How to Make a Buddy Burner Heater out of a Tin Can

Overhead view of two buddy burners with soaked cardboard strips and candles resting on pink background.

The Buddy burner

So, I don’t know why this is called a Buddy Burner. It just is. That’s all the background story I know. Ha!

All I know is that it works well as a heat source for the Hobo Stove we made in the post How to Make a Hobo Stove from a Tin Can!

It is a consistent source of heat to cook over for a fast breakfast when camping. If it rains it can be safely kept dry in your pack or tent- no need to try to find dry wood!

Supplies for making your own buddy burner resting on a cork colored background. Metal pot and bowl, tin can, birthday candles, string, ruler and cardboard.

I need to tell my friend from childhood about Buddy Burners. She was a fellow Girl Scout and she tried to do a wet wood fire under our Hobo Stove with me all those years ago! News alert- it didn’t work very well.

Buddy Burners rock! And they can be made from all recycled materials! Even better.

Would you prefer to watch a video on making a Buddy Burner?

How do I make a buddy burner heater?

A buddy burner uses a recycled tuna can as the container.

Measure your tuna can depth. Mine was 1.25 inches deep.

Cut strips of corrugated cardboard to that width (so I cut mine 1.25 inches wide). This is a great way to use part of an old Amazon box!

Hand holding small coil of strips of cardboard with other materials for buddy burner near by.

Start tightly rolling up one of the cardboard strips. Slip in the three birthday candles or three 1 ½ inch wicks when the cardboard roll is about 1.5 inches in diameter as shown in the picture.

Keep adding strips until it is the diameter of the tuna can.

Slip the roll of cardboard into the tuna can.

It looks like a cinnamon roll, doesn’t it?

Hand holding a half completed round of stripped cardboard and three small yellow candles. Other supplies for buddy burner rest near by.

Wax in the can

The next step involves melting wax so adult supervision is needed.

Melt the wax in a double boiler and carefully pour it into the tuna can until it is filled to the top. Try to pour the wax into all the sections of cardboard so it will saturate all of the cardboard..

A double boiler is a pan that sits in a saucepan. You place water in between those two pans. This is shown in the pictures. A double boiler makes melting wax a safer process. Wax in a regular pan on the stove can catch fire.

Hand showing side view of buddy burner with another resting near by with ruler, scissors and pen laying on cork colored background.

I melted two partially used candles as a wax source. The wick pulled from these candles as they melted can be used in another buddy burner in the future. You can use recycled candles or purchase new wax if you desire.

Don’t try to move the Buddy Burners at this time, it is best to let them sit overnight and let the wax harden.

Once cooled and hard the Buddy Burners can be wrapped up in a bag and taken camping!

Side view of two buddy burners with cardboard and candles resting on pink background.

Homemade cook stove cooking

The Buddy Burner lights easily when there is a wind break. Once lit, I slipped the Hobo stove made from a large bulk sized tin can over it. It heated up the cooking surface of the can in minutes so breakfast cooked quickly on top of the tin can camping stove. It was so fun.

These are not for use in a home. Use outside on a fireproof surface.

You can extinguish the fire by putting a metal bowl or can over the buddy burner to cut off the oxygen. Do not handle the Buddy Burner while the tuna can and the wax in it is hot.