Emergency Kit

People's emergency kits vary by need.  I need a good cup of hot coffee each morning!  I started thinking about the "What ifs" of camping.  What if I run out of propane?  What if I am not connected to electrical?  If both situations occur simultaneously I would be very sad and cranky.  When I was living on my boat I purchased a couple of small butane camp stoves that I used for all of my cooking.

A butane camp stove, about $15.00

12 cylinders of butane about $18.00

My morning coffee, Priceless!

The stove measures 13" x 10" x 3" and comes in a hard plastic carrying case.  It puts out 10,000 Btu and uses 5 oz per hour.  The butane can fits into a compartment on the right hand side of the stove.  The cans cost about $1.50 each and are 8 oz.  Turned on high, the burner will boil water in about 5 minutes which means it is using about 1/10th of an ounce each time I make coffee.  That is 80 pots of boiling water per can or about 2 cents each time.  Quite a bargain!

Even though Dod has a full-capability kitchen area, weather permitting, I prefer to cook outside on the grill and this little burner works great for cooking veggies or frying potatoes!