Here's a little trick that may come in handy some day on a hunting or camping trip. Besides, any truly serious bow addict is only a bow or two away from getting booted from his house and winding up on Skid Row...so this is definitely archery-related.

The photo shows everything you'll need to make the two cups of coffee required to start a good hobo day. Yesterday was a great hobo day--I made a big pot of chili, and had these two tin cans left over from the kidney beans and the diced tomatoes. As I looked at them this morning, an intriguing invention took shape in the still-working parts of my mind: I could turn them into a coffee-maker!

Luckily, I was able to retain custody of my Case pocket knife, which was key to the whole operation. I cut an air inlet down low, and then folded down three little fins on the still-attached lid so that smoke and heat could rise up through the can. Then, I drove a couple of screws through at the top, for the lid to rest on. Voila--I had a stove!

My vision was that I could load the stove with just enough newspaper to ignite the sticks, and that the stove would hold just enough sticks to boil 16 ounces of water in the tomato can...into which I would then stir enough ground coffee to seal the deal. Time to give it a test run!

Here it is, packed with fuel and ready to go. I saved one little scrap of newspaper to serve as my "match"--and of course the jackknife is only there to allow me to take this photo. Of course, O retain all rights to the image and the ideas that it portrays--if this baby works, I could be rich!

After I touched it off and combustion was under way, I held a scrap of bark so as to reduce the size of the inlet...so that no smoke or heat would try and escape. After about 10 seconds, that was no longer necessary--smoke was pouring out the top, and things were getting hot in a hurry.

Notice the density of sticks that are packed in--I could have crammed in a few more, but I wanted to have good air flow as well, so I didn't overdo the packing.

Hey DAN? Sure hope that this works like You want it to? Keep us in the loop. BLESSED BE! Batman

Necessity is truly the mother of invention.

On a side note, in the late 50's - early 60's my great granny lived on the outskirts of Charles City, Iowa.

Accross the road from her dilapidated old house ran the rail road tracks. A couple hundred yards down the tracks was a hobo camp. They were quite prevalent in those days...good guys, down on their luck.

I'd hike down there, and while I never saw anyone there, you could tell things changed a bit each visit. They had a real code of honor amongst themselves...take only what you need, and leave what you could.

They had granny's house marked in some undiscernable manner, that they could get an emergency meal from her.

She never turned anybody down, but asked for a little work to earn the chow. She said they were honest, polite, friendly, and willing to work for their meal.

Granny was a remarkable woman...sweetest lady ever! She was born in 1882, raised on a farm in west Iowa, and recalled still fighting Indians. Said every now and again a few would ride up to the farm to ask for food...horseback, feathers, paint, the entire thing...the real deal. Her dad would never turn them down, and they left in peace...pretty hard to imagine today!

She lived through both world wars, the great depression, two presidential assassinations, and saw Niel Armstrong step on the moon!

What a life span! To this day, I think of her often and still marvel at the changes she witnessed in her remarkable life.

Batman--you have me confused. I'm Kerry, the self-appointed king of an imaginary archery-crazed country called New Bowmaineia. Which means that I'm confused, as well. However, what matters here is that this invention makes coffee.

And now for the exciting conclusion...as the fire rages, the label starts to burn off the tomato can. This only helps the whole process, so I let it burn.

However, the base of the stove gets very hot--hot enough to ignite the blocks of wood it was propped up on, as you can see! I figured I'd better extinguish that little business, and did so.

Meanwhile, the fuel load worked out just about perfectly! The 16 ounces in the tomato can came to a boil just as the sticks finished burning. I lifted the lid, dumped in two good dollops of ground coffee, and closed the lid back down to let it brew. From starting the fire to when it was done brewing took exactly 13 minutes--not too shabby!

Better still, the lid of the tomato can made a good trap for the grounds--well, most of them anyway--and the whole process yielded two perfectly good cups of hobo coffee.

@ KERRY? MY BAD! I am NOT really awake yet! Got You confused with BOX CALL! I need that coffee!!

As with any invention, the key is in the details. It's important to leave a good hinge of metal to hold the lids attached, so that you can use it repeatedly. It's also important to find something other than wood to rest the stove on. I suspect that linoleum and formica would be equally unsuitable. Finally, it's a big help to have this up high enough so that you can help the fire along by blowing into the air inlet, to really make the twigs get burning good and hot.

As with any invention, it's important during the patent process to reserve the rights to any future tweaks and improvements. For instance,I may even take this to the next level of refinement, and make a handle for the tomato can from a wire coathanger. But, by and large, I'm very satisfied with the results on this maiden voyage. I plan to have my attorney check and see if the name "Mr. Hobo-Coffee" is available for trademarking.

A man needs roughage in his diet as well as caffeine.

Considering your last name is Hardy, the whole thing kinda makes sense. ))

Not that it's any of my business, but inquiring minds want to know.....the fact that you're down to two empty cans and a Case pocketknife wouldn't have anything to do with the wife finding out you burned the deck down, would it?

No no no; the deck survived just fine, and this is is all just PRACTICE, in case I ever find myself in desperate straits. All is well here at my lakeside palace...although it has been several years since the Queen of New Bowmaineia's departure.

I suppose I should be advertising that job opening and interviewing some new (and younger) applicants...but I must say my time is pleasantly filled with bows, arrows, hunting, bicycling, fishing, antler hunting, mushrooming, photography, and just enough paying work to keep the whole bundle of fun tied together. A new queen might only serve to upset the applecart.

