These stoves preform a bit better with a top-down fire, it saves how often you need to feed it. BTW- most British video ever.... making 2 cups of tea in the woods. Love it!
I love both my Mk I SoloStove and my Trangias (I have multiple of them since I'm swedish). Got the titanium Nanobox too. It is the most packable of my options. Nice review! You shouldn't extinguish your Trangia with the lid since this will in many cases melt the rubber ring in the lid. You should put it out with the dampening lid instead. That case you can actually transport your Trangia with fuel in it without being afraid of it leaking.
Jon - great video! Thanks! It rare to find people who know how these stoves works and you do! You also had great twigs! Some other thoughts on the Solo: Like any fire, start with tinder and dead dry softwood twigs like pine. Once you get your stove started with soft woods, add dead, dry hardwood twigs and shavings such as oak, maple, etc. until the rocket stove is operating primarily on hard wood with occasional addition of softwood twigs. The bigger (finger size) hardwood sticks will burn hotter, less smoke, and make the gasifier / draft work much better and the fire will burn much longer without maintenance. Also, with dead, dry hardwood your boil time, once the gasifier is fully functioning, will be greatly reduced - 5 - 8 minutes. An added bonus is less tar on the outside of you pot. As you mentioned, these stoves burn from the top down - not bottom up. Thanks! David Presnell, Author "Survive Until The End Comes" and "Sudden Survival".
Well done again. I think your assessment is spot on. Gasification biofuel stove are, as you said, too figity for a quick break on the trail. The really do shine as a way to have and contain a small economical fire for cooking where you are staying put for a while and also want the “companionship” of a small wood fire. I have a cheap nock-off of the Solo and it works nicely to boil water and grill a single meal on a 4 inch cast iron skillet.
Lovely video, Sir! It was very nice to see you outside of the office. Very well filmed and edited. The location seems amazing, hope you had a great time traveling 🤓 PS I will never understand milk in tea
I can't drink tea without milk Eyal! Thanks for feedback, yes a bit of a tester this one to see what people think. This was a single camera set up and I forgot my remote mike so a bit trickier to edit - always learning though!
If you ask me, I would not use the screw cap of the Trangia to extinguish the flame. This is because the screw cap has a rubber o-ring on it, and that o-ring can melt if exposed to a hot surface. May I suggest that you use the simmer ring of the Trangia to put out the fire instead?
Very nice video done outside with your usual informative and entertaining review of a product we would all love to have. A great spot to stop for a tea. Love it. Well done!
One thing to note: While the pot is marketed as 900ml, it will actually hold slightly over 1100ml. So 900ml is the useable maximum .. I've since started to use the stove with a 1250ml 'Boundles Voyage' titanium pot. It is not only lighter, but it also has a bail handle.
Well worth mentioning that there’s an identical alternative on Ali Express for a tenner. As the Solo Stove is a Chinese made rip off of the Bush Buddy, the quality is the same.
FYI The Solo Stove has always had a license to use the Bush Buddy patent and work together with Bush Buddy. I hope you feel a little bit more informed now
Nice review! I prefer to bring both the Solostove Lite and a PocketRocket with a small gas tube. As you said, it's good to have both options if it's soaking wet or if you just want to boil water quick.
Another great video, Jon. I think you covered most of the pro's and con's well. I find that the Solo is fun to use. And it provides a sense of self-reliance since I gather the fuel and gets the flame going myself. No fuel bottle or canister to lug around. Mine has been quite efficient and a pleasure to use. I've never found a 'simmer' setting, but it suits my type of trail cooking fairly well. The primary downside for me is the relative bulkiness. However, for day hikes or short backpacking trips, my Solo has been fun and reliable. p.s.: I've used my Thermarest sit pad as a windscreen for my stove on windy days.
