Make a Pop Can Stove

By Steven Zeisler

Make a Pop Can Stove photo gallery

Whether you’re into shaving gear weight, you’re a cheapskate or you just want to hone your MacGyver skills, there is an alternative for a portable gas stove – one that can be made with household supplies and a little elbow grease. I introduce the pop can stove.

It is a homemade, ultralight portable stove that is, as the name suggests, made from pop cans. A well-designed pop can stove can boil two cups of water in five minutes burning two tablespoons of alcohol. There is an abundance of variations of DIY stoves, including alcohol, wood and candle. The alcohol stove is popular among ultralight backpackers. Here are the steps to make it:

First, make the cuts. Attach a box cutter blade to a woodblock with wood screws. Make sure the blade cuts a perfectly even line around the circumference of the pop can, approximately 2.5 centimeters above the bottom. Pinch the can up against the blade and turn it while applying pressure. It will take at least several dozen turns. It is difficult to apply the pressure without crumpling the can. After crumpling my first can, I experimented with the cut by marking a line on another can and using scissors to cut around the can. This works better, but you sacrifice the accuracy of the cut.

Second, assemble the stove. After cutting the bottoms off of two cans, fit one can bottom into the other. Squeezing an unopened can of pop into one of the bottoms to widen it helps. Before stuffing the first bottom into the second bottom, pack it with fiberglass insulation or another non-flammable material. It is critical that the stove is completely sealed in order for it to work efficiently.

Third, make holes in the stove. Drill a hole in the middle of the top can for filling the stove with fuel, and then poke 16-24 holes around the perimeter where the flames will burn. You can use a sewing pin or a thumbtack for these holes.

Fourth, light ’er up! Fill the stove with denatured alcohol (you can buy it at stores that sell paint supplies) and light it ablaze – I suggest using a long-stem match. Warning: The stove may explode because of too much pressure, so make sure to stand back and monitor it for a few minutes. If assembly goes well, make or grab a pot stand (you can make it out of a couple of taller sections of pop can that you cut, uncurl a bit and connect to form a wider circle around the stove) and congratulate yourself by cooking a nice meal on your new pop can stove.