Homemade stoves are a very popular hack, you can find a zillion videos on YouTube, mostly on alcohol stoves, and they work great. Less common are butane fueled stoves, but [Thomas Kim] has uploaded a video on a super easy and cheap butane stove.
Like many other DIY stoves, the body is a soda aluminum can. After sealing the top side with aluminum foil, you just need to drill some holes in it. Other necessary components are a metal tube and a syringe needle that acts as flow regulator. [Thomas Kim] makes an interesting fixture that is attached to the can and lets you control the pressure on the can valve and adjust the flame of the stove via a couple of screws.
The stove works great. It is a nice and simple project if you want to start experimenting with these stoves. Safety is important of course, working ventilated area and protect the butane source from heat (in this case the feed tube keeps it away from the burner). Some other projects you may find interesting are this easy rocket stove, or  even this project to make your own briquettes from waste materials. Enjoy and stay safe.
I could see this in a MacGyverish/end-of-the-world scenario.
How exactly do you mean end-of-the-world? Like after he burned the house down with it?
*smile* I was thinking it’s the end of the world and civilization has crashed. So that means lots of improvisation which fits this device to a T.
What is a “soda aluminum” can? Something special?
Or is that just American for an alumin[i]um beverage (e.g. soft drink or beer) can?
Though I think google just answered my question: http://www.popvssoda.com/
Divided by a common language, indeed.
It is more likely a few of us are divided by an overly pedantic nature.
Maybe it has something to do with sodium aluminate being extracted from bauxite during the Bayer process.
B^)
You can substitute a lager can. Works just fine.
What about an Ale can?
Lager cans work great as improvised motorcycle silencers too. I had a Castle Lager exhaust on my KZ400 for months.
Pedantic … indeed.
not sure of any scenario where i’d find myself in the possession of butane refills and soda cans but not also finding stuff to feed a penny stove or rocket stove.
I wonder how easy it is to get this to run hot enough to be a problem for the can. Ive done that a few times attempting to do a rocket stove with aluminum cans instead of steel soup cans.
Not to mention all the other parts.
In a survival situation, you could find yourself with organic waste in a pit, covered with an inverted bucket to collect the methane into a hose, pressurized by a few rocks on the bottom.
“Who runs Bartertown?”
The person who can amass the strongest army.
Master Blaster
If you find this interesting, go have a look at what the Ultralight Backpacking scene uses for cooking.
In a real emergency, nothing beats a hobo stove. Highly efficient and it’ll eat anything.
In a real emergency, I’ll eat anything.
B^)
Stop looking at my dog. :-)
Turtles are nature’s sterno cans :)
A butane can fitted with a hypodermic needle…
What could possibly go wrong? :)
Is that a burn on the arm of the person lighting the stove in the video?
You don’t even have to click on the video, just look at the picture above.
Haha, some people just don’t learn from their mistakes… ;)
Alcohol stoves are working really really bad. I mean when you use them outdoors. Even slightest amount of wind and effectivity falls to zero. I’ve been cooking on alcohol while on hikes and ended up buying butane stove. Alcohol experience was quite terrible.