Totally agree Jack and thanks for the feedback. Brilliant idea to use the Thermarest as a windscreen - I was thinking about buying an aluminium screen and don't need to now with this in mind so thank you 🙏
A great review as always. Your knowledge of and around a product is astounding, going well above and beyond the specification. And I love the little bonus products you throw in! Have you heard of the BioLite stove package? I think the latest is the BioLite 2. Very interesting with a thermoelectric generator, fan and powerbank unit with a USB port for the included light or to charge your phone. I’m wondering if it’s a gimmick or genuinely a good product. It seems to be received well but of course, anything with a battery only has a few years of life in it as the battery degrades.
@@JonGadget very good point Jon. I just checked the specs and it says it creates 3W of power. Some rough, conservative calculation assuming 3 sessions of 20 minutes (breakfast, lunch, dinner) i.e. 1 hour per day: 3W * 1h (3 * 20 mins) = 3Wh 3Wh / 3.7V = 0.81Ah or 810mAh Not a lot but definitely useful. Of course you’re going to have losses both charging the internal battery and then a phone say 20% each. But then in reality you might be using it for perhaps 30 mins each time if you’re heating water and cooking food then that roughly cancels out so I think 800mAh per day is realistic and enough to keep a phone fully charged in airplane mode if you’re just using it for the occasional pictures etc. If you consider this could save you taking a large power bank then perhaps weight isn’t such an issue. The Solo Stove is of course a more elegant solution.
@@oliverpolden I agree with your maths - there will no doubt be some consumption of power when the fan is running but before the fire gets to sufficient heat to power this and deliver 3w - this might affect the numbers? It's an interesting survival solution but you are carrying about 500g of additional weight which I am guessing is a power bank of around 20,000 mAh - so you would need to be totally off-grid for quite a while before this was of true value I think.
Nice to see you outside. It's always nice to be in nature. This is a great option, you can use twigs and it can nest the trangia. I don't know how you can find such an interesting items, lot of thinking to create this product. You are justifying the name of the channel though 😁👍. Lately I am using camping propane stove with canisters, it does the job. Also when cold, heats up my tent before I go to sleep. Do you go tent camping? I'll be happy to see your Airstream. Take care my friend. Cheers.
Hi Storn 😃 I used to go tent camping - until we got the Airstream that is - I will do a walk around video when we are next out in it (in around 4 weeks or so).
The burning efficiency of gasify stove is so good that I have to keep feeding the twigs to maintain the fire. The opening of it is too small for larger pieces of woods. Solo stove makes some bigger versions of gasify stove, but they’re too heavy and too big for hiking or camping.
This is a little tounge in cheek, but it makes me chuckle that the tinder you use is a little more environmentally friendly, yet you use milk in a little plastic pouch 😂 wonderful video. I have a solo stove lite, gonna take it with me on a long hike n am doing my research to see if its good to pack along an alcohol burner with me and my already limited packboard space, just in case i cant pack/find enough dry fuel to burn
Great video. Have you tested other "gasification" stoves, or rather is the solostove still your favorite choice? Btw f you're looking for a ultra lightweight, compact and robust spirit burner stove, I can highly recommend the "xboil" from a small think tank in Germany.
I know that some people ‘complain’ that the solo stoves (Lite and Titan) only have 3 tabs for the pot to rest on, unlike say the Bushbuddy which has four. Isn’t a 3 legged stool more stable than a 4 legged chair?
Ah the English you had me until the tea bag. Drude, coffee not tea, we fought a war over tea. I believe the Americans complained during WW II, the British army stopping for a late afternoon tea break, religiously. I can't recall working on the same project something like building a bridge, one group on each end, meeting in the middle. The Brits finished up first.
How much protection from heat does the sheet of aluminum foil provide? Could you safely use the stove om a wooden surface like a table or a porch with the aluminum sheet under? Or will it still be too hot for that?
Hi Ty! Yes, well spotted a 'Root Beer' model. I sometimes forget to swap to my outdoor watch (Garmin Instinct) which can be a real issue if I am mountain biking - not a great experience for a mechanical watch!
You're right it is expensive - especially considering the Trangia was only £10 and would work with a much cheaper pot stand. However it is really well engineered and works very well - and compared to something like the Firebox Nano looks quite good value!
