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Imagine having a fire pit that you can take with you on your outdoors adventures. Stainless steel construction, easy to light, easy to clean, and virtually no smoke when used properly. Well, the Solo Stove Bonfire fits all those criteria! Read on for our Solo Stove Bonfire review.
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Solo Stove Bonfire Review
I’ve been using the Solo Stove Bonfire for almost a year. I take it on all my scout and family camp outs. It weighs about 20 pounds and comes with it’s own carrying case. I throw it in the truck with my other camping gear before I head to the woods.
Obviously, you wouldn’t use the Solo Stove Bonfire for a backpacking trip. They’re just too heavy. For car camping and other outdoors adventures (even enjoying a backyard fire), I believe the Solo Stove Bonfire is the perfect fire pit.
Solo Stove makes their fire pits in three different sizes. The Ranger, Bonfire, and the Yukon. Think of them as small, medium, and large. I feel the Ranger is just a bit too small for a group fire pit. It probably works OK for a couple. Any more than that and it’s just not big enough. The Yukon is HUGE! This would make a great, semi-permanent backyard fire pit. You probably wouldn’t want to use it for travel situations.
As Goldilocks said, the Bonfire is just right! Big enough for a group of scout leaders to gather around at a camp out and small enough to carry with you to the woods from your car.
Before getting the Bonfire, I would buy a new fire pit, annually. They just didn’t last, especially in the Florida climate. They’d rust out and fall apart. With the stainless steel construction and included carrying case, I expect my Solo Stove to last years! So, I know they’re expensive, as fire pits go, I also know they will outlast the less expensive fire pits by years.
The Solo Stove Bonfire fire pit has strategically placed vent holes in the double-wall structure that suck air from the bottom and feed the heated oxygen to the top resulting in a spectacular flame with intense heat. The best part? Nearly no smoke and minimal ash left over! Making the Bonfire not only easy to clean up, but won’t leave you smelling like campfire.
Solo Stove Care and Precautions
The Solo Stove fire pits do not require too much care. The burn is so efficient that you have very little ash left over after a fire. I just dump the small amount of ash out and put it back in it’s carrying case.
Solo Stove does not recommend using the fire pit in the rain or allowing it to be exposed to the rain. This is due to the design of the stove and the vent holes in the top and bottom. Also, the stove has a double wall construction and you don’t want water to get in between the walls. You’ll never get it out and it will affect the performance of the fire pit.
One trick I’ve learned to protect my Bonfire comes right from the Solo Stove website. Once the fire pit has cooled, flip the carrying case over and use it like a cover. This will protect the stove from water intrusion and keep other things out of the pit.
Solo Stove Bonfire Accessories
Solo Stove offers several accessories for your fire pit. We opted for the stand and roasting sticks. The Bonfire stand helps if you plan to put the fire pit on a wood deck. We wanted it for using the Bonfire on our pool deck, just for a little added protection.
The roasting sticks from Solo Stove are amazing! I would buy these marshmallow roasting sticks, even if we didn’t have the Bonfire. They’re very solid, but also break down easily for travel and include a beautiful rolled carrying case. They also feature the Solo Stove fire logo on the sticks.
You can also get Solo Stove fire starters and wood for the fire pits, although I’m sure any quality fire wood and fire starters (we like fat lighter wood here in the South) will work with the Solo Stove.
Solo Stove also offers a fire shield for their outdoor fire pits. Although the Solo Stove uses a secondary burn to produce less ash and smoke-free experience with your camp fire, a random tinder could fly out of the stove, based on the type of wood and kindling you use. The Fire Shield helps prevent those hot tinders from escaping the stove and damaging surrounding environment, like your deck or sleeping bag.
The Solo Stove Shelter offers a more permanent cover for your fire pit. It looks great and is designed specifically for your Solo Stove. However, the included carrying case serves basically the same purpose by just turning it upside down and sliding it over your fire pit. This would be a better accessory for you if you plan to make a Solo Stove more of a backyard fire pit and not a traveling camp fire.
A Solo Stove product we will probably add to our Bonfire at some point is the fire pit tools. This tool kit includes a fire poker and log grabber, so you don’t have to reach your hands and arms into the Bonfire. Very handy as the fire burns down over the course of the night.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a qualifying purchase, I will receive a small commission from those purchases.