There’s something about having a few beers while out fishing or camping, isn’t there? They just seem to go hand-in-hand, somehow. You sit back and relax, by the river or lake, and wait for that fish to bite as you sip a cold beer. Hey, go ahead and enjoy yourself but start saving those beer caps. They can be turned into tiny camping burners; each can be used alone for warming up a can of something, or can be combined with other mini burners, to make a much larger camping fire.
After you’ve been camping for awhile – or even if this is your first backpacking trip – you can often find that you simply don’t have room for all of the gear you need. You’ll need basic things, emergency stuff – it’s quite a list. If you need a cooking fire source, but just don’t have room for yet another piece of bulky equipment, look to those beer bottle caps. They can be turned into useful camping fires.
It takes two bottle caps to make each tiny stove. Hold one cap with pliers while you bend the ridge of the cap out with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Set this cap aside for now; it will be the bottom of the stove.
Turn the second bottle cap so that the inside of the cap faces down. Use a small-diameter nail to tap three or four holes through the cap. With this step, you should create several holes, plus an indentation in the top of the cap.
Position the cap of holes on the other cap. Place them so that the insides of the caps are facing each other and so that the holey cap is on top. Use pliers to squeeze the bottom cap around the top one.
Take a small bottle of rubbing alcohol with you when you go camping and you’ll be able to light the miniature fire. To use one mini stove, set it on the ground, dip a cotton ball in the alcohol, and squeeze the liquid over the cap. The alcohol will drip in through the holes and fill the bottom cap. Light the alcohol with a match to warm up a can of soup or other food. Or, gather several of the cap stoves together, and cook a larger food item. You’ll find the tiny stoves lightweight, easy to squeeze into a full backpack, and very handy to have when camping or hiking.