FYI The Solo Stove has always had a license to use the Bush Buddy patent and work together with Bush Buddy. I hope you feel a little bit more informed now
![Дон ДОН, Алаудинов и СБЕЖАВШИЕ из под Курска ахматовцы 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dEfCf5IK26Q/mqdefault.jpg)
These stoves preform a bit better with a top-down fire, it saves how often you need to feed it.
BTW- most British video ever.... making 2 cups of tea in the woods. Love it!
😊🫖
I love both my Mk I SoloStove and my Trangias (I have multiple of them since I'm swedish). Got the titanium Nanobox too. It is the most packable of my options. Nice review! You shouldn't extinguish your Trangia with the lid since this will in many cases melt the rubber ring in the lid. You should put it out with the dampening lid instead. That case you can actually transport your Trangia with fuel in it without being afraid of it leaking.
Ey up Harrison Ford is filming in Yorkshire!
🤣🤣🤣
I see a hat review 😀 is needed
@@sng2225 this one has travelling far and wide with me - it's a great hat 👍
“Asps! Very dangerous!! You go first!” 😁
Jon - great video! Thanks! It rare to find people who know how these stoves works and you do! You also had great twigs! Some other thoughts on the Solo: Like any fire, start with tinder and dead dry softwood twigs like pine. Once you get your stove started with soft woods, add dead, dry hardwood twigs and shavings such as oak, maple, etc. until the rocket stove is operating primarily on hard wood with occasional addition of softwood twigs. The bigger (finger size) hardwood sticks will burn hotter, less smoke, and make the gasifier / draft work much better and the fire will burn much longer without maintenance. Also, with dead, dry hardwood your boil time, once the gasifier is fully functioning, will be greatly reduced - 5 - 8 minutes. An added bonus is less tar on the outside of you pot. As you mentioned, these stoves burn from the top down - not bottom up. Thanks! David Presnell, Author "Survive Until The End Comes" and "Sudden Survival".
Fantastic feedback and information David and much appreciated 👍😊
I have lived in the city of York for several years. All of Yorkshire is beautiful. Greetings from Poland.
Hi Wojtek, I live close to York and agree 😁
Well done again. I think your assessment is spot on. Gasification biofuel stove are, as you said, too figity for a quick break on the trail. The really do shine as a way to have and contain a small economical fire for cooking where you are staying put for a while and also want the “companionship” of a small wood fire. I have a cheap nock-off of the Solo and it works nicely to boil water and grill a single meal on a 4 inch cast iron skillet.
Lovely video, Sir! It was very nice to see you outside of the office. Very well filmed and edited.
The location seems amazing, hope you had a great time traveling 🤓
PS I will never understand milk in tea
I can't drink tea without milk Eyal! Thanks for feedback, yes a bit of a tester this one to see what people think. This was a single camera set up and I forgot my remote mike so a bit trickier to edit - always learning though!
British tea bags taste so awful that you have to use milk and sugar to make the tea palatable. 😎
If you ask me, I would not use the screw cap of the Trangia to extinguish the flame. This is because the screw cap has a rubber o-ring on it, and that o-ring can melt if exposed to a hot surface. May I suggest that you use the simmer ring of the Trangia to put out the fire instead?
great suggestion 🙏
Thanks for showing in action 👍
Very nice video done outside with your usual informative and entertaining review of a product we would all love to have. A great spot to stop for a tea. Love it. Well done!
Thanks John 😃
Your soothing voice made for a very pleasant video. Plus, I'm a sucker for a good stove review. Thank you, sir.
Thank you 🙏
One thing to note: While the pot is marketed as 900ml, it will actually hold slightly over 1100ml. So 900ml is the useable maximum ..
I've since started to use the stove with a 1250ml 'Boundles Voyage' titanium pot. It is not only lighter, but it also has a bail handle.
Thanks for the feedback Alexander 👍 I'll check out that pot and thanks for sharing.
