Let’s be real, you can’t go camping without a campfire!
How many times have you gone to a campground and the fire pit is in the worst location ever? It is way behind your trailer, or dangerously too close to where you can’t even start a fire, or there isn’t even a camp ring? If you are like us and love to BLM camp, there usually isn’t even a fire pit on site. Well, that is when we decided it was time we make the purchase and get a Solo Stove! If you haven’t heard about this company, they create smokeless, yes you heard me, smokeless portable fire pits. We had been doing some research after hearing about this gadget a few times from our fellow journeyers trying to see if this really works and if it was worth it. We weren’t sure if it would end up as just an extra item to pack or if it would turn into something we never leave without. We bit the bullet and ordered one to try it out! Although the price stung a bit at first as it was a little pricey, we found the pros outweighed the price tag.
Check Price: Amazon
We decided to get the Solo Stove Ranger with the stand, which is the smaller option they offer. We wanted to get something more compact to limit the amount of space it took up in the car or trailer. When taking the trailer we are a bit more flexible when it comes to packing, but when we go RTT or ground camping we do need to be a little more space cautious. Once you factor in the stove and the bundles of firewood, trunk space can quickly fill up!
Let me just say, this product 100% holds up to its name. We have enjoyed so many countless smokeless fires! I love that we can put the solo stove wherever we want, and if we want to change the place a different night we can. The fact that it is seriously smokeless is a huge plus for me. The trailer no longer gets smoked out, and you don’t walk away feeling like you stink like a smoke for days! It produces a sufficient amount of heat, which was one of my concerns, but it gets pretty toasty around the fire. There is definitely more heat rising upwards rather than outwards due to the construction of the pit.
I have noticed with the design, that it does a great job of containing the embers from popping and flying towards you. Another huge benefit we noticed is that because the heat is so concentrated, it burns the wood so much better. We find that we save a lot of firewood when compared to using a standard ring. No more are you having to use a stick to push that one log that rolled out of the flames back in. It is a set it and forget kind of deal.
One of the cons that we noticed is that the Ranger is just a few inches too small for a normal size wood log. The way the Solo Stove is designed, you want to build and keep your wood below the ventilated holes on the top ring of the stove. However, sometimes standard wood you get from the store, or campgrounds, are just a few inches too big. To properly use the Solo Stove, to allow it to be smokeless, you have to keep that wood below. Solo Stove does sell their own wood, that is a better size, but it is quite expensive. Sometimes it is hit or miss, but we have found shorter bundles of birch wood available at our local stores and they are the perfect size!
One solution to this problem would be opting for the bigger size Solo Stove and you would be just fine. To fix this, I just make sure we get our wood and pre-chop, or bring with you the needed tools to chop down your wood so it fits better. It comes with a great sturdy carrying and storing bag. This for sure is a must for us when we go camping. I always make sure we pack ours and it is well worth the money. The more we use it, the more we feel like we have gotten our money's worth out of it.
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