2021-035 | SWISS ARMY WOOD STOVE

THIS WAS ONE OF MY BEST cooking equipment. It is made in Switzerland and, in fact, I owned two. I came to possess these because I have a Swiss friend as a benefactor. My friend ordered twenty of these surplus military equipment from Switzerland but I have to do field tests first before he would dispose these by selling it here in the Philippines. 

First of all, the camp stove is designed as an equipment for the individual soldier serving in the Swiss military. It is genuine and is in mint condition. This is known commercially online as the “Swiss Army Volcano Ranger Stove” or the “Swiss Army Volcano Stove” but I just call this simply as the Swiss Army Wood Stove as the term volcano seemed to be overly-exaggerated.

This stove comes as a set: burner, cup and bottle. It is made of ordinary aluminum and weighs a total of around 370 grams. Very light despite the three components. The bottle or the flask has a cork cap and can be filled with liquid of up to about 945 milliliters. The cup, has a capacity of 590 milliliters, and can be held by a pair of wire handles which can be folded. 

The burner is constructed of a ribbed can with a main rectangular hole for feeding fuel and several smaller round holes found near the rim and the bottom of the can which are designed to let oxygen flow in the fire chamber. It has a wire bail which is designed to hold the cup when it is used. When not in use, the bottle is placed inside the can while the cup acts as the lid and is secured by the bail.

When assembled, the Swiss Army Wood Stove stands around 27 centimeters (10.5 inches) tall and has a diameter of 8 centimeters (3.15 inches). The cup does not separate from the burner when stowed inside the bag, especially during a very fast pace marked by bounding over rocks and leaping over streams. It is not obtrusive inside the bag since it is round in construction. 

Since this is an individual equipment, I used it to boil water for coffee in its complimentary cup and, if need be, in the bottle. The cup’s rim is wider than the burner rim and it stays suspended above the fire chamber. As I had observed always, water boils quickly inside of five minutes. It is perfect for quick warm beverages like coffee and chocolate and a quick meal like noodles.

As for the bottle, you fold the burner bail back where its tip fits into a small hole and then you slid in the bottle. That part of the bail that slips into the hole catches the bottle and let it stay suspended above the fire. The problem is you can never remove an extremely warm bottle from the burner with your bare hand unlike the cup where there is a pair of folding wire handles.  

It looks clumsy when you balance a cooking pot over it. The 3-inch diameter of the burner is only good for flat surfaces like concrete or table tops but in the field it is tricky. If only it was shorter but it is about 8.5 inches tall. Because of this there is a tendency that you might ruin your cooking. So be careful not to accidentally bump it when cooking something over uneven ground.

I have tried different fuels when I used this. Most of the time, I used either twigs, bamboo shavings, wood chips or dry coconut leaves when I am at camp. I tried crushed charcoal twice and it worked perfectly. Some other times, I experiment with paper and cardboard which gets digested quickly by the hungry burner. But the most perfect is when I paired it with a Trangia alcohol burner placed at the bottom.  

What I liked about the Swiss Army Wood Stove is it extinguishes all the organic fuel I used to ashes. I just wait for it to cool down then I tilt the open end towards the ground and out went the clean ashes, leaving the insides of the burner very clean. If I am in a hurry, I hold the bail while still warm and out goes hot ashes. This is really a very efficient burner notwithstanding the bad feedback from people.

I have encountered two of these burners damaged to overheating. The aluminum body wilted before extremely high temperatures and melted. These were designed to function in frigid environments and the tropical heat is unkind on the Swiss Army Wood Stove. But mine did not despite the many times I tested these. I just control the flame and feed it from time to time with pencil-sized sticks and lesser sizes. 

Most people used bigger fuel, finger-sized, so they could leave it continuously burning and proceed with the other tasks. Once these wood became embers, the chamber is already very hot and could cook your food already. But unfamiliarity of how it functions and failing to understand thermodynamics caused it to melt when you give these embers life by blowing through the big hole.

One of the improvisation that I and my friend did was complement it with a pot holder. When you placed a pot over the burner rim, heat is trapped and goes out of the small holes located an inch below the rim where it is pushed back when breeze comes in. To remedy that, the pot holder allows warm air to escape through wider openings and remove the pressure inside the chamber and prevent meltdowns. 

