Complete Hobo Stove & Cooking Pots System Bundle, No Tools Build, for Dirt Cheap or Free - Easily Expandable and Infinitely Upgradable!

So things didn't end up the way you had planned which is unfortunate, but don't worry; for very little money or possibly free, you can still enjoy small warm meals with this complete hobo cooking system. There are all sorts of potential upgrades to this system too so use your creativity and look at things from a different perspective and you will be surprised the abundance of materials that can be useful to you that most people just see as garbage. So lets dive right in as its cold today and a warm drink sounds great right now!

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Supplies

The supplies are minimal and no tools are required. If you have to purchase these items it shouldn't cost more then a few bucks in total locally. You may be able to find some of these items, or a similar substitute, discarded in the trash for free! I will also link to the cheapest version I can find on amazon for you, that being said it will be a lot cheaper not at Amazon as many items are sold in packs only on there. Walmart would be much less expensive for most of this. The name of this game is clever reuse of things you have or someone you know may have lying around or about to toss out, so before buying anything look and ask around. Only exception maybe the Can Tapper, if you don't have one of those they are are well worth the price for this project and your future can tapping needs.

Note: Also keep an eye out, you want the cans that will be used as cooking pots, the 15oz and 10.5oz cans on this project, to be a BPA free lining if at all possible. If you cannot get that, and are in a desperate situation its better to be able to cook food and eat then to worry about BPA of cans.

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Supplies (Notes) = Prices as of 11/21/21 (Items starting with * I consider must haves)

