Emergency preparedness does not mean you have to spend a lot of money. These little cook stoves are almost free to make and are excellent to have either around the house. You could even throw one in the trunk of your car in case you are out camping or hiking and need to heat water or cook a small meal where no cooking resources are available.
After you make your coffee can cooker, you can fill it with either sticks for immediate use, or I like to throw in silverware and a couple emergency foods like instant soup mixes, a can of ravioli or even a medium sized can of tuna and instant macaroni and cheese mix. You know the individual macaroni and cheese cups you are supposed to fill with water and microwave. And you can use the emptied tuna can to heat water for your macaroni and cheese pasta.
And this dinner is especially good if you have a pet dog with you. The dog will enjoy the tuna water in a small dish of dry dog food. Each of you can have a good meal out in the wilderness just make sure to dispose the fire properly with water. You can even use the water you cooked the macaroni to douse the left over coals after you are finished with your cook stove.
Either way, this cooker is essential to have and is like gold in any emergency preparedness kits you might have.
What you will need:
1 Large Metal Coffee Can 1 Square Metal Grate or Even an Old Grill Rack Tin Snips 1 Large Nail Needle Nose Pliers 1 Hot Pad
To make the cook stove, take a large coffee can and poke several holes at least 5 or 6 in the sides for oxygen circulation with a large nail. And then you cut a square wire mesh of some sort or a left over piece of grate with Tin Snips for the top of your cooker. And then all you need is 4 pieces of easy light charcoal or dry kindling to place inside your cooker. One can of kindling is enough to warm up a small pan of baked beans and Vienna sausages.
And always make sure you use the cooker on a smooth flat surface like a large rock or even the bare earth clear of dried leaves and twigs. And make sure you keep the pliers and hot pad handy just in case you need them. This stove can get very hot of course, so the pliers are excellent to grab the hot grate with, a hot tin of food or even move the cooker with hot coals inside.
These little stoves are not fancy but they can keep you from starving. And you can always find fuel to use since nature provides without fail some kind of clean materials for burning. Life is never predictable so why not start preparing for emergencies before they really happen.