XJ35s has a thread going about his adventures in building a small twig stove that fits into a Altoids candy tin, and he's having fun doing it, not wanting to derail or sideline his thread I thought starting a new thread along the same lines but with a different twist might be better than just throwing the idea into his,
I think anyone who's been on this forum for a while knows that I'm not a fan of mini survival, first aid, or emergency kits based on Altoids or Sucrets candy tins, as a mind exercise I think they are fun, but as a practical emergency or survival resource they generally fall way short of their intended goal, which is saving one's life in a wilderness emergency.
That said I have made a few and had fun doing it, and may even make another at some point, but this is about trying to make a usable small stove that fits into a candy tin that actually works and is tough enough to use on a regular basis, well, having some experience with small light weight backpacking stoves that fold or snap together is that they are made of fairly thin metal and they have a tendency to warp from the heat they generate over time and you end up having to hammer them back into good enough shape so as the parts fit together again, a few hammerings and they crack and break.
Another problem I find is that once you make the stove and pack it into the tin there's not much room left to include any survival stuff, one of my sons stopped in for coffee (and to check on the old folks) yesterday morning and we talked a little about self reliance skills and such and the talk turned to small packable stoves and I was reminded about XJ35's Altoids stove thread, as we talked I had an idea that I think is worth sharing.
Now I've been forced to agree (more than once) that any kit no matter how small is better than no kit at all, and that having a small folding stove isn't such a bad idea, but when you are packing the stove in the tin it leaves very little room for much else, of course you could have another tin to carry your other minimalist emergency supplies but that kind of defeats the one piece survival kit container idea.
My idea is to have a folding pocket (cargo pocket size) stove that fits a mini survival kit inside of it, what brought the idea home was that I was suggesting to my son that he may want to consider a medium sized Esbit folding pocket stove, when you buy one it usually comes with a box of trioxane fuel tabs inside of it ( I hate those fuel tabs and usually give or throw them away), the room that the fuel tabs take is just big enough to house an Altoids or Sucrets candy tin that has been pre packed with small survival gear such as a couple of band aids, small blade, cordage, a small ferro rod and striker, small zip lock bag for carrying water, maybe a few hooks and some fishing line.
My point is the kit would still be pocket sized, contain a practical multi use stove and a separate survival kit all in one that takes up not much more space than just a folding stove packed in a candy tin, and that can be carried in a back pocket, cargo pocket, or a small haversack type bag.
Something to think about.
