How To Make Heat In A Can For Hunting or Survival
This is a great way to make heat in a can for hunting or survival. My awesome friends, Wally and Danielle, knew I would LOVE this idea! Wally and Danielle are avid hunters and preserve the meat acquired through the hunt. They know how to cook any game meat in so many different ways. They are amazing hunters. I wrote this article several years ago, but deer hunting season is coming up and if you know a game hunter, please pass this information on to them.
They wanted to show me what they use when they go hunting to keep their hands warm. They said the hand warmers do not compare to how great this little heat can work. I picked up a few quart-size empty paint cans with lids and went to work making some heat cans. I originally wrote this post in 2016, that’s 7 years ago!
Heat in a Can
All you need is 70-90% rubbing alcohol and a roll of toilet paper. Add some matches and we are good to go! Please note, I will not add the alcohol until I intend to use the can immediately. In other words, do not store these cans with alcohol, they may become combustible, under certain conditions.
The only supplies you need are toilet paper rolls, one-quart paint cans, come 70-90% rubbing alcohol, and a match. You can buy these cans at your local paint store pretty cheap, or order them online: Empty Quart Paint Cans with Lids (2 Pack) 
Make sure you get the paint cans with lids because that’s how you extinguish the flame. We know you are storing, and toilet paper so that’s an easy one: Georgia-Pacific Envision 19880/01 White 2-Ply Embossed Bathroom Tissue
Heat For Approximately Eight Hours:
One quart with a roll of toilet paper (remove the inner cardboard) will burn for approximately eight hours, depending on the size of the toilet paper roll. Yes, eight hours!
Heat In A Can Ingredients:
Here are the ingredients needed to make your emergency heat in a can. A bottle of 70-90% rubbing alcohol, a paint can with a lid, a roll of toilet paper and a can opener. Paint Can and Bottle Opener (2 Pack)
You just roll the toilet paper roll between your hand and the cardboard center can easily be removed. You could tape a package of waterproof matches to the lid and you are good to go. Coghlan’s Waterproof Matches
Here we placed the toilet paper roll which fits perfectly in the quart can, by the way. We added enough alcohol to saturate the toilet paper.
Use The Lid To Extinguish The Flame
You can use the lid to safely extinguish the flame when you are done and then reuse the can later by adding more toilet paper and alcohol. This would be a great item for a car emergency kit, but I would not recommend using it in the car because of carbon monoxide issues and other safety concerns.
If we were stranded and had limited gas in the car to keep the car warm, this would be great to at least keep our hands warm outside the car until help arrived.
Is canned heat safe?
Yes, canned heat is very safe! It’s safest to use canned heat outdoors, just in case anything were to happen to it!
How long does canned heat burn?
It just depends on how much product you use and how big the can is! I’d like to say that it will burn for about 8 hours. Imagine the tool you have here when it’s cold outside and you need to cook something for your family. Such a small thing you can do that will help you for hours.
How do I protect myself against carbon monoxide poisoning?
Carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious health hazard and can be fatal if left unchecked. To protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning, you should always use canned heat in well-ventilated areas (outside), away from enclosed spaces. When using any heat source, always install a carbon monoxide detector in the area and check it regularly to ensure safe levels of the gas. Portable Carbon Monoxide Unit
Comments from readers:
Ranger Rick:
I teach this in my Survival / Emergency Preparedness classes and they work great. Keep in mind that I also have added a 1-gallon paint can, everything stores inside of the 1-gallon can nicely. I take a can opener/church key and poke some holes in the side and bottom of the 1-gallon can for heat and air to circulate and you have a great little stove. Make sure the holes on the side of the 1-gallon can are near the bottom of the can.
Great info Linda. I have made these up and passed them out for Gifts. These will keep you alive if you get stuck in the backcountry in cold weather.
In case you missed this post, How to Stay Warm Without Power, or this one What Happens When Your Prepping Supplies are Gone?
