Natural Disaster Preps - Part 5
The BEST emergency stove
No electricity, no natural gas, no water from the tap, and sub-freezing temperatures for several days in a row - that was Texas during the 2021 “Snowmageddon” which killed the power grid, shattered water pipes, and left people comfortless and thirsty in the cold dark for multiple days and nights. During that event I did a live broadcast to help people based on experience from similar, grid-down situations of my Minnesota childhood. Up in the north those are our hurricanes and so most people are ready for them. Regardless of what knocked out the grid, a small, portable stove is a critical piece of equipment for health, safety, and comfort.
You’ll have hours to days before everything in your fridge and freezers goes bad, so having a way to cook as much as possible helps protect your health. Remember, if you can’t keep the temperature of food under 40F you need to keep it above 140F to prevent bacteria. A cooler with a few hot water bottles filled with boiling water will keep hot enough for quite a while, especially if you can refill the bottles. Boiling water collected from the tap, snow, or rain is often necessary when the grid is down to render it safe and free of dangerous bacteria before drinking. As for comfort, a hot mug of tea or cocoa when you’re cold, or a warm sponge bath before bed after sweating all day cleaning up hurricane debris makes life a bit more bearable, don’t they?
As an avid outdoorsy people, I have a LOT of camping stoves, ranging in size from smaller than an apple to a large, 3-burner beast. Depending on the stove, they can run on alcohol, hexamine tablets, unleaded gasoline, white gas, kerosene, butane, propane, multiple fuels, or even just sunlight. Cooking ability ranges from barely bringing a quart of water to a boil to cooking dinner for a dozen people. This collection of stoves has taught me two things. The first is that I have way too many stoves. The second is that I regret nothing!
However, if I HAD to settle on just one stove for both emergencies and car camping, whether I need it for just myself or to help the entire block, it would be the one pictured at the top of this article for multiple reasons.
It packs down nice and small into a plastic case just 13"L x 11.2"W x 3.5"H, making it easy to stash away.
It can use either 8oz butane canisters or 1lb propane cylinders, both of which are easy to find and safe to store.
With an adapter hose, you can connect the stove to a 20lb propane tank.
The cooking surface is stable and the same size as the burner on your kitchen stove, allowing use of any pot or pane.
It puts out a lot of heat, quickly bringing a gallon of water to a boil.
My personal preference is to use either the 1lb or 20lb propane bottles to fuel it. An 8oz butane cylinder will last long enough or one and a half standard meals for two people, whereas the 1lb propane will give you and another up to six meals. Propane contains more energy per ounce than butane, so it takes less to produce the same amount of heat as butane.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION: Do not use this stove in an enclosed, unventilated area. As with anything burning a carbon-based substance, there is a chance it’ll produce some deadly carbon monoxide. For those of you who ignore this safety tip, please have a carbon monoxide detector nearby to reduce the risk of killing you and your family.
Our ancestor’s mastery of fire was one of the things that lead directly to the creation of the world we now live in, but don’t let that thought stop you from getting this stove and being prepared. The ancients would approve!
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More wonderful info, thanks again for sharing!
Did I read it right that you no longer get a commission if I order pills thru the Medicine Man Plant Co?
Where should I order them for you to get credit?