*Bottle Opener / Can Tapper - (This is the same style I used which will make the build easier then some of the other styles, and in a two pack. This is the second most used item for this build.) = $3.85
McCormick Everyday Essentials Spices Pack - (This is cheaper then buying the empty jars and gives you lots of good spices to use for cooking. Personally I would go to a local grocery store and get two of the cheapest spices and pour then into a plastic bag to use later, wash them, then fill with salt and pepper. I got lucky and had two near empty ones already I filled with Salt and Pepper. Or even better if you don't have salt and pepper you could grab a bunch of salt and pepper packs for free at most fast food restaurants or the deli section of most grocery stores. Which I should have done but just thought of it right now as I am writing this.) = $16.36
Coghlans Backpacker Salt & Pepper Shakers - (This is similar in size and would compact a bit better then the reused spice jars.) = $5.99
Folding Spoon, Fork, & Knife - (These would take up a lot less space and give you 3 utensils to work with. That being said it is not required and you can get a silverware set at a thrift store for cheap or at the dollar store for a buck or two.) = $6.99
Camping Spoon, Fork, & Knife Plastic - (Would give you at least a spoon and fork for cheap. Plastic will be less versatile however. With metal you could use a spoon as flat head screwdriver if you absolutely had to, which I have done with the very spoon used in this project.) = $3.99
*Survival Can Opener - (This is the style I used. This is also a two pack. These are well worth having as the size to functionality is hard to beat. They are very useful for camping as well. Useful for both opening nearly any canned food as well as removing the ring left behind from pull top cans.) = $3.98
Utility Knife Razor Blades - (This is the style I used, this is used as my food knife. If you had to you could probably get away with the 6oz can lid and sharpen one end on a sidewalk. It would already be sharp enough for cutting something like a potato.) = $2.99
Pocket Folding Knife - (This would give you a more compact and versatile type of knife.) = $6.90
*20oz Can, Pineapple Chunks - (The contents are not as important as the can size, this is much easier to do at a grocery store, I am going off of can ounces hopefully its the same size as I used.) $1.38
*15oz Can, Tomato Sauce - (The contents are not as important as the can size, this is much easier to do at a grocery store, I am going off of can ounces hopefully its the same size as I used.) = $0.88
10.5oz or 10 1/2oz Can, Mac & Cheese- (The contents are not as important as the can size, this is much easier to do at a grocery store, I am going off of can ounces hopefully its the same size as I used.) = $0.98
6oz Can, Tomato Paste - (Not Required, this is used as my drinking cup. You could find something else to fit in the 10.5oz can to use as a cup. You could easily reuse a smaller (I think they are 6oz) soda can. Plastic could work too this is purely used as a cup not for cooking. Tomato paste on amazon can only be found in a 12 pack, this would be cheaper anywhere else and probably sold individually. The contents are not as important as the can size, this is much easier to do at a grocery store, I am going off of can ounces hopefully its the same size as I used. This was useful however to elevate the tealights closer to the stove top.) = $10.08
Hand Sized Rock Roughly 2" or 3" - (Seriously don't buy this on Amazon unless you really want a bunch of rocks, the cheapest I could find is a 20 piece set of rocks. Just look outside and go for a walk you will probably find something. Doesn't have to be a rock, just anything solid you could use as a hammer. Heck you could probably just hit the nail against the sidewalk and accomplish the same thing. The rock is used as a hammer, it may be cheaper to just buy a hammer. You could probably get by just using more force on the Can Tapper as I found out later in the project. You could also use an old brick, chunk of wood, old shoe, bigger stick, anything solid enough to apply downward force on a nail. The cans don't take much force to puncture.) = $13.99
Nails - (Well you can get 30 nails for really cheap, but you can also find nails on the ground near construction sites, in old fences, in free wood pallets, etc. Turns out a nail maybe optional to this build if you just put more force with the can tapper I learned later in the project.) = $1.19
*Stick or Wooden Dowel - (Seriously don't buy this on Amazon either, trees give these out for free all the time. Walk around outside and you are bound to find something on the ground. If a wood stick cannot be had you could use a wooden dowel. I couldn't find a stick on Amazon so a 5 pack of wooden dowels is linked instead. Believe it or not the single most used item for this build was a stick and its useful afterwards.) = $4.97
Alternative Fuel - Tealight Candles - (Alternative cooking option if you cannot find anything else flammable or need something that doesn't smoke. This is a 45 pack, its cheaper per candle if you buy 200. These are also a few bucks for 50 at Walmart which is a better deal. They cook slower, I did use this later on in the project.) = $14.49
Alternative Fuel - Camping Fuel Tablets - (These things tend to stink but they do work well, I have cooked with them historically. Comes in a 24 pack.) = $6.99
Alternative Fuel - Survival Candles 115 Hour Burn Time - (These cost a bit more up front but if the burn time is as advertised it would be quite cheap overall for the amount of potential cooking time. It would come out to something close to $0.06 cents per hour. Comes in a 3 pack.) = $21.99
Alternative Fuel - Cooking Fuel Diethylene - (Advertised as 6 hours and a 6 pack.) = $16.99
Anyway you probably get the idea, you could cook with all sorts of different types of fuel, some of which should work indoors.
Total cost of what I consider must haves for this project (Items starting with *) = $10.09 from Amazon. Might be closer to $5 locally.

You can likely find most of these items for super cheap at your local dollar store. If you have a Dollar Tree nearby you should be able to find most of these items for $1 each, food however often costs more there then at grocery stores. Some of these type of items can be found at Walmart or any Grocery Store individually for much cheaper too, like spices. Problem buying them on Amazon is after a certain point its cheaper to just buy a camping mess kit and wood stove, but where is the fun in that. Also if you don't have salt and pepper you could grab a bunch of salt and pepper packs for free at most fast food restaurants or the deli section of most grocery stores. Which I would have done if I had thought of it sooner.

Step 1: Prepare the Stick

Why step one you may be wondering, well that's simple this will be the most used item on this build and after it. First we debark the very end of it, then we sand it off on some concrete so it doesn't have any jagged edges to cause damage to us or the cloth later. Also I will say it now as it will happen throughout the rest of the project, ignore the reddish/pink hue that will show up on some of the pictures I got a camera lighting setting wrong apparently.

