Using the Vargo Titanium wood stove and Kleen Kanteen bottle

A while ago I bought a Vargo Titanium Hex stove and a Kleen Kanteen single wall stainless water bottle. Well, the stove and the bottle were just too pretty, and I just had to get them dirty, so I decided to actually get outside and play with them. Why wood stove? Well, I like the idea of not having to carry fuel. Not to mention the ambiance that even a small fire gives me. It’s that camping smell! For someone who wants less fuss, I would recommend looking into alcohol stoves, or if you prefer something even easier, then a canister or gas stove.

Tools I used to uglify my survival bottle/stove:






This is the stove. Notice how it is set up. There are several folding panels which flip up and snap into the attached base. The result is a hexagonal tube which has a single door to put combustibles inside. Everything folds down flat into that small black pouch you saw in the first picture.



The bottom has holes in it for air flow, and it sits slightly elevated. Being environmentally conscious, I like the idea here because it protects the ground and promotes leave no trace ethics every outdoorsman/outdoorswoman should strive for.


To get my water to a boil, I used my dryer lint and some wood shavings as my starter. Small twigs were added on top of that, and I ignited it using a firesteel. I then added small sticks, no longer than 3-4 inches and no thicker than a finger, since I just wanted enough fire to boil water.


Success! The fire was started. Once it was going well I closed the door, opening it occasionally to add fuel. The boil took about 10 minutes, but with practice I could get it down quicker. One of the things I noticed was how dirty cooking on a wood stove is compared to alcohol stoves. Due to the imperfect combustion of a wood fire, the bottom of your bottle becomes coated in soot. The inside of the stove does as well. Not a huge problem, but something to keep in mind when you decide to place that bottle back in your expensive backpack. The stove, of course, has that nice nylon case, so no worries there.


As light as this stove is at 4.1 ounces, this is something nice to have in the bottom of your backpack for when you underestimate how much fuel you need and run out!