Wood Burning Stoves

imported
#1 
									Hey you hikers who use wood burning stoves -- how do you handle the soot problem? I mean, it gets all over your cooking pot and then all over your hands and then all over everything else you touch.  How do you deal with this on a daily basis while hiking?  I just made my own little stove and am anxious to give it a try on the trail.  I fired it up yesterday with only a couple of handfuls of small sticks and twigs and it worked like a charm.  It only took six minutes to bring my whole cooking pot full of water to a rolling boil.  But what to do with the soot?  Can any of you give me advice? Thanks

									_Woody_
#2 
									Soot comes with the fire, however you can keep it under control by dedicating a small ditty bag to carry it in (same for the pot).  This should help keep your other gear clean.  As for your hands a little soap and water will do the trick.  Easier when you choose to cook by a water source.

									_stealthblew_
#3 
									I have only seen one hiker use a wood burning stove on the AT and he switched to a cat food can stove real early in the hike, I think at the NOC.

The two types of stoves that hikers used most were alcohol and Jet Boil. I have also seen Esbit stoves used but they smell and soot the pot badly.

Stealthbrew’s recommendation of a ditty bag for the pot is the best idea to isolate the soot from your gear. Remember to was the por and ditty bag when in town.

									_Old Goat_
#4 
									I use one of my Sierra Zip Stoves every chance I get when out backpacking. Similar to what stealthbrew says I use a couple of small plastic bags to put my sooty items in. As a side note, in using a wood burning stove I feel good that I can have a campfire experience while having very low impact on the wood supplies along the trail.

									_Andy J_
#5 
									Thanks y'all for the input.  I suppose that wearing gloves when cooking might help to keep the hands from getting real black and sooty. I've notices that the soot is not easy to clean off your pot and not real easy to deal with on your hands.  It seems to sink into your pores and remain there no matter how hard you scrub.  But I do like the idea of not contributing to the escalating amount of trash and I like the comfort of a fire, even if it is only a small stove one to warm your hands over while boiling water.

Thanks again for all your advice.

									_Woody_
#6 
									I never used the Zippy I bought a decade ago.  You have to carry sticks in the desert or above treeline.   Of course dual survival carries a burning ember everywhere they go.

I ended up sending Zippy to Haiti after the quake.
PS. I used mostly a MSR multi-fuel propane in Europe, cuz they don’t do HEET as I member it; I used a potted meat can or a swedish alcoholer cuz I was too lazy to make a cola can stove.

									_gingerbreadman_