Step 2: Remove Pull Top Ring & Deal With Sharp Edges

First remove any ring left behind by the pull top lids using the survival can opener. Then if any of the cans have very sharp edges on top lets deal with them before they deal with you, using none other then the stick! Maybe you will have more luck with the rock but for me the stick worked much better. I got lucky and only one can needed it, the 10.5oz can. One of the photos shows on the stick what the sharp can edge would do to your finger if we skipped this step.

Step 3: Forming the Stovetop

Now using the Bottle Opener / Can Tapper, which will now only be referred to as the Can Tapper, we are going to punch 5 holes in the top for fire and smoke to escape around the cooking pot cans. You could probably put 6 holes as well, I didn't want to put too many holes and have the stove top too weak to hold a can later but 6 would have been fine. These are done in the bottom of the can which will become the top of the stove.

Step 4: Forming the Air Intake Holes

Now we will form the air intake holes on the top of the can, which will become the bottom of the stove. I went with 7 of similar enough distance apart. Be careful around the seam of the can not to punch a hole too close or it may split the can. We roll the triangle point around the lip of the can and push it flat so it doesn't stick up catch on things, prevent the cooking pot from fitting, or cut us.

Step 5: Punch Holes for the Fuel Intake Hole

Now using the nail and the rock punch holes for the fuel intake hole. This is required for using wood to be able to feed the fire. If you are going to exclusively use alternative fuels like tealights you can probably skip this part of the project. It doesn't take too much force to do and a few smaller strikes with the rock is better then one hard strike from my experience. It will reduce how likely the can will bulge or get crushed that way I first made the 4 corner holes then one hole in between, you should do 2 holes in between at least on the top so it would be easier. We cut between the holes in the next step. I didn't put a hole in between on the bottom part so I could roll the metal inside.

Step 6: Cut the Fuel Intake Opening

Now using the can tapper place it in the hole and rock it left and right while applying downward force to cut out the holes. However do not do it the way I did or you will end up with Step 7 which is a pain. Go up the two sides first then cut the top. I stupidly did it one side then the top and lastly the other side and it added more steps to try and fix. I didn't try it at this step but you can likely just use the can tapper and not need the nail at all.

Step 7: Fixing the Fuel Intake Opening

Due to not doing the two sides first and then the top we now arrive at the mistake, so step 7 is attempting to fix it. Avoid this step it is frustrating and the potential to cut yourself on sharp metal increases drastically. So first I tried folding the metal in and out hoping it would break up to the cut line. This didn't work so at this point I used just the can tapper, no pilot hole with the nail and was able to cut it up to the now accidentally extended top. Plus side I got a bigger fuel intake hole, downside it was a pain to fix without tools. This would have been easy to fix with wire cutters or do this whole part with tin snips but this is a no tool build.

Step 8: Curving the Sharp Edges of the Fuel Entry

With the mistake resolved its now time to curve the metal and get rid of most these sharp edges. Even after I wouldn't go sticking my hand around inside the stove, after all we curved all the sharp parts inside so the outside would be less dangerous and not cut the cloth. The most used item now makes a comeback, the good ol' stick.

Step 9: Curve Sharp Edges Around Air Intake Holes

Now curve the edges around the air intake holes with the stick again. This part goes pretty quick.

Step 10: Curve Sharp Edges Around Stovetop Holes

And last curve the edges around the stovetop holes with the stick.

Step 11: Flatten the Tabs on the Stovetop on the Inside

With all the edges curved its time to do a test fit with the second can which is the cooking pan. It doesn't fit due to the tabs on the inside of the can of the stovetop sticking up. The stick once again makes short work of these.

Step 12: Preparing the Hobo Bundle

With the hobo stove done its time to finish preparing the hobo bundle cooking supplies. Now is the time to gather all the supplies together for your hobo cooking system. If you forget somethings its easy to add them later. At this point we have 4 cans for various uses: 1 is your finished stove, 2 cooking pots of different sizes, and 1 cup. Gather also a spoon, salt and pepper, your can tapper, a survival can opener, the nail, a razor blade or knife, a lighter, and a water bottle. We will add a few more items by the end!