Thats pretty cool,I am definitely going to give that a try. My son loves building fires and he loves making things from "garbage" so I know he will like to make one of those. Thanks,Dave

AS a kid I lived two blocks from one of the midwest's favorite stop overs from hobo. A place where they had everything they needed, water, bathrooms, protection from any weather and locals that would provide them with anything else they needed. They called it the Waldorf Iowa. I knew lots of them growing up. Some of their tricks has saved the day on canoe trips and rough winter condition hunting trips. Our house was marked, I knew how to find and read their signals.

I remember making the exact same stove when I was a kid at summer camp. It's a great reminder that we can make do with leds Gagdetry that plagues huntingand other outdoor endeavors. Cool.

Imma have to try that now.

This is why I still lurk here! Awesome post, thanks! Matthew

Trad 47-- I'm dismayed to hear that someone has infringed on my idea...several decades ago! These copycats will resort to any trick--even time travel, apparently. My dreams of getting rich off of this just went up in smoke.

'A man needs roughage in his diet." ...lol love it. I make cowboy coffee all the time. No spitting hissing Mr Coffee plastic junk on the counter for me. I add a shot of cold water to settle grounds. And drink it black. As God intended it to be drunk. heh heh But besides that, you know, a little roughage is good for the digestive system. HAW!!

L0L ... didn't mean to ... just it s the honest truth. The summer camp had a contest to who could build the fastest fire get the water boiling using a large tin can cut out the same way you show ... great survivalist tip brings but memories .. thanks!

My only question would this. Is this contraption Frisky tested and approved?

I wouldn't test or approve this bum's contraption! Why doesn't he walk into Walmart and buy a little stove for around $5? In the words of Lee marvin or something close to his words- It's a bum's world for a bum!

Joe

Kerry, the thread is now officially baptized. The great Frisky has spoken! I'm passing this on to my son in law. Thanks, Lance.

Of course, it's not limited to making coffee. You could use it to heat any canned food on top--beans, cream-style corn, or even Spaghettios--all of them fine foods of the hobo. Frisky would probably use it to heat his Spam, right in its own can.

It would also be great for oatmeal--I'd cut the water back to five or six ounces, and I'd even throw a few raisins in as the water was heating up.

It would definitely be a fun project with kids, if you used it to make hot chocolate from packets--a good project to get them outside on a winter's day.

You better brush up on cooking 1 minute oats, because I'm not seeing any backstraps on the grill, hahahah!

Joe

And what's left over from that cow's arse coffee can be used to strip paint and rust from an old 49 Ford coupe, thereby saving money on thinner.

Backstraps, phooey....squirrel and squab are the hobo's preferred wild game. I'm thinking I might be able to fricassee a pigeon in that tomato can, if I can just figure out a way to slow down my stove. Maybe if I use thicker sticks...or toss in a lump of coal. Perhaps Lesson 2 in this series will be on the finer points of cooking urban wildlife.

Too cool!

A Case pocket knife being used to cut METAL???? AAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!! KNIFE ABUSE!!!

If I was dying of thirst, hunger, bleeding to death then MAYBE.....

That's what a drill and side cutters are for!

Can't imagine any Hobos having Peets coffee. Maxwell House maybe. Not Peets.

Sorry crookedstix, but that was detailed in the boy scout handbook back in the fifties, I built a lot of stoves like that. Cooked many a meal on one of those, the Maxwell house coffee cans were the prefered size. Maybe next time, Thank you for sharing.......RonG

Way to go Crookestix!

Coffee is real important.

Campfire coffee with the grounds thrown in is especially good.

But what is impressive is that mug in the photo with the comfortable looking handle. Got an old Randell kick wheel out back in the wood shed for making them, and that one of your's looks real good.

Stykman, I think you're right--any coffee that uses adjectives in front of the word "coffee" should be disqualified. I saw some in the grocery the other day with phrases like "deep brown, smoky-chocolate, aroma-forward, fair-trade coffee." That's way too much information when you just want a cuppa Joe.

Sorry to say this but my coffee has the have the word "DECAF" in front of it. Took me 2 years to get used to the taste too! I can tell you though that I had some of Kerry's coffee in CO and chewed on the grounds long after the coffee was gone. And I didn't tell my Dr.!! Lance.

You forgot to strain it through or put the coffee ground in an old sock for real Hobo coffee. DANNY

I would be really careful using a modern can as a pot on such a hot fire. All of the cans are lined now with some kind of plastic. If that stuff releases things into you coffee, it will not be good stuff.

I miss the in store grinders. Oh well. :/ I enjoy the little things and hot black coffee is on my top ten list.

I have my own grinder at home and buy only whole bean coffee...which is getting harder to find unfortunately.

We have a cheapjack Braun 'coffee grinder' here at home. That thing sucks balls. I relegated that poj to making custom dubbing for my fishing flies.

Those old store versions were actually very good they uniformly mill the coffee. The smell coming off that grinder is intoxicating.

Beans don't have to be fancy. Eight O Clock beans are good for the money and will make a cup of coffee that will hold your head up pretty good.

I have an old enamel camp pot that I put grounds in the bottom of, then I cover with a handful of ice cubes and then cold water. It takes 10 minutes for it to come to a boil on the stove, then I lower the heat and let it simmer for 3 minutes. After that I take it off the heat put 3 more ice cubes in to settle the grinds. After 5-10 minutes of steeping it's good to go.

I seeping some as I type this! Keep yer Starbucks, I'll take this ANYDAY!

I meant SIPPING!!!

I'm loving all these coffee anecdotes--keep 'em coming! It's clear that there's more than one way to skin a cat...which may be another aspect of hobo cookery we could consider, come to think of it.

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