Well worth mentioning that there’s an identical alternative on Ali Express for a tenner. As the Solo Stove is a Chinese made rip off of the Bush Buddy, the quality is the same.
Only took 3 weeks to arrive as well, which isn’t too bad (I’m in the UK)
FYI The Solo Stove has always had a license to use the Bush Buddy patent and work together with Bush Buddy. I hope you feel a little bit more informed now
Have you got a link for this @scandalUK?
Loved the video! Yours is one of my favorite channels on YT - would love to see more reviews like this one as well!
Great review as ever, Jon. Fascinated to see you wearing what looked like a Rolex on the forest, compared with your usual Garmin Instinct😊!
Try what is called a top down fire for the gasifier stoves.
Also look at the Silver Fire stoves USA, very good kit.
Nice review! I prefer to bring both the Solostove Lite and a PocketRocket with a small gas tube. As you said, it's good to have both options if it's soaking wet or if you just want to boil water quick.
covering all bases - you can't really go wrong with the PocketRocket 👍
Nice presentation. Easy to follow and intelligent material. Well Done!
Another great video, Jon.
I think you covered most of the pro's and con's well. I find that the Solo is fun to use. And it provides a sense of self-reliance since I gather the fuel and gets the flame going myself. No fuel bottle or canister to lug around. Mine has been quite efficient and a pleasure to use. I've never found a 'simmer' setting, but it suits my type of trail cooking fairly well. The primary downside for me is the relative bulkiness. However, for day hikes or short backpacking trips, my Solo has been fun and reliable.
p.s.: I've used my Thermarest sit pad as a windscreen for my stove on windy days.
Totally agree Jack and thanks for the feedback. Brilliant idea to use the Thermarest as a windscreen - I was thinking about buying an aluminium screen and don't need to now with this in mind so thank you 🙏
@@JonGadget You might need some rocks, sticks, or tent pegs to keep it upright and a SAFE distance from the heat, but it does work well. 👍
@@jack_batterson yes I get that 😁 just holding it there will be useful
A great review as always. Your knowledge of and around a product is astounding, going well above and beyond the specification. And I love the little bonus products you throw in!
Have you heard of the BioLite stove package? I think the latest is the BioLite 2. Very interesting with a thermoelectric generator, fan and powerbank unit with a USB port for the included light or to charge your phone. I’m wondering if it’s a gimmick or genuinely a good product. It seems to be received well but of course, anything with a battery only has a few years of life in it as the battery degrades.
@@JonGadget very good point Jon. I just checked the specs and it says it creates 3W of power. Some rough, conservative calculation assuming 3 sessions of 20 minutes (breakfast, lunch, dinner) i.e. 1 hour per day:
3W * 1h (3 * 20 mins) = 3Wh
3Wh / 3.7V = 0.81Ah or 810mAh
Not a lot but definitely useful. Of course you’re going to have losses both charging the internal battery and then a phone say 20% each. But then in reality you might be using it for perhaps 30 mins each time if you’re heating water and cooking food then that roughly cancels out so I think 800mAh per day is realistic and enough to keep a phone fully charged in airplane mode if you’re just using it for the occasional pictures etc. If you consider this could save you taking a large power bank then perhaps weight isn’t such an issue.
The Solo Stove is of course a more elegant solution.
@@oliverpolden I agree with your maths - there will no doubt be some consumption of power when the fan is running but before the fire gets to sufficient heat to power this and deliver 3w - this might affect the numbers? It's an interesting survival solution but you are carrying about 500g of additional weight which I am guessing is a power bank of around 20,000 mAh - so you would need to be totally off-grid for quite a while before this was of true value I think.
Very similiar to the camp stove I have. I got use out of it during the big Texas storm this year when the power went out. I used wood pellets.
great to hear Quinn - great option for emergencies 👍
Nice to see you outside. It's always nice to be in nature. This is a great option, you can use twigs and it can nest the trangia. I don't know how you can find such an interesting items, lot of thinking to create this product. You are justifying the name of the channel though 😁👍. Lately I am using camping propane stove with canisters, it does the job. Also when cold, heats up my tent before I go to sleep. Do you go tent camping? I'll be happy to see your Airstream. Take care my friend. Cheers.