Step 13: Create a Pouch for the Razor Blade and Nail

Just throwing a razor blade in the hobo bundle and a nail is going to just puncture right through, so lets create a simple holder for them out of some junk cardboard box. I did this without using any new tape using just the remaining tape from an old amazon box, which works, but poorly compared to new tape. This is gummed packing tape which requires water to activate the adhesive. A box with normal clear packing tape would have been ideal but this is all I found. You could also easily make the razor blade and nail safer with just a few strips of duct tape the blade on the end of the nail. However the goal was to be resourceful with what I could find and cardboard is easy to find. You can slide both inside the gaps of the various cans but then it could fall out and cut through the cloth or your skin. This is one of the first things I would upgrade, even if it was just getting better tape.

Step 14: Finish Preparing the Hobo Cooking Bundle

With the razor blade and nail now taken care of lets gather the supplies and compact them to get ready for tying in the bundle. If you store anything metal inside any of the cans be sure to wrap it in scrap cloth, a paper towel, or put cardboard first so it doesn't scrape off the lining of the can I found this out later.

Step 15: Bundling the Hobo Cooking Set in Cloth & Tying

Now with your bundle place it on top of an old handkerchief, bandanna, or scrap cloth. An old shirt would be perfect, that will be a future upgrade for mine. I will cut probably just the back off an old T-Shirt to tie off as the bundle so it can fit more and be tied off better. Place each item one at a time as close together at the center as you can. Then fold up two sides on the right, and the two sides on the left and twist them through each other then one more time into a knot. Slide the stick through the openings and under the knot and you are good to go.

Step 16: Find a Location to Cook

Traveled a bit and found a good clear spot on some concrete. You will need some kind of flat surface that won't catch fire or be ruined by heat to use the stove.

Step 17: Unpack Hobo Cooking Bundle

With a good spot found we now unpack the hobo bundle and get ready to cook! Now is a good time to find some sticks as well for fuel or get another fuel source ready. I added an old tea light at this point as my alternative fuel. Its a good idea to have something like two tea lights kept inside so you can cook in case you cannot come by something better like sticks.

Step 18: Create Fire & Light the Stove

With everything unpacked its time to start a fire and light the stove. I had to add the tealight originally to be able to start the fire and take pictures at the same time with one hand. But it is a good cheap alternative fuel so it gets to stay.

Step 19: Pour Water in Cooking Pot Can 1 & Put on Stove

This probably did need its own step but here we are. Pour water into the Cooking Pot #1 (15oz can) and place on the stove. I would let the stove preheat for longer on the first burn to burn off the lining inside, this also will mean more smoke the first time. Use sticks that are not green on top of that and you will have way too much smoke making people think there is a fire. Pouring less water initially too should help it heat up in a bit less time. Cooking Pot #2 may of cooked better since it blocks the holes less as I found out later on.

Step 20: Alternate Cooking Fuel Using Tealights

So all the sticks I used were too green and wet which caused way too much smoke even after the can lining should have been gone. It looked like I was trying to send off smoke signals not cook. So I had to switch to my backup fuel of tealights as a cooking fuel instead for the remainder of this. Sticks would cook so much faster, it managed to raise the water to warm in the few minutes the can was on top of it and are much easier to come by. If smoke is a huge issue, which depending on where you do this it might be, tealights will work, eventually. It will take longer on a colder day which it happened to be around 50-60 degrees outside today. The water used was also pretty cold which didn't help. Advantage to tealights they can be used indoors which you will see later.

