I have a couple of portable camping stoves but did not have a stove in my bug out bag. There are several reasons for this: portable stoves are usually bulky, they weigh more than is practical to carry long distances, I typically don’t feel comfortable carrying a combustible substance in a bag that gets tossed around and dropped, and the cost for good back-packing stove can be costly. All of this meant that my bug out bag has a cooking pot, stainless steel water bottle, and fire starter kit so if I needed I could make a crude fire for cooking or boiling water…until now!

I was introduced to the Solo Stove when I was contacted by their representative to review in exchange for their product. I get several product review requests each month so I have developed a system to determine if I want to do the review. Only after a thorough web search of the product where I am convinced that the product will be of interest to my readers and if I am personally intrigued by the product will I agree. After doing some research, I was looking forward to reviewing the Solo Stove in the hopes that this hiking stove would overcome my objections for not have a stove in my bug out bag.

The Solo Stove Lite

The Solo Stove is a durable, compact cooking stove for backpackers. It is made from Stainless Steel & Nichrome Wire. This wood burning, on-the-go stove has an incredibly efficient design that uses small pieces of wood, leaves, and other biomass to fuel a hot fire (20,000 BTUs) quickly. When the top tier of the stove is turned upside-down it easily inserts into the bottom tier at a compact height of 3.8 inches, it weighs 9 ounces, and the stove fits nicely into the cooking pot (sold separately) which is a great space saver.

My Favorite Things About the Solo Stove



Needs very little tinder – As you can see from the picture above I use a very small amount of tender. I used half the amount I had gathered to fry an egg and the remaining tinder to melt snow into boiling water. Six minutes to over-cook the egg and six minutes to turn snow into boiling water.

Easiest fire I ever started – As I sure you may know it takes a little skill to start a fire, especially in the snow. I heat my home with a fireplace insert so I start fires on a regular basis and feel like I am pretty adept at it. Sometimes, you’ll have everything set up perfectly and yet the fire goes out within the first minute. With the Solo Stove I was outside in wet, freshly fallen snow and I was able to start a great fire in the Solo Stove with just one match. I even dropped the match on top of the carefully placed tinder. It started at once but then I was afraid it would go out, before I could turn around to get another match the fire was blazing.

Compact and Lightweight- height 3.8 inches, weighs 9 ounces. This is critical when creating your bug out bag. Space is limited and weight is critical, the last thing you want when setting out in an emergency is to have to start considering what you need to give up within the first few miles.

Carrying Case – dealing with wood stoves can get a little dirty so it’s helpful to have a handy case to keep the dirt and debris contained.

High BTUs – boils water and cooks food quickly and gets hotter the more fuel you add. The one con is that because it’s small there is limited space to add fuel. One would need to be vigilant when cooking and keep adding tinder to keep the flame burning hot.

Eco-friendly and Fuel is Almost Everywhere – it uses natural resources and burns tinder very efficiently. In the outback of Idaho tinder is readily available so I would never be in a situation where I did not have fuel for heat or cooking.

Price – the lowest price I’ve seen on a good quality hiking stove!

Warranty – lifetime guarantee











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