In the last year or so I've gotten more and more interested in hiking, camping, backpacking, bushcraft, and general survival. In my pursuit to put together an inexpensive, high quality, sub 25lb 3-day pack incl food/water, I've been on the look out for a compact, lightweight stove that didn't cost a ton. I did the DIY solostove and I like it, but it's not compact plus I have to figure out a pot stand. Looked at the Emberlit stoves but I'm not too keen of the multiple pieces plus it's 3/4 of a pound, not lightweight.

I joined massdrop, saw the firebox nano come up for vote after 1 successful buy, a couple months later it went live, I ordered right away, and a month later had it in hand. It's a folding, 3" square'ish, $40 ($33 on massdrop), 6oz stainless stove that can use wood or a trangia. It's also available in Ti for $30 more and a 2oz savings. It comes in a white cotton (light canvas) draw string bag. The stove folds up to only 3x4.75x0.25", yes just 1/4" thick, has 2 little "nano sticks", or small stainless pins, that can be used caddy corner to accommodate a trangia. A trangia can be used at 3 different heights: on bottom of stove, on top of its own lid, on nano sticks. Setting up the stove is a piece of cake. It opens up like a book, then again into a box, you fold down the floor, and you're all set. I don't think it could be much easier. One of the things I like most is its versatility, not only in fuel, but in pot size. The stainless "wire" legs can be turned inward for a small cup like an Oilcamp, or outward for a larger pot like my GSI microdaulist. If the legs are turned outward, not only does it allow for a larger pot but the feet are turned the same way provide a wider footprint.

I did a quick boil test in an Oilcamp stainless cup w/ Planters can bottom as a lid, using small sticks as fuel. I just grabbed what I could find nearby the house, didn't bother trying to grab hardwoods. I split the wood into pencil thickness or thinner. It has 2 oval-shaped ports at slightly different heights allowing you to feed wood perpendicularly in a stacked manner. It can be fed from the top or through said ports. Because of its size, you do have to continually feed it, but I was able to get a strong boil of 16oz of water at just over 4min. This is perfect for a Mountain House meal, only need the nano, Oilcamp cup, and a utensil, pretty simplistic compared to most "cook kits".

I will definitely take this with me backpacking, either as primary or backup to a campsite fire pit. In the meantime, it will live in my GHB. For under $40 I'm thrilled with this thing.



not my pics
Firebox Nano

Rocks are free, but not nearly so cool or trendy...

Neat.  A little pricey for what it is.

Now I am wondering what I could make out of one of those square cookie tins...

I have to be honest, I don't see any resemblance of the Swiss volcano stove. It's $32 on amazon (I paid $33 for my nano) for the 3pc kit but doesn't get any smaller, doesn't appear to b able to use multiple fuels, can't use the popular trangia stove, doesn't adjust for small or medium size pots/cups, doesn't fold/collapse, is much bulkier and isn't close in weight. The kit nests but it's still the size if a large stainless water bottle. Not trying to be a smart a**, but what am I missing here?

I don't have the nano, but I do have the original Firebox. That company makes a solid product, which has taken a beating from me. The only con to my Firebox is the weight, and at one point I was considering something lighter until my last backpacking hike. As soon as we made camp and picked firewood, it began raining, which put out the fire in the fire pit. Most of my meals have to be cooked, so I pulled out the firebox and used wet twigs and sticks as fuel. It is a very efficient stove, and does not use too much fuel, which is a plus when it's pouring outside. The weight of the stove was a benifit as it was steady even with the wind and weight of the pot with water. It reminded me how important it is for gear to be versatile. I'm not going to knock this thread off track with the pro's and con's of the original, I just wanted to give that company credit for solid designs that flat out work in multiple configurations. If I didn't like mine so much, I would take a hard look at that smaller one.

Not legal everywhere.

Gotcha, yes there are numerous stoves, of all different designs, both commercialized and DIY, that use the forced air updraft method. It is my opinion that this is one of the most interesting for the combination of size, weight, flexibility.