Step 21: Lid Ideas to Improve Cooking Time

This is why we saved the lids from the cans, the can one size up makes the perfect lid for the can one size down. If that doesn't work you can also just use cardboard, though it will be less reusable as it gets wet from steam and dirty with food. Though plus side it works as fire tinder and is easy to come by. I also added a photo of using it later when making food of putting a rock on top also keeps the lid on if its windy or to make the lid stay closer to the top of the can.

Step 22: A Really Long Time Later

After quite a long time, easily over an hour if not 2, you will have hot water. Wind and cold ambient temperatures didn't help with that, and I initially overfilled the cooking pot with water. Cooking with just tealights outside is very slow on a cold day. I think tealights would be a better for cooking indoors which I will try later. Be sure to do an initial burn inside the stove using wood before you ever attempt something indoors to try and burn off the lining inside the can we turned into a stove. Probably goes without saying but the stove and cooking pot will get hot so don't touch it directly until it cools off. You can see the steam in these pictures. See the next step on how to grab the pot without getting burned.

Step 23: How to Move the Hot Cooking Pan

If you were wondering about it earlier, the sock will now be explained. It makes an excellent hot pad holder to remove the hot cooking pan from the stove without getting burned. Hot water on a cold day is not bad, but tea would have been better.

Step 24: Putting Out the Stove

First move the hot stove off of the fuel source using none other then the small end of the stick! The stick is the most versatile item in the whole project and after it. Place it through one of the holes in the stove top and lift it up slowly to move it off the fuel.

Step 25: Bonus: Hobo Coffee in an Old Sock, Part 1

Hot water was good but lets make a cup of hobo coffee. This next part is very important, wash your sock before doing this, that is unless you want foot flavored coffee. Cut the old sock in two, ideally this sock won't have a hole like the first sock I used earlier. I had to grab another sock that didn't or the coffee grounds would leak out into the water. Ideally you should use a 100% cotton sock or some other natural fiber instead of plastic. Now roll the sock over the cooking pot top, in this case I used cooking pot #2 which is 10.5oz. Then pour in the coffee grounds.

Step 26: Bonus: Hobo Coffee Part 2, Pour Hot Water

This step is easy enough, carefully pour hot water from the stove into the sock full of coffee grounds. Pour slowly as this can is smaller then the pot the water was cooked in, also the sock will start to absorb water. The elastic part of the sock can be wrapped around the can so you have something to easily grab onto without burning yourself. Don't overfill the sock either and carefully, but quickly, unfold the sock from around the can and hold it above the pan. It starts leaking down the side of the can you don't do this, not that I would know (not pictured).

Step 27: Bonus: Hobo Coffee Part 3, Let Coffee Seep

Much like when you make tea let the coffee seep into the water. You can accelerate this by lifting it in and out of the pot a few times like I did, but it will make your coffee stronger. When you pull it entirely out of the water let it drain into the cooking pot and if you want give it a squeeze which will be hot but get most the remaining water out.

Step 28: Bonus: Hobo Coffee Part 4, Serve Up

Pour the coffee carefully into your cup and enjoy. I emphasize the carefully because while trying to take pictures and leaving the sock inside instead of removing it before pouring it made a good mess. So don't make that mistake or you lose out on delicious hobo sock coffee.

Step 29: Bonus: Hobo Coffee Part 5, Enjoy!

If you did better then me, which I hope you did you didn't have a camera in one hand (that is my excuse and I am sticking to it), then you also don't have a mess waiting for you to cleanup which will make the coffee all the more enjoyable. Enjoy your delicious hobo coffee brewed in an old sock!

Step 30: Bonus: Hobo Coffee Part 6, Cleanup

As soon as you are done cleanup the cans or the coffee make the cans can rust. It is as simple as rinsing them out with water afterwards. The sock you will have to flip inside out (which makes a big mess if done on your surface, I tried to do it for the pictures) and then shaken off outside over a garbage can or dirt and rinsed afterwards.