Final Word
For those of you who like to hunt or need a solution for survival tactics, heat in a can really do work! Using a heat source for 8 hours is simply amazing. If it’s really cold out, you can use this tool to save your life. It’s best to start stocking up on the items so that you have everything when you need it down the road. May God Bless this world, Linda
Oh my! This is great! I just got back from our camping vacation and we could have used this idea. I even have a half dozen new unused quart sized paint cans sitting around that were left over from my daughter’s art project. We got them at Home Depot and they weren’t expensive, so I didn’t take them back. I was thinking they’d make good storage for something. So I have everything to make them. Oh I wish we had a couple of these when we went camping this summer when we were away from base camp. EZ open, light it, and dinner is cooked, even if it rained. I think I’ll look into making a suitable packable grill
that will fit over one of these that will allow headspace for air when you sit a pot on it.
I can’t get over how brilliant this is!
HI Debbie, you are so right paint cans are great to store stuff! I love the idea about a small packable grill! We can always improvise, right!?! You rock, Linda
I teach this in my Survival / Emergency Preparedness classes and they work great. I also have added a 1 gallon paint can, everything stores inside of the 1 gallon can nicely. I take a can opener / church key and poke some holes in the side and bottom of the 1 gallon can for heat and air to circulate and you have a great little stove. Make sure the holes on the side of the 1 gallon can are near the bottom of the can.
Great info Linda.
I have made these up and passed out for Gifts. These will keep you alive in you get stuck in the back country in cold weather.
Hi Ranger Rick, I have got to add this to my post, this is a great idea! Thanks as always! The gift idea rocks! Thanks for your awesome ideas! Linda
How do u know when it’s done? Will it burn out on its own? What if u using a bushes baked beans can? Inside the house?
Hi Trisha, it’s not safe to use inside your home. It’s for camping or if you are stranded on the highway. You would get out of your car and use it to at least keep your hand’s warm several feet away from the road. You put the lid on to put out the flame. Yes, it would burn out on its own when the “fuel” is gone. Linda
You are most welcome Linda,
Ranger Rick
North Idaho
If needed would this work in a say big room in a house if the electricity goes out. And you have no other way of cooking or heating your house for days?
Hi Laurel, I would not recommend that because of the carbon monoxide issues. The heat in a can is only for outside to warm your hands in the woods or away from your car. Thanks for asking about that! We need to layer up in clothes and sleeping bags and close off a room if we lose electricity. I interviewed my niece after Hurricane Sandy hit her community and heat was the biggest issue for everyone. Fireplaces are not the best because you need so much fuel to heat a large room but it’s better than nothing. She talked about her friends vaulted ceilings and all the heat that was lost…she now has a wood burning stove and LOTS of wood ready for the next disaster. Thanks for stopping by, Linda
Yes. I have a very large space with very high ceilings and have used two of the cans to heat when power was out one on each end of the space. It was wonderful and warm as these cans put out a lot of heat. Alcohol does not give off the toxic fumes that propane emits. However, fire does need oxygen so if you use it in a small room it will eventually suck out the oxygen. Just make sure there is a little air coming in. If it is really cold out, just open the door for a few seconds. That is important. Change the air every hour or so. By the way, I have Asthma and COPD and had no problem using this stove. I use the 70% alcohol. If you are worried, get yourself a carbon monoxide detector. If you have children and pets, keep this safely away from any area they can get to.
Thank you Linda for the Gallon can stove idea. Be warm everyone.
Hi Diane, great tips on using the heat in a can! Stay safe and warm! Linda
this is great! only thing that just crossed my mind is… do I really want to sacrifice a roll of TP. 🙂
Hi, Julia, LOL! I love your comment about the roll of toilet paper, I can never have too much stored! I have made family cloths out of flannel, it I EVER need them. Linda
There is another version of this meant as a small heat or light source. You take a small can (Tomato sauce or canned meats such as chicken or tuna) and then you tightly roll a long strip of cardboard and insert that roll into the can. Then you pour melted wax over the cardboard. You insert several wicks into the wax covered and it’s finished.
Another thing one can do is to insert a wick into a full can of Crisco and you have a fat burning candle.
