Solo Stove fire pits

[mcseal2]

Anyone used these?

I have a smaller campfire version that works well for camp cooking. Once a fire is going it keeps damp wood going much easier than an open campfire. I don’t have to split wood to get to the dry center as much. I can use it for boiling or simmering or put a skillet on it. For river camping when driftwood is in short supply its pretty handy. It isn’t nearly as fast as propane or butane but I don’t mind that when I’m sitting around waiting for a catfish to bite. If I have enough twigs and small branches I can keep it going easy to keep my hands warm on a cool night too. It doesn’t take a very big piece of wood is the biggest downside, it has a 7” opening at the top. With dry wood there is very little smoke due to the design. With wet wood there is smoke, but at least it burns.

I do a handful of trips each year that we have a lot of people on. Usually bird hunts with college friends. We end up spending a lot of time around a fire and there isn’t room to all be out of the smoke. I have been thinking of ways we can sit all the way around a fire without anyone having to be in the smoke. Also there is more fire risk with an open fire in an old tractor rim like we have been doing. I’m debating between buying a larger solo stove and building a chiminea out of a 55 gallon drum.

The biggest downside I have seen on reviews of the solo stove fire pits is that the heat all goes up, the sides are made to stay cool with the double wall design. I was curious if anyone was using one of these and your thoughts about usable heat from it? If I go this route I considered cutting out a door to put wood in 55 gallon drum I could set upside down over the top of the solo stove. As that drum warmed it would radiate heat.

My other idea is to put a 48” long 8” stove pipe on the top of a vertical 55 gallon drum. That would get most of the smoke up past our heads sitting in lawn chairs. I would cut a door in the drum for adding wood. I’d put some all thread through the barrel down lower for a Weber grill grate to sit on. My fire would be built on this grate. Below the grate I would have holes drilled for airflow. I would probably weld an angle iron frame to the barrel also so the bottom would sit a few inches off the ground and I could have air holes on the bottom if I wanted.

Either would allow for campfire cooking. The solo stove with a tripod over the fire and the drum by setting a pot or skillet on top of it. The solo stove would be more portable, but thats not a big deal for this project. It would mostly get used at home, just hauled a few times a year.

Anyone using anything like this for truck camping or at home? Maybe I am just making a simple fire way to complicated,

 

[Skerhunter]

Have you ever tried an old washing machine tub? Pretty much the same thing, without the solid outer wall and price tag. Need a piece of metal to cover the bottom hole, three pieces of iron to make legs, and a grill grate on top for cooking (or you could rig up a tripod). Pretty easy to modify one for whatever you need.

 

[Mt Al]

I don't have one of the big solo stoves, but a good friend who owns a lodge does. Spent several nights around it and you're spot on: the heat goes up (bummer) but there's way less smoke in everyone's eyes (not bummer). You still get the fire-y feel, can cook over it, it's "warm" but nothing like a regular fire pit. We still used it, but dressed warmer and no one did the standard "bum warming" stance facing away from the fire because it wouldn't really work.

In some perfect world there would be a shorter/hybrid solo stove, but I'm guessing that wouldn't work or they would be doing it already.

 

[tdhanses]

I have one and love it, once it is going, smoke is reduce by 90% compared to a standard open fire. While yes the heat does all go straight up it still puts out plenty of heat.

Also it is light, easy to transport and clean. I’ll take it camping as most fire rings have old burned trash in them and I really don’t want the kids breathing that in or roasting marshmallows over it.

I use it on my deck and zero heat is transferred to the deck. I just let it burn out on its own, then dump the ashes in the fire ring if camping or if using at home, into my old fire pit as I use this now only due to the reduction in smoke.

I don’t have the largest model but really don’t think I’d want that one. Also you can warm your bum with it if you stand next to it, it still puts out heat.

Also if kids are around make sure you stress how hot the sides of it get, it will burn anything that touches the sides but the bottom stays cool.

 

[mcseal2]

Thanks guys. Lots of ideas to think about. I guess one angle I hadn’t considered is the wife will be a lot happier with a pretty stainless ring than something I cobble up. I ate lunch with Dad and he said he wants to have something open sided so he can watch the fire when he is there. That means with my chiminea idea he would only have one spot to sit. Smores and hot dogs are way easier with an open top also.

I was glad to hear that the sides do get hot. I never really checked that on my little stove version. I like to be able to warm my feet as much as anything. If it gets warm enough on the side to do that while sitting by it that fills my needs. I’m thinking probably the Bonfire size would be handiest, not the biggest Yukon model. If I remember right that one fits insode a barrel too if I do cut one up to put over the solo and trap more heat.

 

[thesloppy1]

I have the bonfire and the fire coming out of the side jets is much more memorizing than a regular fire.

I'd say the smoke is reduced by at least 95% once it gets going. Not having to do musical chairs around the firepit all night, every time the wind changes is a game changer.

The pit is only two feet tall, if you can't turn around and warm your bum, you must be pretty short and shouldn't be playing with fire to begin with. Haha, Kidding.

The majority of the heat does go straight up but you still get plenty of heat off the sides. If you load up the firepit with a decent amount of wood, there is a pretty substantial flame coming out of it. You may have to stand a bit more than just sitting alongside of it if you actually get cold.

