Tom..all good ideas,the woods are full of birch and pine that start and burn like a torch but i don't want to have to depend on my natural surroundings for something to make heat fast.i could find myself in a stand of aspen which takes a good hot fire to get it to burn or so numb that fooling around with a knife is out of the question. the problem is i will never know what i will find.a few years ago i was driven off a huge lake by a storm and landed on a sandy sheltered beach with enough drift wood for a Scout Jamboree bonfire.the buddy burner is a good thought.no fuel to spill or small burner parts to bust.with a good heavy lamp wick and a mix of beeswax's and fatwood bits i could see it making a fast hot fire and it could be pushed out of shape or wet and still work.i had thought about using some of the cans of Army ration heater,the old cans of wood alcohol,but the fumes that come off and the possible problem prying off the lid made me set that idea aside.well i have all winter,i'm sure i'll come up with something.



this is the fire starter i worked on last winter and it went along on the canoe trips.it's a Green Heat fire jell that i fixed up to open with one hand.it more than likely would get a fire of some sort going before it burned out but like i said,this year i looked at all that wet moss coated ground and rotten wood and started thinking a real stove would be a better bet.