Solo fire pit

[Welder99]

Hello,
Anyone on this site have a Solo Fire pit? Looking into getting one. What size did you buy. Pro’s and Con’s …Thanks in advance. P.S did u buy any accessories, if so what did you get.

[ktmrfs]

Belgique wrote:
A neighbor had one and said he wouldn't do it again because you can't see the fire like with a regular one. Just his opinion...I agree with him after seeing his.

A BIG advantage of a washing machine drum is with all the small holes in the sides and single wall construction you see the fire AND get lots of heat along with minimal or no smoke. And much lower cost than the solo.

Smoke bothers DW eyes and with the washing machine drum that problem is completely solved.

Downside is that washing machine drums are reasonably large, hard to find one like the small Solo units.

[JimBollman]

Already posted my support for the Solo but with some of the comments I wanted to address some of the concerns.

I can see where the Solo is not ideal for a larger group because you would be sitting further away and the sides would block the view. In our case 2-4 people is our normal group size sitting around so we sit closer and are looking down into the fire instead of across to the fire. The one time we used it for a much larger group because everyones wood was wet accept my little chunks of wood sealed in a plastic bucket. We just feed more wood in to keep the flames higher.

Since I cut up scraps from wood projects it is all kiln dried so no bugs, not a problem transporting it to areas that have restrictions. If you don't do enough wood projects to feed the stove I'm sure if you ask around someone will give you all the scraps you can use. Just don't use pressure treated, plywood or particleboard scrapes, bad fumes.

Someone mentioned easy cleanup, depending on how long we burn the Solo but our normal fire generates about a 1/2 cup of dust when I clean it out in the morning. Easy to dump most anywhere and then wipe out with a piece of paper towel.

I don't sell Solo stoves, just a happy owner. There are plans online for making your own smokeless stove if your handy.

[dieseltruckdriv]

My wifes asthma won't let her sit around a fire in a regular fire pit anymore, so we bought one of the Solos also. What little smoke they do give off isn't enough to make her cough at night. It sure isn't enough to bother adjoining campsites.

That being said, we have only been able to use it once and that was at a state park campground because of fire bans where we usually go. It is nice to be around a wood fire again, the propane fire pit just doesn't give off the heat. Before you call a propane fire pit a "fake", stick your hand in it. That fire is REAL! LOL!

[Belgique]

A neighbor had one and said he wouldn't do it again because you can't see the fire like with a regular one. Just his opinion...I agree with him after seeing his.

[pasusan]

A couple of days ago with our little Campfire model Solo Stove:

[dedmiston]

So far I don't think we've seen any posts from Solo Stove owners who didn't like theirs. That's about what I expected.

valhalla360 wrote:
I would look at the propane faux campfire pits as a better option.

I've camped in places that restricted real fires because of the mess and not for fire safety. We've used the propane pits and they're a nice way to create some light to see people's faces and a campfire effect, but they don't do much at all for warmth.

Everything has its pros & cons. You can use the propane pits practically anywhere, but they don't provide much heat unless you're pretty much right on top of it. I've seen pictures lately of people adding a disk shaped canopy a few feet above the flames to catch some of the heat and radiate it out to the crowd. This makes sense, but it also seems like that canopy could turn into a sail in more than a light breeze, which would be bad times for whoever is sitting downwind and ends up with the pit in their lap.

The Solo pits are kind of expensive. The flames are somewhat contained by the tub once it burns down below the top, unless you keep feeding it more wood. The warmth is great though, they don't smoke as much, and the cleanup is simple.

Different strokes.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

My son-in-law bought the big Solo for his patio - it really puts out the heat and flames and no smoke. The only fault I can find is that staring into a fire is mesmerizing/relaxing; and the tall sides of the big solo means you don't see much fire once it burns down a bit.

I just bought a couple of "campfire in a cans" - basically more of a candle for staring and infinitely more portable than a stove. Probably still would be banned in areas where forest fires are a threat.

[valhalla360]

I would look at the propane faux campfire pits as a better option.
- In a lot of areas with burn prohibitions, you can still use them (check local regulations)
- Unless you have a free firewood source (and you aren't supposed to transport it anymore anyway), propane is likely going to be a good deal cheaper.
- If you just want a fire for half hour, near instant on and off with no worries about ash or hot embers.
- If you do want to cook on it, you can adjust the flow to change the heat level to your need rather than waiting for the fire/coals to get to where you want them.

If you are in an area that allows wood fire and have the hankering for the real thing, you can always pick up some firewood and have one in the fire pit the campground provides.

[dcmac214]

Love ours. Few years ago camping neighbors had an alternate brand. At DW's insistence that's the one we bought. All black - she liked more than the "white" stainless. And it's a bit smaller. We burn tree trimmings, 1-3" diameter, mostly oak and pecan.

