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64 of 65 found the following review helpful:
Nice idea for backpacking Jan 20, 2007
By Danoon
I recieved this for Christmas and just tried it out for the first time.
I like the way it folds up and fits into its canvas bag for easy storage in the backpack. It takes up about as much room as a paperback book.
It holds the fire in one place which is nice and I can see using it for heat with a leanto. If its dry out you'll never run out of fuel though it has to be small and you will have to keep feeding it because of the small size of the burn area but it heats well and cooked very well. All wood and leaves and sweetgum balls burnt to ash and it cooled quickly when done.
The only problem I had with it was the paint blistering and poping off in places. I guess I will have to get it really hot then repaint it with some good engine paint to keep it from rusting.. It took me a couple of minutes to figure how to fold it back up as I didn't study it before opening it but the hinged side folds in first then the other side and back in its case and off you go.
I will carry this along with the Jetboil systems from now on in case I run out of butane for the Jetboil or just want a small fire.
A nice little item and you can't beat the price.
42 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 Decent Backup Stove Aug 05, 2010
By M. Ross
"Bacchuskitty"
I got this stove to serve as a backup for my car camping expeditions and it has worked well for that. It works as advertised, actually quite well for what it is.
* What is it? This is a rather small contraption make of light pressed steel cleverly held together by hings pins and cotter pins such that it can be folded into a 1" tall pancake when not in use. When deployed, it provides a secure and relatively wind-proof shelter in which to make a fire with whatever dry fuel is at hand. (twigs, paper, etc). The combustion chamber is quite small, so don't get the idea that you'll be fitting logs or large sticks in there. There is a small door that can be held up by an attached swiveling leg that allows you to feed in additional fuel once it gets going. The bottom of the unit is perforated, allowing air to be drawn up to aid in combustion, and the stove itself is held slightly off the ground by legs integral to the frame. The structure effectively channels the heat up to the pot, which is the top of the 'chimney' effectively.
* The unit is made from relatively thin metal, which is good for weight's sake; as it is, this is generally not something you would be taking in your backpack if you like to count ounces. (as I do at my age at the insistence of my knees) It is painted in non-heat-resistant black paint that will discolor, burn, and begin to degrade at its first use. This is no biggie, really, just keep it dry so it doesn't rust.
* The pot/pan that you'll be using sits directly on the top of the stove, on four bent tangs that are part of the frame. These are adequate but not great support. They can be bent slightly to adjust for a better fit to your pan, but be careful as the steel on this won't take a lot of flex before failing due to fatigue.
* It comes in a handy and functional pouch that serves to keep the contraption held together once it is re-folded and also keeps the soot that accumulates on the stove from transferring to whatever it touches. Refolding this little stove took me a bit of practice, reminding me somewhat of a Rubik's cube on my first attempt - it only folds back into a tidy pancake one way.
* While it works fairly well, it's nowhere near as fast, efficient, or flexible as my backpacking stoves that can run on white gas, unleaded gas, kerosene, or diesel, and weighs about the same as my backpacking stove and a week's worth of fuel. What if my stove breaks or I run out of fuel? Well, that's where ingenuity comes in. For while the stove is rather efficient about channeling the heat directly up through chimney action, I could create the same effect in a pinch with rocks, bricks, parts of my cook kit, etc. In other words, for me, at least, it doesn't win the argument of utility when weight and space are considerations. When I'm car camping, I've got more room and I bring it along and it's just kind of cool to use sometimes just for fun. But for speed and efficiency, both of which are demanded of me by a hungry wife and toddler when camping, I turn to my regular camp stoves. Combined, they're about as fearsome as dangerous wildlife when hungry...
* I think this would also be a reasonable stove to have at home, or possibly a cabin, for emergency or disaster preparedness purposes. Again, though, I've had to weigh the relative benefits of this little stove versus a small bbq or hibachi.
In the end, I have to give it three stars, not because it doesn't work, but because it doesn't work as well as some other, better options based on my experience. I can say that I appreciate having this as a back up, but I wouldn't consider this an essential part of my kit.
29 of 33 found the following review helpful:
 pocket stove Apr 13, 2007
By Michael K. Smith
Wow, when I ordered this item and recieved it in the mail, I was in total shock. I opened a medium size shipping box but the size was alot smaller than I thought it would be. You could actually put this in your pocket. I live up in Canada where the weather goes from 1 extreme to another & this would and should become a manadtory survival tool. I'd highly recommend this even to just go camping with. Get your pocket stove and put your mind at ease about worrying about making a campfire... The inventor is a BRAIN!
Mike S.
Canada
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Great stove. Small, Efficient, and Fast. Mar 24, 2010
By Derek Owens
I bought this stove as a preparedness measure because I wanted to be able to cook with natural fuel in the event of an extended loss of power. It really does the job well. The angular design funnels all the heat right up to the top, so it is very efficient with fuel. I cooked a medium size can of chili in about 5 minutes, burning only about 10 or 12 small pine cones in the process, so it does exactly what I wanted, very efficiently. If you have a pine tree in your yard you will never run out of cooking fuel.
The stove is very small, and it looked to me like it would be very unstable with even a small pot on top of it, so I put the stove under a camp grill and I put the pot on that (I'll upload some pictures). It works great that way. I'm going to get a second one to sit beside it, turning the grill into a two burner wood stove.
In my opinion, this stove would be very good for backpacking, too, because of its compact size. Folds up very small, and is not too hard to set up or to fold up.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Great Design, Quality not so much Jan 31, 2010
By JustaQuickThought
Let me start by saying the design and concept of this is amazing! It folds nicely and does exactly what it is supposed to. I tried it out the first day I received it with some wood chips for fuel and a canteen cup to boil water in and it worked very well for that and boiled nicely within a few minutes after the fire was hot. Now the bad part.... after this first use I noticed discoloration on all sides near the bottom. But being at night and it still being very hot I thought I would get a better look at it in the morning. Unfortunately I left it outside and it rained that night (which is semi rare in Vegas) and the next morning. I got busy and forgot to bring it inside which is completely MY fault. The next day I went out to get it and found it covered in rust (after maybe 30 hours outside!) on all the discolored parts and hinges. It turns out the discoloration I had seen was the paint bubbling and peeling off after the very first use! Now I do not blame the product for the rust because it obviously should not have been left outside in the rain but, I don't understand why a high temperature (and rustproof) paint wouldn't be used on this from the factory. It seems such a common sense thing and is the only reason it did not get five stars.
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