This is the simplest design from inexpensive material with easy cargo handling and on-site setup. The focal length can be altered for shorter settings but a 1.5:1 ratio to diameter is the sweet spot.
This is the simplest design from inexpensive material with easy cargo handling and on-site setup. The focal length can be altered for shorter settings but a 1.5:1 ratio to diameter is the sweet spot.
Make it Mylar with a plastic backing, then it will survive the rain.
I bet that if you write the formula for this trick, you can get it published. One might start by the contra=-parabola shape, fold the plate around it as tightly as possible and meticulously measure what you’ve done.
hey Dan try this, I bought a survival sheet that is cover with aluminum on one side to the dollars store. I just tie the sheet and put a small rock in the middle of it, then I hang a bottle of water on the hot spot.
I want to underscore this idea. It seems to me a curved cut could be determined which would result in a nearly perfect parabola when the edges are brought together. I would expect two “S” shaped cuts converging at the center of the circle would result in a small amount of bending near the center and more curvature on the periphery. A way to test this idea would be to start with a parabola and try to cut it so that it lays flat.
Indeed, let us know what we all acan do… I would love to test some of these as well… I’m involved with low impact projects all over the world and something like this would revolutionise the cooking proccess… Don’t you have a design template you can print onto the card dan??? You made a parrabala with a circle of card before…
If the cut out of the plate has one side that’s not quite straight, you can get much closer to a parabola. You’re obviously onto something AWESOME here, and I send you my greatest respect.
Really, really cool.
Wow, great thinking! Eventually it could be a piece in the puzzle to get clean water to the poor people so they don’t get sick and infect the bankers and mega church evangelists  in their end-of-the-world over-the-top luxurious bunkers …
neat. I got 100s of these at my work
for me I was thinking of using plain aluminum foil
and some kind of flat surface because of the wind : /
the thing I thought which would be ideal for me would be plain cardboard
I appreciate your sensitivity toward the lacking respect for personal property in some parts of the world.
 -Thought I might suggest unprinted mylar balloons with one clear side -these may be avail. for purchase currently -the focal point may may need some work though.
It’s going to get soggy in monsoon season though
Imagine that” ‘you’re a Hoarder with a junk yard.
Good job Dan, who said one person could not change the world.
Maybe a use could be found for the pans. If you could find a way to cook with the pans, you could develop it as a personal cooking/messkit system. It may not be necessary to make a 40″ paraboloid…a smaller lid might suffice, and then you just include two–one converts to a cooker and one is just a lid. If the aluminum doesn’t fare well, maybe it could be put amidst stones or have a bit of mud rubbed on the outside. Or you just put two aluminum pans together so they are stronger.
Kickstarter!
Are these recycleable?
I’ve been looking for a cooker, like a hotplate with a cigarette lighter attachment so I can plug it into one of my battery chargers (it’s actually for jumping a dead car batter) then I can charge the battery with a solar panel.
Anyone know where I can get a hot-plate with a cigarette lighter power cord?
:'(
WHERE IS D.N.C. ?
Sweet trick. Love your channel, man!
Fantastic! We have a homemade parabolic cooker. Storing that thing when not in use is a royal pain. Can’t leave it out since it’s made of cardboard. Can’t collapse it either. Can’t wait to see your design for a full sized one. 
Just wondering if you could focus more on solar power. This is of great interest to me and I would love to see more of your ideas on the subject. Thanks guys!
I’m sure with successful demonstrations & approaching the right people this might really take off as a interim solution for the 3rd world. I’m hearing connected Youtubers squawk about losing all the vital water for our daily needs in Cali are thereby losing the energy generation too, I’m sure me or you guys have a few solutions that can shut them up. Problem is, we aren’t connected, nobody knows we know, we’re just talkin bs in their eyes. Oh Well
just support him,with or with out organization 😉
where there is a wish there is a way.