I like the bonfire size for my home but I may try to sell it to get the ranger size as it's more portable and takes up less room in my truck for camping. Then again, I may use the bonfire as my dedicated home firepit even though the majority of the fires I start are in the woods somewhere.

I also have the smallest solo stove and the campfire model. I'm addicted to twig stoves and got both of them for less than the price of the campfire alone.

 

[renagde]

Checkout Breeo firepits. They're pretty sweet if over the fire cooking is your thing.

 

[mcseal2]

Those Breeco pits do look pretty sweet. A lot heavier but the cooking attachments look nice. Now I have another brand to consider....

I already have the campfire model solo stove for small jobs. I think if I get one of those I will step up to the Bonfire model. The Ranger looks nice, I am just not sure I want to process wood that small for a bigger fire pit. It's bigger around and 5lbs heavier, but not so much bigger that I think it would deter me from hauling it when I want to use it.

 

[mcseal2]

I got done working a little early today so I did an experiment. I took my little Campfire model Solo stove to the shop and cut an old metal bucket I had to sit over it. I cut a "door" to put wood into the stove through the bucket about 10" wide and 6" or so tall. I also drilled some holes around the base for air intake, and some in the top for smoke to leave through. I then gathered some small branches and twigs from a hackberry tree that had fallen down near home, and some dead branches from a hedge (osage orange) tree. I got a handful of grass to start the fire with.

I got the stove burning pretty decent and then put the bucket over it. I need to add more holes, or a larger hole, for smoke to leave through until it gets burning good and hot. I then put 36oz of water in the 100oz pot I got with the stove. I put it on top of the bucket and sat there in a chair reading a book and feeding it twigs every so often.

The small stove can only put off so much heat. It was a lot warmer with the bucket over the top reflecting heat back toward me through the opening I cut to add twigs through. It couldn't keep me warm sitting behind a wind break with a temp of 37, wind chill of 31. Pretty damp air and I wasn't dressed to sit still. It never did boil the water in about an hour and 15 minutes of sitting there feeding it twigs. The heat from it helped and I wasn't uncomfortable, but I wasn't warm. I would need to be in an enclosed area the little stove could heat to make it effective.

I think my idea worked to some extent, there just isn't enough fire capacity in the little stove to put off much heat. The bucket did help though. I think a larger stove like the Bonfire model with a barrel over it modified the same way would be worth a shot. I figured before I buy a Bonfire and modify a barrel this was worth trying. I'll use it without the barrel most of the time, but if I want more heat and less of a view of the fire I have that option.

I think I'm going to try the Solo Bonfire instead of the Breeco. Those are pretty sweet looking but at 48lbs for a similar size on the heavy side to be handy. The Bonfire seems like it would do what I want.

 

[thesloppy1]

Are you anywhere near Durango, CO? I'll sell you mine and pick up the ranger model.

 

[mcseal2]

No I’m in Kansas. Thanks though.

 

[wendellhankins]

The way it works is that the vent holes on the bottom of the pit pull air in to continually fuel the fire at its base. Then, due to the double-wall structure, heated oxygen feeds through the top as well for an effective secondary burn. What you’ll be left with is an impressive long-lasting blaze that won’t require babysitting — just toss a log on every now and then and enjoy! It burns wood down to ash seamlessly, leaving you with minimal cleanup.

Tons of reviewers raved about how easy it was to use their Solo Stove Bonfire, whether they keep it in the backyard or bring camping. “This is a great fire pit. It’s easy to pick up and store it, easy to dump out the ashes, and easy to use. Way better than the old one we had which required sand in the bottom and two people to move around the yard. I can easily grab this with one hand and take it where I need,” one person wrote

 

[renagde]

The way it works is that the vent holes on the bottom of the pit pull air in to continually fuel the fire at its base. Then, due to the double-wall structure, heated oxygen feeds through the top as well for an effective secondary burn. What you’ll be left with is an impressive long-lasting blaze that won’t require babysitting — just toss a log on every now and then and enjoy! It burns wood down to ash seamlessly, leaving you with minimal cleanup.

Tons of reviewers raved about how easy it was to use their Solo Stove Bonfire, whether they keep it in the backyard or bring camping. “This is a great fire pit. It’s easy to pick up and store it, easy to dump out the ashes, and easy to use. Way better than the old one we had which required sand in the bottom and two people to move around the yard. I can easily grab this with one hand and take it where I need,” one person wrote

Except theoretically the double walls is worse for combustion. Fire needs oxygen to burn. Hot air contains less oxygen because the molecules expand when heated, thereby carrying less oxygen. Fire burns cleaner with cooler air than hot air. They burn just as well with a single wall.

 

[Centralcoastca]

In my experience washing machine tubs are hard to beat. Good heat outside, seems like the smoke is pretty low since it draws air through the little holes so it doesn’t smolder like a pit or ring, you can still see the fire and it’s easy enough to toss a grill on top. We usually just use a piece of expanded steel for a cheap grill. Best part of all is they’re not too hard to find for free, but sometimes you gotta pay a little for the stainless ones if someone knows what they have, but definitely not $200+ dollars.