Hi Frank, these are awesome ideas. I have seen the Crisco can but not the smaller cans. I’m going to make some of those! Great comment! Linda
I went to thrift stores and picked up bags of old taper candles for a $1. I cut a little off the bottom and stick the candle in the middle of the can
Hi Colleen, I like your idea with the $1 candles! Linda
Frank: You just beat me to it! GOOD for you! I have the Walmart cheap-o Crisco, too. All you do is push a tall candle into the center (for the wick) and light it. It is supposed to be able to keep an entire room warm over time…at least the author of the video on youtube said so.
We also purchased YEARS ago the Stove In a Can item that was being given out as a “promo” for buying parabolic cooker from OF the Grid News…I mean YEARS ago, too! We purchased extras for additional supplies for emergencies. They are very similar, only smaller sized and the fuel inside is some sort of (Perhaps) wood chips that I think may be coated with wax or some sort of combustible seal to hold them together. I love this easier version that Ranger Rick just detailed, though. So convenient, if you can spare the T.P. and alcohol! Rick, where do you live, I want to come taker your survival courses!!!
Hi Jes, thank you for sharing, yes, Ranger Rick is awesome! Linda
I forgot to mention that I used the absolute cheapest rolls of toilet paper I could find. They were small enough to fit in the can tightly. Also, I found my new quart cans at Ace Hardware since this is a small town and very little places to get things.
Be warm, stay healthy.
Hi Diane, I use the cheapest toilet paper for those cans as well. I LOVE Ace Hardware, great comment! Linda
It’s a decent heater.
As far as hunting it might work in a blind. I’m not a blind hunter. I tried it and hunting over feeders etc. but just can’t do it. It just ain’t the way I wanna hunt. Maybe when I’m old and can’t do it anymore without.
Hi Matt, It’s funny the couple that showed me how to make these became my very best friends. I loved listening to their hunting adventures and how they prepared the meat. Life is good! Linda
Linda: Pls. have your friends, the hunters, post some info. on how they use their wild meat and how they preserve it! I am in need of venison recipes that are great!! VERY interested in that aspect of food prepping and storing!
EVEN a video online would be great, if they have links to find their work! SAME for Rick’s classes!!! JESS
Hi Jess, this is so funny you would ask about venison. My husband went hunting right after we got married and got a deer during deer season. I hate the meat. BUT, I know there are people out that cook it and love it. Utah is a big state for hunting and eating it. I learned later my husband did not do something (I can’t remember) after the animal was down. My relatives’ pressure can it or use a FoodSaver or make some of it into jerky. Let’s see who can share recipes, I cannot. LOL! Linda
Hi, Linda: At our house venison is a treasure! HOWEVER, I only have 1 or 2 good recipes, so was looking for anyone else’s ideas on making this meat taste wonderful!
Hi Jess, I love hearing you enjoy it! Linda
My mother and step-dad used these in the late 50s to mid 60s. They used the smaller metal coffee cans. They worked. I had forgotten about them. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
HI Deborah, I love strolling down memory lane as well! Linda
Love this concept ! However, I’m wondering exactly how you light this. Do you just hold a match near the can? I guess I’m wondering if the flame flares up, or if it’s a little less intense. Not having used this before, I would rather know what to expect beforehand!
Hi Tracey, it’s been a few years since I made this post but, if you look at one of the pictures with the flame, you can see where we “lit” it. It does not flare up, it burns pretty slowly. I would stand back to light it, but it’s not like a large flame until it gets going. Linda
Hi Linda. Great article. As you know, I self-published The Non-Electric Lighting Series of books. Book 8 of the series is “Alcohol Mantle Lamps.” In researching the book, I learned that alcohol mantle lamps are very similar to Coleman pressure lanterns except that alcohol is the fuel rather than a petroleum derivative. European lamps and lanterns that burned alcohol (moonshine) were widely used during WWII when petroleum was scarce. “Primus” and “Titus Tito-Landi” were the big names. AND THEY GAVE OFF VIRTUALLY NO CARBON MONOXIDE! For my part, I did some fairly extensive testing (7 pages on this in the book) and found that isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) gives off so little carbon monoxide as to be indetectable. So, in truth, I believe that carbon monoxide poisoning can really and truly be removed from the list of fears that may exist with the alcohol stoves you describe here. Cheers!
Hi Ron, thanks for the information, my friend. I need to add your book link here. https://amzn.to/3KjmzgH
Great information in his books, Linda