Stove Or Open Fire ?

Both!!! The little pack stove doesn't weigh anything and at times being able to cook quick without making a fire that might give your place away. Later when that sort of thing isn't a worry then a fire well made for cooking rather than just warmth and ambiance is a great and easy way to cook. I carry a very small grill that I can set across a couple of logs to cook on. I wish, and may make, a stainless steel pot with legs on it like the old time pots. I may try welding nuts on the bottom of a pot and then can screw bolts into that for a little lift above the coals.

 

Pack stove that can use multiple fuel sources, kerosene to white gas. Adapters are available from manufacturers to convert white gas operation to clean kerosene. I have a pack stove so configured. It is a must-have for bug-out. One can always steal kerosene in a military / Indian-territory operation.

 

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That is one of the great things about a Rocket stove. If it is set up right it actually BURNS the smoke and about all you smell is what you are cooking. If you are just boiling water for re-hydrating various light weight camping foods the smell is extremely minimal. A also have a small gasifyer type stove that also basically burns the smoke as well.

Some of the new propane stoves are smaller than a pack of Lucky Strike Cigarettes used to be and the canisters of fuel that run them are very small and light. They are not good for long term use but for short term use or an emergency when it is raining and you need a warm meal or warm drink they are worth the weight and space.

 

That is why ya carry a shovel and kindling that you can use to light wet wood if you have to. Use the shovel to dig a Dakota stove. The wind wont blow it around there is very little smoke when dug properly. So you don't have to worry about people seeing it. Think of it as a rocket stove dug into the earth.

Though I guess everything has a time and a place. Anyway. Ya dont have to cook your food if youre worried about being seen I suppose.

A saying dad used to use when packing for a hump when he was in the Corps always stuck with me. Ounces equal pounds.

 

The Dakota Stove is dependent on being able to dig a hole and not have it fill up with water. And having soil that will hold its shape. I was raised in a sort of coastal low land and if you dug a hole 3 feet deep it would have 2 feet of water in it. Also the lose sandy soil closer to the coast wasn't very good for dining holes in.

That is why information on this board is so educational. We are from all over and from ALL SORTS of environments. Those of you in the northern areas believe that cotton clothes kill and where I live cotton is king. Your winters are filled with snow and ice and my winters may not have even a single hard freeze.

Where I was raised there were NO native natural rocks, just sand and mud. The Native Americans made their arrow heads out of bone and giant fish scales. Fires were always super simple for us. When you live in a pine forest the ground is covered with pine straw and even better pine cones. Even in a down pour you could start a fire if you could shelter it. Pine straw also makes cold weather an easy thing. In just a lettle while you can rake up a huge pile of pine straw and crawl into it. I used to carry a plastic drop cloth and if I was going to have to shelter in a cold rain I could put the plastic on top of the pile of pine straw with a few branches of green pine on top and sleep warm on even a cold night.

Pine cones make cooking in small one person amounts pretty simple. Tin can hobo stoves work real well with pine. pine isn't what you want for searing meat over an open fire but it is great for a fast boil or even a slow cook if you just keep feeding it pine cones. I have a little folding stove that is specifically designed to cook with twigs and little things like pine cones. To me the fires and cooking are a big part of the fun in rough camping. Even when I would be hunting I would some times build a little fire and make coffee or tea before calling it a day and heading in.

No mater what or where you live or expect to go to in the event of a disaster, you need to KNOW how to cook over a fire. Portable Stoves no matter what their fuel are only temporary tools. To some extent most of the camping type pots are pretty temporary. It is heavy but I have a small three legged cast iron pot that is about like the one that my GGGreat Grandfather wagged all over for thee years during the American Civil War.

Survival cooking is a little different from camping cooking. When you are camping you usually have brought plenty of food and starvation isn't part of your thoughts. If you are living off the land many times you will have to make do with very little. If you kill a squirrel and there are several people to feed you do NOT roast it over the fire. You can afford to waste the fst that will drip into the fire. You NEED those calories. You cook in a pot bones and all and after you have got all the meat you crack the bones fopr marrow and finally drink the broth that it was boiled in. If you have very little you waste NOTHING!

If you have a little stove and don't know how long you are going to be out then save it for emergencies and cook on a fire. Some cold raining night that stove with fuel that you have had to carry with you may mean life or death. You can cook virtually under a poncho and both keep warm and make something warm to eat if you have to and desperately need the warmth both inside and out and some fuel for your body to burn.

 

Having at least a basic understanding of all these different methods is good. So you can be flexible & adapt to your present surroundings.

 

Personally I use both open fire and pack stove depending on location of where I am or if firewood is available the pack stove though I use only if I have to as open fire is much more pleasant

 

At some level people seem to have an almost instinctual attraction to fire. It hold the darkness at bay and makes you feel secure even when there really isn't anything out there in the dark that wants you. The warmth it gives you is more than skin deep. Even when it isn't really cold and even if you have other light options there is just something soothing about a nice fire. After things go to crud this will be important. LOL, fire and the night sky were mankind's Television for hundreds of thousands of years.

 

Both for different reasons, and depending on the situation. I have several stoves from esbit to peak1.
Still something primal about cooking a piece of meat over an open flame.

 

QuickFire fire-starter packs are waterproof and have a shelf life of decades. The pack's plastic pack isn't plastic, it is compressed flammable whatever. I keep hurricane matches and fire-starter materials in my SUV because I go some places up in the mountains where one shouldn't go. If I get trapped up in there, well one's got to get to the next day. My winch is rather small; I do have pulleys and heavy rope & chain, still ...

https://quickfire.world/pages/learn

These packs are billed as lasting 7-10 minutes. No they don't. It's more like 4 or 5 minutes. That's very good however, 'cause they're small packs. Put two together for greater mass. Stuff burns rather hot but not like some metals.

Where I live there are only two or three ways through the mountains in a ten+ mile stretch. One "pass" I'd have to abandon the vehicle at some point. I need to get me a mountain bike; but dang, I'm getting old. Never give up! It's a downhill stretch I'm thinking about to get back home. Need to throw some bolt-cutters in the toolbox -- that box is HUGE.

Out in the wilderness? Gotta be able to start fires. Blankets just aren't enough. Heat up rocks & bring them into your shelter. Warning, some river rocks explode when put under a campfire for heating.

 

I have an older coleman one burner stove that you could put a top on it and use as a heater. It was great and used to keep the camper on my truck warm on even the coldest nights. It cooks good to for one pot cooking.

I neary always carry a little grill for using on camp fires. I can grill meat on it or set my pot on it. While grilling meat over a fire makes for great eating it is unfortunately wasteful of needed nutrients. All that grease that drips off in the fire is stuff that you don't want to lose in a survival situation. That is why, among other reason, that I considder a fairly large pot a must for survival. If you are bugging in get a good heavy cast iron pot or kettle. If you are on the move carry the largest that you can made of stainless or aluminum.

Boiling water a quart at a time or less sucks. If nothing else I usually carry a large 9 cup camp coffee pot for cooking and boiling water. It has both a handle and a bail. I'm thinking about getting a 20 cups version. They are light and good for a lot of things beside just cooking. They double as a bucket for hauling water or gathering berries in and such. They work well on both a fire or stove.

The thing is that the fire is a part of a relaxing sort of almost ceremony for many of us. In the morning or in the evening when the day is starting or done I really like some coffee or tea. The coffee pot perking away is just a nice way to start the day or around a warm campfire on a cold night.