Hi Storn 😃 I used to go tent camping - until we got the Airstream that is - I will do a walk around video when we are next out in it (in around 4 weeks or so).
Very interesting! I would however have liked to see how you arranged the twigs inside the stove and how many you used to build the fire.
Thank you, Jon
The burning efficiency of gasify stove is so good that I have to keep feeding the twigs to maintain the fire. The opening of it is too small for larger pieces of woods. Solo stove makes some bigger versions of gasify stove, but they’re too heavy and too big for hiking or camping.
thanks for the feedback Leo
This is a little tounge in cheek, but it makes me chuckle that the tinder you use is a little more environmentally friendly, yet you use milk in a little plastic pouch 😂 wonderful video. I have a solo stove lite, gonna take it with me on a long hike n am doing my research to see if its good to pack along an alcohol burner with me and my already limited packboard space, just in case i cant pack/find enough dry fuel to burn
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching 👍
Great video. Have you tested other "gasification" stoves, or rather is the solostove still your favorite choice?
Btw f you're looking for a ultra lightweight, compact and robust spirit burner stove, I can highly recommend the "xboil" from a small think tank in Germany.
Awesome video.
Thank you for that video
Thanks for watching 👍
I know that some people ‘complain’ that the solo stoves (Lite and Titan) only have 3 tabs for the pot to rest on, unlike say the Bushbuddy which has four. Isn’t a 3 legged stool more stable than a 4 legged chair?
@@alanbierhoff6831 I would agree with you 👍 I certainly don't see it as an issue
Another great video John! Could you share what shoes are you wearing and are you rating them high? Trying to get new pair for myself!
Hi. I have had these a while, Columbia, trainer type (which I prefer to boots) waterproof external layer, they have been very good 😃
Ah the English you had me until the tea bag.
Drude, coffee not tea, we fought a war over tea.
I believe the Americans complained during WW II, the British army stopping for a late afternoon tea break, religiously.
I can't recall working on the same project something like building a bridge, one group on each end, meeting in the middle.
The Brits finished up first.
How much protection from heat does the sheet of aluminum foil provide? Could you safely use the stove om a wooden surface like a table or a porch with the aluminum sheet under? Or will it still be too hot for that?
Perfect! Is that a Rolex GMT Master II on your wrist?
Hi Ty! Yes, well spotted a 'Root Beer' model. I sometimes forget to swap to my outdoor watch (Garmin Instinct) which can be a real issue if I am mountain biking - not a great experience for a mechanical watch!
Don’t use the screw cap to extinguish the trangia, you’ll quickly destroy the o-ring
Yes, I picked the wrong cap! well spotted 😊
You had me right up until I looked at hte price. Good lord that's expensive. I'll stick with my Trangia system for half the cost.
You're right it is expensive - especially considering the Trangia was only £10 and would work with a much cheaper pot stand. However it is really well engineered and works very well - and compared to something like the Firebox Nano looks quite good value!
I put my trangia inside my solo stove as a wind screen
Well engineered? Yes, but not by Solo Stove. This was invented by Fritz Handl of British Columbia Canada as the Bush Buddy, then copied by Solo Stove.
FYI The Solo Stove has always had a license to use the Bush Buddy patent and work together with Bush Buddy. I hope you feel a little bit more informed now
Can you burn charcoal in the solo stove lite?
👍👍👍👌
Thank you 🙏
I really don't recommend placing this on a wooden bench when it's burning. It will scorch it.
I was surprised at how cool the base remained but agree it would probably not be a good idea.
What fuel did you use in the Trangia?
methylated spirit 😃
Solo appears to blacken the pot. This can be solved by soaping the pot, but then you’re carrying liquid soap b
thanks for the feedback 👍
You don't actually need the trangia stove inside. Just pour the alcohol in there.
🇵🇬