Hobo Wood Burner

An experimental wood burner, using all those spent sweet tins from Christmas.

Hobo Stove

It was below freezing with ice on the ground, my daughter Ava and I thought it would be a good time to try out the Golden Syrup Hobo Stove. After a couple of attempts we managed to get the stove alight using a firesteel and some feather sticks. The stove boiled us a cup of tea in under ten minutes.

The stove is made from two Golden Syrup tins and one bean tin. The bean tin is perforated and sits inside the two syrup tins, held in place by friction (see diagram).

We had a good time making tea on the Hobo Stove, we thought it worked very well and the woodsmoke even made us smell like hobos.

Portrait of me whittling by Ava (aged 9)

Hultafors GK Heavy Duty - #1. Firesteel Modification

Hultafors Carbon Steel Knife:

Country of Origin: Sweden

Cost: Knife: £4.10 - Firesteel: £1.99 +99p P&P

Uses: Very strong, cheap but quality knife designed for heavy work, good for batoning wood and making fire. 

Once you have split your kindling you will want to start a fire, see the images below for a simple firesteel holder.

 Using a small saw here prevents the pen barrel from deforming

 Bicycle inner tube needs to be cut the same length as the pen tube

 You will find it easier to roll the inner tube up to the top of the sheath and then roll back down flat

(warning: this will not prevent you from having babies)

 The lip on the Knife sheath secures the firesteel

Total cost of knife and firesteel: £7.09

 skinflint bushcraft right there!

See a review of this knife from Woodtrekker:

or see a film of this knife in use:

Whittled Fishing Lures

Whittled quite a while ago now, some rare, 'painted' whittled pieces, I have used and caught pike with a couple of these in the Fens and along the Wensum in Norwich. These were all carved using an Opinel and a Swiss Army knife. Made from a hardwood broom handle. Metal pieces (sinkers) cut from aluminium with a piercing saw. Painted with oil based enamel.

Fig a: A traditional 'S' shape Rise and Dive Plug

Fig b: The Psychotic Frog

The arms of the Psychotic Frog are made from balsa, this makes the lure rise to the surface when not reeling. The silhouette is meant to represent a surface resting frog. This has been successful as a hot summer lure.

Fig c: The Ninja, a traditional 'articulated' pike lure

Fig d: The Mutant Perch

Good for fishing around the oulet water pipes of a nuclear power station, also known as the Windscale Wobbler.