Gear Review: The Solo Stove biomass backpacking stove

The quest for a reliable, easy-to-use backpacking stove never ends, and I have the collection to prove it! But the Solo Stove is really impressive, and worth taking a look at.

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(Disclaimer: This review is my opinion. I was not reimbursed for doing this review, nor does Solo Stove at the time of this review, advertise on SurvivalCommonSense.com or any of its affiliates.)

by Leon Pantenburg

I'm caught in the baby-boomer backpacker quandary. On one hand, I like gear that works, and proven items are hard to leave behind. But my aging, abused knees make going light mandatory. I've had to replace effective, proven gear strictly on the basis of weight.

The Solo Stove biomass backpacker

But some things you can't lighten up and one of those is stove fuel. It is heavy and if you run out in the wilderness, your stove becomes dead weight.
Here's my stove philosophy: You don't need much. Probably 90 percent of the time, all a backpacker requires is boiling water to brew tea or coffee or rehydrate food.
So the idea of a lightweight backpacking stove, with no moving parts, that burns twigs, pine cones, sticks etc is very attractive. So, I contacted Solo Stove to do a test and review.
(Click to check out my Solo Stove review and video!)