Step 31: Bonus 2: Cooking Chili, Indoors, Part 1

Hot water and coffee are all great, but a meal they do not make. So since the hobo cooking system is done, lets make a basic meal and what better to start with then a 15oz can of chili! This is as simple as it gets and I have a can of chili so lets do this. It is too cold outside today for me to attempt it being around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so I am going to cook it indoors using two tealights. It is about 60 degrees inside where I cooked, which is still better then outside today. It is colder then when I heated the water and made the coffee outside. You would need a better fuel source then tealights to do this when its that cold out or colder.

Step 32: Bonus 2: Cooking Chili Part 2, Increasing Temperature

To try and make it cook faster I also tried blocking the fuel intake, since its not needed for tealights and elevating the can of chili off the stove using the lids of the other pots. I noticed more heat on the outside of the chili can after doing this. The 15oz cooking pot and this 15oz can of chili blocks a large portion of the holes on the stove top when placed directly.

Step 33: Bonus 2: Cooking Chili Part 3, Stirring & Temperature Check

Every few minutes I would stir the chili up from the bottom and drop it on top so the whole can contents get shifted. I would check the temperature using one finger, its a quick and easy way to tell if its warm enough. It is canned food which is fully cooked already so I am just trying to get it to a good eating temperature by warming it up.

Step 34: Bonus 2: Cooking Chili Part 4, Put Out Stove & Enjoy!

Once it was warm enough it was time to grab it off the stove using the hot pad holder that is the elastic part of an old sock. I would have liked it a bit warmer personally but at this point its been over 40 minutes and I am hungry so time to eat! Tea lights do work but take a really long time as is, I would suggest you try and find a way to elevate them closer to the stove top which I am going to do next time. Personally I think it may be worth doing a different cooking fuel like those 115 hour emergency candles perhaps or a bigger candle in general, unless elevating them makes a huge improvement which I will try first.

Step 35: Bonus 2: Cooking Chili Part 5, Cleanup

When using cans you have to clean them up right away, you don't want to leave things to eat through the lining or cause it to rust. Water will work fine for this if its all you have. I also used an old paper towel but a rag would work or a sponge if you have one. Even better if you have a bit of soap which I did, this also works a lot easier with running water. But if not it just requires a few water changes inside the can.

Step 36: Elevating the Tealights

I was thinking about how to elevate the tealights closer to the top and came up with the perfect solution. You put the cup can 6oz upside down, take the largest lid and fold the tab (so it can clear the metal of the fuel entry we curved inside), place it on top of the cup can, place the 2 tealights and light them, then slide the stove carefully down over them (it will get hot the longer you hold it there so work quickly). Using just the pieces we already have you now can elevate the tealights to cook faster and nothing had to be added. This method I used to elevate the tealights is perfect because it doesn't require any additional supplies but it does put the flames a bit too close to the stove top causing a smaller flame on the tea lights, and airflow is not great this way but was enough they didn't go out unless you put to big a pot. This was resolvable by elevating the stove as you will see in the next step pictures. I did it using the can lids, can tapper, and survival can opener because it only had to be raised a tiny bit for a better flame. See the next step for my conclusion on if elevating the tealights made a difference.

Step 37: Bonus 3: Cooking Ramen & Jerky

With the tealights elevated lets try cooking again, this time its chicken flavored ramen and beef jerky. At first I was trying to cook with the 15oz cooking pot #1, but I switched maybe 10 minutes in to using the 10.5oz cooking pot #2. I did this because it doesn't cover up the stove top holes as much and that way I didn't have to put the other lids to elevate the cooking pot and could use them to elevate the stove slightly. I used the cardboard as the lid as it cooked since the rest were being used. Its not shown at the end as you get the point, but be sure to clean everything as soon as you are done eating.