[ktmrfs]

Welder99 wrote:
Hello,
Anyone on this site have a Solo Fire pit? Looking into getting one. What size did you buy. Pro’s and Con’s …Thanks in advance. P.S did u buy any accessories, if so what did you get.

My observations (ignoring the price difference)

If you really want something that will mimize any smoke, the solo is great. If you want very close to the same control of smoke but also want lots of heat, a washing machine drum is better.

Either is orders of magnitude better than typical campground fire pits for control of smoke, amount of heat, ash, and amount of wood needed.

And with a screen on top IMHO (and several rangers who have seen our washing machine drum with SS grid on top) much better for fire danger from sparks, embers, etc.



A top load washing machine drum radiates a great deal of heat and doesn't smoke if you keep the wood below the top. The solo has a inner and outer drum with air going in the bottom up then exiting at the top. like a washing machine drum it keeps smoke down with a blast of hot air at the top, but the inner/outer drum makes a heat insulator so it doesn't radiate as much heat as a washing machine drum.

And a washing machine drum is way less expensive. The best ones are the comercial stainless steel drums, very light weight, I welded on some large (3/4") nuts on the bottom (3) and have some long bolts I can attach to raise the drum off the ground. Or if we are in a place with a firepit I just set it on top of a firepit grate.

The washing machine drum like the solo burns most everything down to a fine ash.

[BBB66]

I have one, we love it. Really cant use anywhere with the drought problems. So it sits in the garage.

[JimBollman]

We have the Campfire model as a compromise in size. Bought in 2015 on the recommendation of a friend that now has the Campfire and the largest model. We like it a lot and originally carried it in a small slide in camper and now in a B. I care it in it's bag in one of those square plastic buckets that are around 5gallon I think. Has a sealable lid. I cut all my scrap lumber into roughly 1"X1"X4" pieces and store them in the same buckets on the shelf. If I put the stove in a bucket with the bag open and fill the stove and all the edges of the bucket it gives me 2 or 3 fires in the evening of a couple of hours, supplementing with any dead twigs around the campsite. If it is a longer trip I throw an extra bucket of wood in. Becomes nearly smoke free within a 5-10 minutes of starting. I carry some small wax fire starters, I light one and drop it in then start adding my mini logs. My friend bought the bigger one for when they are going to be in one place longer and for home use because it makes a bigger fire and will take bigger chunks of wood.

I have been teased about my mini camp fires but after a wet day when everyones fire wood is wet mine becomes popular. I had a homemade small mini camp fire setup years ago but it wasn't smokeless but showed how useful it was to carry your own campfire.

[pasusan]

We've got one. It's a very small one since we take it in our Class B. Our model is the Campfire. We can use it to cook over and just have fun - using mostly twigs and sticks to burn. We didn't buy any accessories.

They really do work as advertised - I actually first saw one on a youtube channel where the guy was cooking over it using a tripod and cast iron dutch oven - it was a Ranger.

They are well made from stainless steel and engineered to be pretty much smokeless. The way the air is fed into them is unique and you can have a roaring fire within minutes. Then when there are just cold ashes left you tip it over and dump them out - that's it for cleanup.

Don't know any cons...

[dedmiston]

I bought one in 2018 and I love it.

Cons: They aren't cheap.

Pros:

- They make a great fire. Having a fire in a pit like that feels like a compromise to me, but sometimes we go places that don't have a pit or a decent ring. If we're just going to be there one or two nights, we'll use the Solo so we don't leave a mess.

- No mess. That tub is like a crematorium and all that's left of the wood is an inch or two of very fine ash. As long as you don't mess with it and don't add any water or sand, it will burn down to nothing and leave you with cool ashes that you can safely dump in the bushes. But if you try to put the fire out with water/sand, then you'll have a horrible mess on your hands.

- Incredible customer service. I called them after I thought it was out of warranty and asked them for a price for a replacement canvas carrying bag because mine had worn out. The rep wouldn't send me to sales, she said this was a service issue and replaced it with a better designed bag under warranty and sent me some other doo-dads for my "trouble". I thought I was going to get the run around, but they took great care of me.

As far as accessories go, I don't think you really need anything. Even though they call their pits a "stove", I don't really cook that way and I already have a decent grill. All you need is their stove, the ring that goes around the top lip to control the flames, and the bag. I always keep a shovel in my pickup bed and I can use that to deal with any mess from the ashes and to make a clean spot if there are dead grasses where I want to place the fire.

Besides the price, I don't think there's any downside. My buddies with their washer tubs tease me for paying big bucks when their tubs were so cheap, but mine burns the ashes more thoroughly and I don't have the same mess they do. Their tubs are pretty similar to mine though.