Solo Stove Review
This is a Solo Stove review submitted by a reader here on Modern Survival Blog. I too have one of these, and can attest to its unique attributes. It’s pretty amazing how fast you can boil water on the solo stove, simply with twigs for fuel… Okay, here’s the short solo stove review:
I came across a backpacking stove that burns twigs and sticks.
The stove is made and sold by Solo Stove. Here’s an example of their lite model.
Compact – Portable
(view on their amzn storefront)
I have several backpacking stoves. But they all need some kind of packed in fuel such as white gas, IsoButane, alcohol, etc.
I have run out of fuel many times, and ended up carrying a dead weight stove for miles, and trying to cook over a fire.
I liked the concept of the Solo Stove, so I ordered one. And today I tried it out.
Solo Stove Sticks & Twigs for Fuel
I gathered up a handful of small sticks and twigs. I split them up into pieces about 3″ long and set them next to the Solo Stove.
Then, I used a piece of folded paper towel and lit it with my firestarter. It took the spark on the first try and I scooped it into the fire chamber of the Solo Stove.
I immediately added a few small pieces of the twigs on top of the burning paper towel. They caught fire right away and all was well.
“After a minute or two, the inner air holes looked like jets of flame and I could tell that the stove was well-designed. I let the stoke build up a nice amount of coals (maybe 3 minutes?), then put the top ring in place. This is a good time to remind you to save a nice, small stick to use as a fire poker. The cut-out hole in the side is a fine size to add more twigs to keep things burning.”
lighting process from another Solo Stove review
“As for just this Solo Stove, I find being able to have a smokeless fire that doesn’t hurt the vegetation below it and efficiently burns from the smallest amount of organic materials (twigs, sticks, paper, leaves, etc) to be a huge selling point to the gasification design. I have had zero warping of the metal shell and it functions as good today over 150 uses later.”
said one Solos Stove reviewer
How long does it take to Boil Water on the Solo Stove?
So I placed a pot of cold tap water on top and started the timer.
After 3 minutes the water started to show the small bubbles that come before a boil.
Two minutes later (5 minutes, total) the bubbles were bigger and the water was hot enough for stuff like coffee, cocoa or tea.
Just before minute 6 rolled in, I had a rolling boil.
[ Read: How Long to Boil Drinking Water until Safe or Disinfected ]
How much Wood Fuel does the Solo Stove use?
The thing that amazed me most, was that even after maintaining the boil for a few more minutes (playing around) I still had half of my original wood fuel left!
The stove is very efficient, and very hot.
This thing is a fuel miser!!! Literally, the amount of twigs you could gather from just sitting on the ground would be enough to boil water in anything short of winter weather. I’d guess 10 minutes on the long side for icy stream water and 25 degree weather.
“The gasification process not only gets as much energy out of your twigs and such, but as an added bonus gives you a stealthy smokeless fire. The results after you use it, is the finest powdered ashes you have ever felt.”
from a Solo Stove review
Windscreen for Solo Stove
What about using a solo stove in the wind? I use a windscreen with all of my stoves and will as well with this one. For the few ounces it weighs it makes the stove far more efficient. They can be made from any kind of fold-able or roll-able sheet metal, or bought online.
Windscreen
(amzn)
The Solo Stove is made of Stainless Steel
Now for the construction. The stove has no seams. Very strong extruded stainless steel. It has two moving parts. The stove, and the pot holder-upper. And the pot holder-upper turns over and nests into the stove body when it is not in use.
The picture above shows the Lite model stove with a pot on top (Pot 900). You can get this is a combo package. The pot holds up to 30 ounces of water.
Stove with Pot combo
(amzn)
Lightweight
This stove is a must have for any backpacker who wants to save weight. It weights 9 ounces and is a “gear of the year” winner by Backpacker Magazine. It would also be great in your bug out gear, cars, and disaster stash.
Note: They do make different models of this stove. The Lite model is their smallest and lightest. Then there’s the Titan…