So to answer the question did elevating the tealights help? I would say yes, between that and cooking in the smaller pot it only took about 30-40 minutes to get to a warm enough temperature to cook the noodles. Which was a higher temperature then the can of chili ended up being, that only ever got warm. Even elevated and using the smaller cooking pot #2 (10.5oz can) tealights are still going to take longer to cook with in general with a stove this size. A single tea light is only about 100 BTUs/hour and with 2 we only get 200 BTUs. A residential gas stove on low heat is around 400 BTUs so its like cooking everything on a low heat. So keep that in mind and start at least an hour sooner then you want to eat. I think if you are only going to cook exclusively with tealights a different stove design should be used. You could make them out of the cans that are similar width to the stove can that often have things like canned chicken (which is usually a bigger can then tuna cans) or tuna (the bigger cans, not the normal small tuna cans). Those cans are the same width as this 20oz stove can but maybe 1/3 the height. Anything in a can like that but wider would also work too, then all you need is air intakes and a few stove top holes and your done, no elevating the tealights would be required then. Downside it would only work with 1 fuel source unlike the current design.

Step 38: Completed Hobo Cooking System (so Far)

Here is the complete (so far, its easy to upgrade) hobo cooking system with 26 pieces in total.

The parts include:

Hobo Stove (20oz can)
Cooking Pot #1 (15oz can)
Cooking Pot #2 (10.5oz can)
Cup (6oz can)
Salt (in old spice container)
Pepper (in old spice container)
Bottle Opener / Can Tapper
Survival can opener
Lighter
Spoon
Utility Razor Blade
Nail
Razor blade & nail pouch
Reusable coffee filter out of old sock toe end
Elastic hot pad holder out of old sock elastic end
Cardboard sheet, fire tinder, flat surface
Tealight #1
Tealight #2
20oz can lid for 15oz can
15oz can lid for 10.5oz can
10.5oz can lid for 6oz can
6oz can lid for undecided
Water bottle
Stick
Rock
Handkerchief to carry the hobo bundle

Step 39: Re-bundling & on the Road Again

Re-bundle up your complete hobo cooking system and head back out on the road!

Step 40: Other Ideas & Upgrades

The wonderful part of this setup is you can repurpose anything you can think of to upgrade your cooking system later. If there is something you need to add, think of a clever way to make it yourself and add it. Find you don't use something? Remove it and replace it with something useful. You can also upgrade any part at any time for free by clever means. Having tools would also greatly increase your possibilities as well, not that this no tool challenge was not fun. It made me have to think about how to do a lot of it without the convenience of tools which was totally worth it. I would also like to experiment at some point with alternative fuels for this stove as well. I focused only on the cooking aspect but this could easily be expanded into everything else you need on a daily basis not just cooking. The mindset is creative uses of what is around you so why not try it and see what you come up with!

Here are some upgrade ideas:

Cutting up an old shirt to replace the small handkerchief with so you can fit more supplies in there and tie it in better.
Making a handle for the razor blade to become a knife, even better if it doubles as blade storage. Cutting a stick this should be easy enough, then flip it so the blade is out when cutting, and flip it back so the blade is inside when not. Tie it off with some old string or an old shoe lace and it would be good.
Making a cutting board out of the bark of a tree, or maybe some kind of plastic.
Making a better pouch to carry the razor blade and nail with out of an old plastic card would beat the cardboard.
Adding cordage of some kind be it: rope, string, an old shoe lace, old fishing line, or even scrap wire. Having something to tie with is always helpful.
I couldn't decide and like the old sock approach for now, but you could add two small holes with the nail to the top of the cooking pot cans to run cordage through instead of using an old sock as a hot pad holder. This would have the advantage of cooking right over a fire as well as the stove. This can be done at any time so no sense doing it before you need to, especially since we keep the nail with us and a rock.
Tea Light Platform. Having used them a few times it is too slow so I would suggest moving them up closer to the stove top. It would likely increase cooking temperatures drastically if I can find a half height can that fits inside the stove which can hold two tea lights closer to the stove top I will try this soon. Done see Step 36 & 37 for results!
Better Tealight Cooking. With the two tealights used on this small stove you only get about 200 BTUs/hr. A residential gas stove on low is around 400 BTUs/hr so it is cooking everything on a very low heat. A larger stove capable of holding maybe 10 tealights would cook at least 10 times better then a single tealight. I don't have one yet but if you can get the large cans like coffee used to come in or some food storage still does I bet that could hold enough tealights which would greatly increase the heat capability and be large enough to cook much bigger meals. Downside it would go through fuel that many times faster potentially. But if it could cook in 10 minutes compared to the current nearly an hour with 2 maybe it would be more efficient.
Alternative Fuel: Homemade Alcohol Lamp, I recently saw someone make one out of a small paint can with a sealing lid, a cheap roll of toilet paper the cheaper the better, and 91% rubbing alcohol that would be a perfect fuel alternative. They even used rocks to control the flame intensity. I bet it could be made out of small cans that would fit inside the stove, but to prevent the alcohol from evaporating you need a sealed lid which I haven't figured out how to do that with an old can just yet. I mean there is options like putting it in zipping plastic bag but I would prefer a more self contained option. But I may try it anyway at some point in a old tuna can I am betting.
Alternative Fuel: Soda Can Stove - Shared by rosieleithhead in the comments, looks like the simplest is made out of a single can where you cut the top and bottom off, remove the top of the can with a can opener, and puncture a lot of holes around the outer rim then fill it with an alcohol likely rubbing alcohol of 91% but 70% should work too. This looks promising and I will have to try it, I bet it can be made with just a razor blade or knife and the nail. Easily done with tools.
Alternative Fuel : Crayon Cardboard Candles - Shared byrebecca.besherse in the comments, "Cut a strip of cardboard straight on one side and wavy or jagged on the other, roll it tightly, and put it uneven-side-up in an empty tuna can or other small flat can. It's OK if it unrolls a little inside the can. Ideally you want gaps in the paper of less than 1/4 inch but as long as the strip stays inside the can when you turn it over you're good. Melt some wax (household paraffin, candle ends, crayons) and pour in over the cardboard strips to about 1/4 inch from top of the uneven tips. Best to make sure that the uneven tips get some wax on them but that they are not buried, as these are going to be your candle wicks."
Alternative Fuel: Crayon Cotton Wafers, Shared by coffeeguy123, Using cotton balls and a source of paraffin wax (candles, crayons, etc) you can melt the wax, dip half a cotton ball into it, then as it sets up flatten it out. This forms it into a wafer of sorts, all you have to do is bend it or rough it up to expose the cotton fibers and it will burn with a very healthy flame for around 5 minutes, more than enough to boil a cup of water or heat a can of soup.
A plastic grocery bag would provide a good waterproof cover for the hobo bundle too.
Maybe using stainless steel dog food dishes could provide pans for cooking as well instead of only pots. Though there would need to be some elevation off of the ridge of the stove or the fire couldn't vent properly.
Another Stove Design. I haven't tested it but I do wonder if instead of holes in the stove top directly you put holes at the top on the sides just like the air intake holes on the bottom of the stove but on top, would provide a better cooking experience. That would also let you cook right on the stove top, potentially, with things like eggs. Though maybe not on a 20oz stove, its kind of small.
A much better stove would be made out of a large can like coffee used to come in or some food storage still does, but I unfortunately do not have one of those, that could fit easily a 20oz can as a cooking pot instead of only a 15oz. It could also hold a lot more tealights to make them cook faster. I may have to try another stove if I can get my hands on one. It would be a bit less compact would be the drawback, but then it could fit this whole hobo cooking setup inside the can so with a bigger cloth it may be pretty compact still.
An old 1 gallon metal paint can that you burn out the old paint could also make a good large stove that is still portable as well, especially for wood cooking.
An old 5 gallon metal paint can with the paint burned out could easily make a space heating and cooking stove capable of warming a tent, or room easily.

Need somewhere to store your hobo cooking system outside? Check out my other instructable titled Hobo Storage Shed.