I tested the Swiss Army Wood Stove during weekend dirt-times with my outdoor guild here in Cebu, Pilippines, which is kind of very regular. I carried this when I have training engagements teaching wilderness survival in different places in the Philippines like Baguio, Iloilo, Bukidnon and Rizal. I gave away both my Swiss Army Wood Stove, along with the detachable pot holders, as my appreciation for my hosts.

The Swiss Army Wood Stove is a very efficient and very lightweight equipment for the outdoors. While it may be designed for an individual, you may use this as a camp stove that would cater to a group of 3-4 persons provided you have a pot holder. As I had explained above, the pot holder prevents meltdown of the burner as this facilitates the efficient release of heat from the chamber. 

When I had the Swiss Army Wood Stove with me, I removed the bottle and replaced it with a bundle of sticks wrapped in plastic. The bottle was unnecessary in that I have already carried a Nalgene and a Camelbak and a couple of dry bags which I could use as emergency water containers. The bundle of sticks is necessary should the world suddenly turn wet and I am in need of coffee.

Unfortunately, this is not available in the Philippines. Should the Swiss Army Wood Stove be available online, be prepared to acquire this immediately. This is most perfect as a survival equipment in your vehicle, in your bug-out bag, even in your own home as a backup wood stove. But never forget to complement it with a pot holder of any design.

2021-034 | SIMPLICITY IN KNOTS

OUTDOORS COMMON SENSE TIPS: Simplicity is beauty. I used the same couple of knots over the years for my shelters and for other purpose: the overhand and the slip knot. It worked perfect for me in stressful times and in total darkness. No fancy knots that took years to bind and unwind.

 

First seen in Facebook

May 4, 2018

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KNOT-TYING IS A DIMINISHING skill just like good handwriting. You would lose your finesse and dexterity when you are dormant for a long time. Knot-tying is also cruel to people who has short attention spans or lacking patience and find most complex knots comparable to a layman memorizing scientific plant names. Nuts! 

A certain knot has a certain purpose and so many knots could count of stories as to their origins. Knots make the world go round and tying a knot also means walking the church aisle with your fiancée. A knot could be a hitch, a bend, a shank or a grim noose but a knot in the stomach is not.

There are 4,000 knots and if you can memorize and perform all of these then you are one hell of a nut. Sailors, mountaineers, high-angle rescuers, Boy Scouts, lumberjacks and longshoremen are known to muster more than a hundred knots in their repertoires. If you can do beyond the 200-mark, you are one exceptional ropemaster. 

Knots are principally grouped according to their purpose: Splicing; Weight Bearing (Stoppers); Anchoring; and Packing (Wrapping). Be guided always with these so you could place all your knowledge in knot-tying in a good system for efficiency, accuracy and memory retention. 

Seriously, my knowledge in knots are not that good. Practice makes perfect, they say, but ropes have not been my constant companion and so it left me with lesser time to tinker with knots. Nevertheless, I used just a few practical knots which I find very compatible in bushcraft that I made it into a system. 

All are very simple knots where even kindergarten kids can accomplish. Since my favored shelter system is the hammock and canopy sheet, I am exposed all the time with the flat rope and cords which I complement with a combination of two basic knots: an overhand and a slip knot.

 

In less than five minutes, I can set up my shelter with this crude system in daylight or in half-light. In less than two minutes, I could remove my shelter from its anchor points, which includes the unraveling of the knot which have taken a load of 200 pounds for the whole night. 

I do not need fancy knots to accomplish my tasks. I just use common sense to complement my knot combo used on the flat rope that bear my weight. It is called friction. Friction takes care of the load while the two knots secures the rope from feeding out. A quick tug from the working end of the slip knot unravels the rig quickly. 

As protection against pranksters on myself and against the shifting winds upon my canopy, I always place a safety feature on all the slip knots so it will not be loosened easily. That is the beauty of simplicity. It could never go wrong and it saves you time untangling a tightened knot. Bring a pliers next time else you lose a tooth. Nuts!

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

 

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.