LittleBug "twig" or "stick" stoves

[Robin]

I bought one and I like it. Not good for simmering or slow cook, but great for boiling water for meals and coffee and saving room and weight in your pack.
They are pretty easy to make, and I bet there are a few here who have made them, but I found it to be a good buy.
A small company with a pretty interesting story.
http://littlbug.com/index.htm
It requires alot of attention, constantly feeding little twigs into it to keep it hot, but I cooked fish on it with some success. You need to be able to feed sticks and remove the frying pan at the same time should it get too hot, so a relaxing fireside cooking situation is not in the cards.
There is also the worry of not having a back up in case the area you go has a fire ban, I always bring a stove and check the conditions before putting in for a trip.

Cooking dinner over my littlbug senior on the Pleasant River, Downeast Maine
(notice the red stove cover laying behind the stove-keeps your pack clean from soot)

 

[DuctTape]

I made a Little Dandy (created by Nimblewill Nomad). With different loading techniques one can do a fast boil, or a slow simmer. Some of these small wood stoves are actually quite versatile if one doesn't just think of them as a mini-campfire. For a long hot burn for example, stack split twigs vertically like little sharpened pencils facing straight up. A bit of birch bark on top and light. This will get real hot, real fast and last long enough for a good boil.

 

[Adk Keith]

I made one out of a tomato juice can and coat hangers. My kit fit's inside it including an alcohol stove as a back up. I seldom end up using the backup but the alcohol works nice to start damp twigs!

The stove also works well as a smudge pot with the right ingredients.

Simple is good!

 

[Bob B.]

ADK Keith,

I second your comments. I really like mine, it does make a nice smudge under my tarp. It is a great way to keep the pests at bay. With the light chain it works nice to suspend the stove as well, so I can cook without having to stoop down all the time.

Bob.

 

[Guest]

I'm quite fond of twig or stick stoves as well. Unless you're camping when a fireban is in effect, they are an excellent and efficient way to cook, to leave no trace, and you don't have to pack fuel. I'm happy to see how they have grown in popularity in recent years and how many more there are to choose from now because they seem to satisfy the desire to have a fire when camping, without having to build a fire ring or use up what little firewood remains on a heavily used campsite. They do take some practice to use though. Unless you play with them a few times, you're apt to produce a short-lived and smoky fire that needs to be rekindled and blown one. My very first camping stove was a hobo stove made from an old coffee can, back when I was about 11 or so.

I'm very impressed with the modern versions which break down and pack flat. Some are made of titanium and so are incredibly light. Temperature control is an issue though. A hard and fast boil is not hard to achieve, but a long slow simmer can be really difficult and fussy. Baking is pretty much out of the question because tending a twig stove at a modest temperature requires your constant attention.

Some years ago I started using the Vital Stove, which is a twig stove that uses a tiny, battery-powered fan to force controlled amounts of air into the firebox. It's a sturdier and better designed version of the Sierra Zip Stove. At a pound and a half, it's not light, but it's very easy to use, packs flat, and it offers the best temperature control of any stove I've ever used. For any who are interested I have a detailed video review and demo of it in the gear reviews sub-forum: http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...deo-The-Vital-Stove-a-review-and-cooking-demo.

Hope this helps,
- Martin

 

[oldie moldy]

I have one of the Littlbug senior stoves as well; fiddling with it I've made some minor tweaks. I got a steel cake pan to hold in all the ash and embers and a stainless steel vegetable steamer (it looks something like a metal flower head). The steamer holds the fire and allows air to get under the burn; probably I'm kidding myself but I think I'm able to burn larger pieces and longer than without. For sure the stove takes some getting used to, working it somewhere it's capabilities.
Rob

 

[yellowcanoe]

Beware of fakes! I just got a notification from Cliff Jacobsen that pirated fakes are being marketed on E bay.. They are coming from China. The ad even has a stolen picture of the inventor.. If you buy buy from the real website http://www.littlbug.com/

Not this! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Folding-Cam...d-Gas-Stove-/281625926618?hash=item4192369bda

 

[Odyssey]

That looks like a cheap knockoff on ebay. I tried my Littlbug senior this summer and loved it. With it, if you can light a fire you can cook a meal, provided you can keep the fire fed. I placed mine in a galvanized pie tin to try to contain the ashes. It didn't protect the ground beneath from extreme heat, so it's important to locate your fire on a mineral surface, not on organic soil or duff. This stove comes in 4 pieces, which assemble/disassemble easily and quickly. Soot wipes clean from the stainless steel. This stove has me interested in other sizes and models of twig stoves. I plan on substituting my gas stove with an alcohol burner as a back up.

 

[Robin]

I had a funny feeling about that when the add called it "RuRu' Bug" just sayin'

 

[yellowcanoe]

o gee.. the listing ended.. Wonder why?

 

[Canotrouge]

I like twig stove a lot I have a "bush buddy" made in BC and it works really well, but like Robin said,it needs attention at all time if you want it to keep going hot!! Now we use a CRCO fire box, and man ho man that thing is my favorite fire tool ever! In our area, Yukon, we can even use it wile there is a fire ban. We used it for over 20 days this year and it work like a dream. My wife bought 2 for her Outdoor Ed program and is using them as we speak on a 8 day canoe trip( Teslin River again...) We got the Med Long and I love it! We don't even bring a gaz stove anymore!

 

[tump_lion]

No Title

perfect for open-fronted tents and cold-steel fry-pans...

 

[Alan Gage]

I have a littlebug jr. and used the heck out of it on my recent trip. I like it a lot. For a stove I used a Trangia alcohol stove in conjunction with the littlebug as the wind screen. Worked great, packed small, and weighed very little. A couple times I had to setup in a hurry (weather) at sites where there was no fire ring or exposed rock. It was nice to just find a flat rock and set it where I need it to serve as a base for the stove. When done just put the rock back where you found it the only sign you were ever there is a flat spot in the grass.

Alan