A few years ago a very generous friend of mine gave me a Solo Stove as a gift. Its a steel woodburning stove designed for, I’d imagine, camping use. It’s basically a large steel can with a grate at the bottom and an arrangement of vent holes to allow efficient burning of twigs and sticks. The primary advantage being that you don’t need to carry fuel since you’re running around in an environment that is lousy with it….trees, bushes, deadfall, blowdown, etc.
But, I got busy with things and it just sat there on my filing cabinet collecting dust. Finally decided to try it the other day and dang if it didn’t create quite the little conflagration. The design gets plenty of air to the fire and as a result, once this thing gets a cheery little blaze going it burns hot and it burns fast. Most interestingly, it burns thorough….everything is reduced to powdery ash. It burns stuff quite completely.
I just grabbed a handful of twigs, snapped them down to about hand-width, tossed the loosely in this thing and lit it with a lifeboat match. Once it started buring I added progressively larger sticks until things were going along rather nicely.
The biggest drawback I found was bulk. This thing is bulky. I’ts pretty light for its size, but it takes up some space. For backpacking, I’d think twice about taking it along. However, for car camping, vehicle survival gear, or that sort of thing this would be about ideal. I suppose it’s bulk, rather than it’s weight, is the biggest drawback but if you can clear the square footage in your pack to take it with you I suspect it would be immensely handy on a backpacking trip… just a matter if youre willing to give up the necessary space in your pack.
Even if you’re not sitting a canteen cup full of water on top of this thing to boil, it creates a nice little ‘campfire’ where you want without leaving a blackened pile of half-burnt debris on the ground. Never underestimate the calming and spirit-lifting effect of having a small fire in front of you when you’re sitting in the dark at night in the middle of nowhere.
I think that with the advent of ridiculously light canister stoves these days this sort of product has a very limited appeal, but I suspect that small demographic happens to be the one we survivalist-types fall into.
Anyway, it took several (three, I think) years but I finally got around to playing with this thing. Considering it was a thoughtful gift from a friend i really should have used it sooner so I wouldn’t like like an ungrateful idiot. Ah well…they know me better than that.
Use the interior space to carry a suitable cooking vessel, cooking implements and your food seasonings. It all takes up space and you may as well take advantage of the interior space by the stove. If you are worried about ash grunge, baggie the contents.
It sounds like a nice stove. Can be used in parks and/or locations where open flames are ‘again’ the rules’. No loud ‘whoosing’ sounds like a preasurized stove, though not as convenient either.
Looks pretty cool, but at about $135 I think I’ll take a pass………
I own one and backpacked with it a few times. The ability to “graze” and collect dry small sticks as I go then use them was convenient. You hit the bulk on the head though. IT also might be just a bit TOO efficient. I found I needed to have a LARGE supply of wood to burn laid in ahead of using it because if I walked away to forage for more, it would burn itself out.
They make 3 or 4 bigger sizes as well which work similar but with progressively larger fuel. Their Yukon fire pit looks near perfect for a back patio fire ring. I have a couple friends who own them and they love them for that purpose. Less smoke, less half charred remains of the logs, more efficient, etc.
I have the Solo Stove Yukon, which is the biggest one they make. It’s really just for social patio fires. The best feature is that, once it gets going, it burns essentially smoke-free. The “forcing cone” and air holes at the top provide the environment for a second burn, and is what allows for the smokeless operation. The other nice feature is that it gets nice and hot, but the bottom remains cool (if you’re using the optional stand) so that you can use it on surfaces which would not support the heat of a traditional fire pit. It is also very efficient, as you pointed out, so it creates a very small amount of ash relative to the amount of wood it burns.
The main downside is that it burns A LOT of wood when it really gets going. It will go through 200-250 pounds or more of hardwood over the course of an evening. The other downside is that dumping the ash is a PITA. You need to carry the entire stove over to the area in which you want to dump the ashes, and then turn the thing upside-down and shake the ash out. It isn’t terribly heavy (maybe 50 lbs.), but it is too large around for one person alone to carry.
It’s a lot of fun for entertaining friends or family on a fall evening, but it’s usefulness as a survival tool is basically zero.
I’ve made several rocket stoves from a empty #10 can and a pair of the long baked beans cans. Easy to find good instructions. Just need a can opener and some CAREFUL work as tin can lids can cut you badly. A tin snip makes it even easier.
Cooked many a Boy Scout troops food over a couple of these using a couple of straw box heat retention cooker made from oddly enough, dry grass in a box. Just make sure there is no live sparks on the boiling pot (Be careful folks boiling food burns are BAD) when you move it from the heat to the retention cooker.
Yes you can spend money and get the same maybe better results. Thermos Brand makes great retention heat thermoses.
Stuff is nice IF you have the skillset to use them properly. I can just SEE some future house fires from folks using this Solo Stove or it’s kin INSIDE the house…
Skills and tools makes things happen when Amazon is no longer delivering and Wal-Mart is a smoldering ruin from “Mostly Peaceful Protestors.
“Hey, that guy’s stealing furniture to protest social whatever.” “Nah, he’s just cooking over a socialist gaia-loving stove that uses natural fuel free for the taking, er, sharing.”
Littlbug sells a similar cylindrical stove that quite cleverly solves the excessive storage volume issue by nesting together the curved sides.
Emberlit stoves are lightweight and pack flat. I have two- the little one’s larger dimensions when packed are the size of a deck of poker cards, only thinner. Experiential tip: sandpaper the razor-sharp edges before initial use or practice your suturing skills.
I realize I’m a little late on this one, but as someone posted above, you can fill the interior space with extras (I have a ferro rod and a some WetFire/Vaseline Cotton balls in mine) and the entire stove will fit inside a pot (w/ lid, also from Solo) making the bulk a little more worth it.
I also have the Emberlite mentioned above, with some extra rods over the top for smaller diameter cups… folds very flat and (to me) weighs the same as the Solo. Less bulk, more assembly.