How to make a compact wood gas stove for backpacking or camping - portable, efficient, made from food cans (nothing else). This DIY wood gas stove generates more than enough heat to fry, boil and cook for two or three when fueled with twigs.

Using a principle known as wood gasification (or pyrolyzation), the smoke is burned in an afterburner, thus creating the extra heat which makes this wood stove so efficient.

The stove weighs only 6 ounces and packs down to 4"×5".

The tools needed to make it are as follows:

• try square with inch markings
• electric drill
• step bit with at least 1/4", 5/8" and 3/4" steps
• metal snips
• marking pen
• hammer and nail

During construction there is much metal cutting and drilling. Care should be taken to avoid cutting oneself. File down any and all sharp edges.

Twigs about ⅓" to ½" in diameter and about 1½" long work well. Once lit, it's important to feed it fuel on a regular basis. We find maybe three twigs or so per minute is optimal. It might need a little experience to get the "feel" for the right rate. The stove is quite insensitive to the type of wood used. We've fed it oak, cedar and yaupon twigs, scraps from woodwork, etc. Whichever fuel is used, it must be dry. After a while, it'll be necessary to empty the ash.