Empty Drinks Cans

Drink cans are easy to find in urban locations and have a range of uses.

As they are made of metal, they can be used to sterilize water in by filling them with water and placing them directly on hot embers from your fire. Then once you have let it boil for 3 minutes (5 at high altitudes) and cool down you can drink directly from the can as the fire would also heat and sterilize the metal.

Due to the reflective inside of the can you can make great lanterns out of them. Simply cut vertically down the center of the can, then cut at the top and bottom to make 2 door shapes and fold them open. Add a candle or make a candle from some sort of wick and some liquid fuel. The light will now be reflected in the direction you want. This means less wasted light and a stronger light in the direction you do want it facing. This also hides light from other directions and means you will be less easily spotted. You can even use the ring pull tab as a hanger if you want to suspend your lantern.

You can also make a basic kind of oil lamp design. Simply make a wick of some kind and fill the can half way with liquid fuel and add the wick then light. The wick will draw up the fuel and burn very slowly. This could potentially work as a mini stove if you make a stand or suspend your cookware above the flame.

The more advanced option is a penny stove. They are a bit harder to make and they require a highly flammable fuel such as lighter fluid or methylated spirits but they work very well. You need to cut the bottom off of two cans. Into one of these sections, you need to add some sort of absorbent material such as cotton wool to hold the fuel, the same as how a zippo works. Then slot the two pieces together and pierce holes as shown in the diagram. The fuel is then poured into the central holes. Then once lit, you throw a coin into the center and you have something that very closely resembles a gas ring from a stove.

You can also make a very crude fishing hook from the ring pull tab. But the hook will be so big it will only be useful for catching larger fish and I therefore doubt the reliability of this as it may bend easily.

The bottom of drinks cans can make excellent signaling mirrors. To do this, all you need to do is to polish the bottom by rubbing in some sand and finish by rubbing with some cloth. The bottom will become very reflective and is great for signaling.

You can even make a fire starter out of a drinks can, it’s not the best method but it does work in strong sunlight. Do the same polishing method as mentioned above on the bottom of the can. On a hot sunny day it is possible, due to the concave shape of the bottom of the can, to hold it at the right angle and focus the reflection into a fine point as you would with a magnifying glass. I haven’t tried this myself yet but I have seen it done so I can confirm it works.