Solo Stove LiTE Review
Solo Stove is known for its large smokeless fire pits, but they’ve also created a backpacking stove that won’t weigh you down or break the bank at around $60 USD. The Solo Stove Lite is BrilliantCamping’s favorite wood-burning option for best backpacking stoves and for good reason. Cooking over an open fire in the woods is a magical experience, and the Solo Stove Lite’s 360-degree Airflow Design burns fuel more efficiently, creating a hotter and less smoky fire. In this post, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of the Solo Stove Lite and share our experiences using it on hiking trips.
The Solo Stove Lite is a compact and lightweight stove making it easy to store in your backpack or gear bag. The stove is designed to use small twigs, leaves, and other natural materials as fuel, making it an environmentally friendly and cost-effective option for camping and backpacking trips.
Solo Stove Lite Features & Specs
- MSRP around $95 USD
- Environmentally friendly
- Easy to store in your backpack or gear bag
- Includes a storage sack
- Weight includes only the stove
- Many accessories available
4.25 inches (10.8 cm)
5.7 inches (14.5 cm)
9 oz (255 grams)
Depends on fuel you use or find
Depends on fuel use use or find
small twigs, leaves, and other natural materials
How To Use The Lite
Using the Solo Stove Lite is straightforward and simple. First, gather small, dry twigs or other combustible materials to use as fuel. Remove the stand that nests on the stove. Then, add tinder or sticks to the stove. Solo Stove recommends using hardwoods such as birch or maple for optimal efficiency and smokeless fire.
Once you have your fuel, use a match or lighter to light the wood, and in a short time, you’ll have a nice little fire going. The stand sits in the stove, and then the pot sits easily on top and holds up to 30 ounces of water.
After you have finished cooking, leave the stove to cool down completely before handling it. Once it has cooled, you can simply tip the ashes out and pack it away. With its simple and efficient design, the Solo Stove Lite is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a reliable outdoor stove for camping, hiking, or other outdoor activities.
How Has The Lite Held Up?
The Solo Stove Lite is a tough and reliable stove that can handle the rough conditions of outdoor adventures. Numerous users have reported using their Solo Stove Lite for many years without any issues, which speaks to its durable construction and robust design. I can attest to its resilience myself since I have accidentally dropped it a couple of times on rocks and gravel, yet it remained undamaged. Plus, the stove’s straightforward design makes it a breeze to clean and maintain, so you can keep it in tip-top shape for all your future camping trips.
What Are The Pros Of Solo Stove Lite?
One of the major advantages of this stove is that it allows you to cook using only wood, which means you don’t have to carry fuel canisters or tabs with you on your travels. This makes it perfect for international travel when you’re not sure if you can find gas canisters where you’re going. The stove is also great for leave no trace travel since it doesn’t damage the ground it’s sitting on. In fact, it follows leave-no-trace principles by containing a fire and condensing the heat output entirely towards the contents of the cookware.
The Solo Stove Lite is also durable and shouldn’t give you any problems for years of regular use. It’s designed to be big enough to cook for 1-2 people, but you can easily cook for 3 or 4 if you keep the flames well-fed and the heat constant. It also doubles as a mini campfire when you’re done cooking, so you can enjoy the ambiance and warmth of a fire without leaving any damage to the environment.
Using the stove is relatively fast, and cleanup is easy. Simply clean the pot, extinguish the fire, empty the ash, reassemble the stove in the pot, and you’re good to go. The stove also performs well in windy conditions, barely affected by the wind at all. And because it never gets super hot like gas stoves, it’s difficult to burn food, which means easy cleaning with nothing stuck to the bottoms of your pans.
Overall, the Solo Stove Lite is an excellent option for backpackers who want to cook using only wood, without sacrificing convenience or reliability. It’s also a great way to slow down and enjoy the process of camp cooking while enjoying the ambiance of a real fire.
What Are The Cons Of The Solo Stove Lite?
One major drawback of the Solo Stove Lite is the potential absence of fuel in the wild. It can be challenging to find suitable fuel sources in certain environments, such as areas with high rates of rain, above tree lines, or desert-like areas. Another downside to consider is that with the increasing number of wildfires, fire restrictions may limit the use of this type of stove. It’s essential to check with local agencies before setting out to ensure that an open fire is allowed. In wet or windy conditions, it can also be challenging to get the stove started, making it necessary to use a windscreen or alcohol burner.
When cooking with the Solo Stove Lite, it’s crucial to tend the fire continuously. The system burns through sticks and twigs rather quickly, requiring you to continually feed the fire to ensure it continues burning. While rainy weather can pose a problem, it’s usually possible to find dry twigs and sticks in the undergrowth. However, this can slow down the cooking process, taking over 10 minutes to boil half a liter of water, which is not as fast as most canister stoves.
Additionally, the stove’s small size may make it difficult to cook larger meals or boil large amounts of water. Finally, the Solo Stove Lite is a little heavier and bulkier than some ultralight cooking systems. It also takes some skill to get fires started, especially in wet conditions and can leave some black soot on your pots.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a reliable and efficient stove for your next camping or backpacking trip, the Solo Stove Lite is an excellent choice. Although it may have some minor issues, they are easily outweighed by the many benefits of this fantastic stove. With its compact and lightweight design, the Solo Stove Lite is a must-have for any backpacking trip. You can cook your meals over an open fire, feeling the snap, crackle, and pop of a wood-burning fire. So, why not unleash your inner adventurer and add the Solo Stove Lite to your gear list today?
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