burnin' Stuff

[ForgeCorvus]

As I mentioned in another thread, I got a Wood Gasifier over Yule and promised a write-up.
Well here it is, please bear with me as its just a bit of shed-bushcraft rather then a full Bug-Out with OpFor and Hazard Conditions

I'll start with its credentials, its Forfar branded and was purchased from Ebay (for probably around a tenner).
Its all Stainless Steel and claims to be 15 oz, my scales say its12.95 oz ( adding the bag that comes with it puts the weight up to 13.6 oz). Packed its under 5 1/2 inches wide and 2 3/4 inches high, with some space inside the package to store some other stuff (tinder, lighter, &c).

For comparison I also ran the same test on my Hobo stove (which I'll weigh and measure later).

I've never had or used a Gasifier before and I'm sure I'm not using it to its full potential.

Both stoves were charged with 4oz of dryish palletwood that I'd split down to between finger and pencil thick, both stoves were lit using one magic biscuit and the same open-topped pot was filled with 16floz of air-temperature water. The day was foggy and only a few degrees Celsius above freezing.

Gasifier lit by forgecorvus, on Flickr

As soon as the magic biscuit was well alight and the wood was catching I put the pot on

Gasifier boiling by forgecorvus, on Flickr

Numbers time
Gasifier: Boil 10.19, 2nd pot on @ 10.36, Boil 19.42, Fire out 20.46
Hobo : Boil 6.40, 2nd pot on @ 7.20, Boil X, Fire out 13.40. (Water was too hot for hands, might of boiled if the change-over was more timely)

Gasifier: Cool enough to handle and separate* @ 1.30 and cool enough to pack by 3.30
Hobo : Cool enough to handle and separate* @ 3.00 and cool enough to pack by 4.30

* This is with my blacksmith's hands so YMMV

I also did a couple of boils using my favourate Alky stove (both on its own and as part of my multi-fuel setup).

Alky solo by forgecorvus, on Flickr
You'll note I'm not using a windshield and its set on top of a metal box (which will act as a heatsink), this is about as hostile an environment as as possible short of going up a mountain.... And Norfolks a bit short of them

Hobo Boiling by forgecorvus, on Flickr

30ml of meths was used, otherwise everything else was the same.

Solo : Bloom 2.03, Boil 17.28, fuel burnt out almost as soon as it boiled
In Hobo: Bloom 1.26, Boil 13.40, fuel burnt out 13.55

[Deeps]

I think I've ordered the same Forfar stove so thanks for posting the results.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Bm bargains have large sacks of birch logs in for £5ish

[sethorly]

The hobo is the winner overall you'd say?

I've heard a benefit of the hobo over the gassifier is that it's much easier to chuck in more fuel.
I presume the hobo is less prone to damage or fails too.

[ForgeCorvus]

I think the hobo won because I've been using it for a number of years and I know how to get the best from it, this was the first time I fired up the gasifier and I'm sure I could of done a better job.

My hobo is made from the casing of a heater band off one of the machines at work (the bands fail and need replacing, then the whole thing gets chucked), sized down to fit my ice-bucket billy with the other parts made from expanded steel mesh (from a scrapped light-fitting)..... Its way heavier then it needs to be, but I like Solid


As you can see, the gasifier cooled much faster. Making it more worthwhile for use in a 'pit-stop'
It also packs down much smaller and can be used with pretty much any billy or kettle , the hobo is designed to fit around one specific billy (while I can use other pots, that would negate the space-saving of nestling )

I don't think its any harder to top up fuel in one or the other, for this test I didn't.

Yorkshire: Thanks for the tip....... But I'm too 'Near' to buy small bags of firewood

[Yorkshire Andy]

Yorkshire: Thanks for the tip....... But I'm too 'Near' to buy small bags of firewood

Ahh

This is where prepping needs to integrate with your daily life.

MIL has a wood burner....

Or like us we use it for the pizza oven..

Camping covers most bases in buying preps


That said we have a fair few eastern European shops which sell decent wood Alder smells lovely


We keep enough wood to cook about 5 whole chickens as I know where I can acquire some if shtf (legitimately) and a have a few bits split and cut for the wood gassifire as Mrs andy doesn't like using LPG

[munchh]

Hey Crow, i have one that i got about a year ago, back then they had round holes in the bottom skirt but other than that they are identical.

The biggest difference of these 2 is that the hobo is just a fire and works just like a contained fire and so it creates the usual black soot and is no more efficient than a fire.

The gasifier dosent just burn the wood and leave charcole it also burns the wood gas produced so should be burning hotter and more efficient with no smoke once going and you end up with pretty much ash.

The gasifier folds down and fits in the zebra billy and tiffins, the only thing i dont like is that you have to be careful what you put them on, i tried mine for the first time on my big stump o have in my garden. I now have a bowl burnt into stump as it set it alight. if i carry it in my zebra tiffin, i use one of the stainless planes on the bottom so it doesnt set light to the ground!
They work great with a trangia type burner in to, ive not tried the tray for the chaffing gel.

Dont forget, you can make them, but for the price these stainless ones will last longer than the ones ive made and fold down. i have a pair of secatures in my bag to cut finger size sticks the right length, ive seen people use woodchip pellets. They are pretty clever things. no brainer really.