Double, Double Toil and Trouble…

Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble…

What may be the most memorable line from Shakespeare’s Macbeth popped into my head as I was boiling a little water with my new Solo Stove.

Wait…new Solo Stove?

Yep…got a new toy to play with for Christmas! Apparently I was a good boy this year…that or I really have someone snowed…not sure which.

First things first, let’s establish what this entry is and what it isn’t. What it is: it’s simply my first impressions of the stove. What it isn’t: a thorough product review. Let’s face it, trying to do an actual review of a product based on one use, and not even a use in ‘real-world’ conditions, would be foolish. Want a real review? Let me play with it for a year, maybe two. Let me boil some more water and actually cook a few meals in the woods and then maybe I’ll get interested on putting together a real review. But for now, let’s stick with first impressions…

So…what is this Solo Stove that I speak of? A Solo Stove Lite…

According to the Solo Stove website, a Solo Stove is a “wood burning stove that incorporates a secondary combustion for a more complete, efficient and cleaner burn.” One could simply say that it’s a hobo stove on steroids but that would be a major understatement. Without going into a lot of detail about how it’s made and how it works, calling it a double-walled, stainless steel, wood burning, gasifier stove would be a bit more accurate, if not a mouthful.

Are there other similar wood burning stoves? Sure, the Toaks Titanium Wood Burning Stove and the Bushbuddy come to mind quickly and a Google for ‘wood gasifier stove’ search tells me that there are others that can be purchased. Don’t want to buy one? Well, there are also quite a few how-to’s out there that one can use to make their own.

Back to first impressions…

The weather is beautiful here in Georgia this weekend and I decided that it was time to give the Solo Stove a try. I spent a few minutes picking up small sticks and twigs in the woods back behind the house and breaking them into short pieces…

Just in case someone might think I’m foolish to fire up a wood burning stove on a unprotected wood deck rail, I’m going to bust your bubble…I didn’t. Thus the paver stone…

Loading the stove up with wood is a little counterintuitive. Usually when building a fire one starts with their tinder then adds wood over the tinder progressing to larger and larger pieces. According to the literature that came with the stove, loading the stove is just the opposite, larger pieces on the bottom then smaller pieces and tinder on the top…

Counterintuitive or not, it worked…

Once the fire was going good, I placed a cook pot (a 10cm IMUSA mug) filled with water on top of the stove and began feeding it more wood to see how long it would take to get to a rolling boil…

Eight(ish) minutes later, water, boiling hot…

Initially I was thinking of adding a list of Pros and Cons at this point, but as I began to think through the possibilities it occurred to me most of the Pros have downsides and most of the Cons have upsides so maybe a few general thoughts might be better.

Cost: It ain’t cheap. The Solo Stove Lite retails for $99. As of the date of writing this entry, it listed on the Solo Stove website and on Amazon for $69. Considering a MSR Pocket Rocket retails for about $40 and a Jet Boil (stove only) retails for $50, $69 isn’t bad.  Also consider that one will not have to buy fuel for this stove so the overall cost essentially diminishes over time.

Ease of use: It’s not a ‘set it and forget it’ item like an alcohol stove or a canister stove. It takes some tending. But, if you can make a fire and don’t mind tending it for a few minutes as your water boils or your food otherwise cooks (or if you’re just a pyro like me) you’ll be in good shape.

Cook time: It ain’t fast. Your Pocket Rocket, JetBoil or favorite knock-off will boil a couple of cups of water in around two minutes and most alcohol stoves can do the job in about six. About twelve minutes elapsed from the time I lit the tinder to the time I had water boiling. If you like to hike from dawn to dusk and just want to cook a quick meal before turning in, you might want to consider other options. If you’re like me and aren’t concerned about putting in a lot of miles and enjoy having some time to chillax at the end of the day then a wood stove might be a good option.

Space/Bulk: Own its own, it’s bulky and will take up some space in your pack but if it can be nested in a cook pot it doesn’t take up any extra space. Solo Stove offers a 900ml cup/cook pot that the Solo Stove Lite will nest in (they also make pots that the next two larger size stoves will nest in). I don’t think I’d be too off the mark if I said that there probably are other pots available that it would nest in as well.

Weight: At 9 ounces it’s not exactly light.  Consider that a canister stove and fuel canister stove will weigh a little over 7 ounces with a full fuel canister.  Also consider that you’re not carrying fuel.  Not a lot of difference really.

Clean-up: Simple. Let it cool down, dump out the ashes and put it back in its stuff sack. Yes, it’s going to leave some soot on your cook pot but because combustion is more complete in a gasifying stove, it won’t be nearly as bad as cooking over an open fire or a non-gasifying wood stove. Regardless, put the stove and cookpot in a stuff sack and it’s not that much of a problem anymore.

Personally, I think I’m going to get along with the Solo Stove quite well and will be picking up the 900 ml cook pot to go with it in the near future.  And, OK, I’ll admit it…I just like playing with fire.

As always, these are my thoughts. Your mileage may vary…

Want more First Impressions?  Check out my other First Impressions entries for these products:

Hammock Gear ‘The Journey’ Winter Tarp

Tensa Outdoors’ Tensa4 Hammock Stand

Dutchware Chameleon Hammock

Dutchware Chameleon Accessories and

Hammock Gear Incubator 20-degree Underquilt