Solo Stove spin-off

This is a shed creation, inspired by (you may see a vague resemblance) the twig burning Solo Stove. Along with many other designs, the function is mostly the same in that twigs (et al) are placed inside the burning chamber and lit. The smoke is then combusted in between the dual chambers and clean flames are fired out of the top jets to create a steaming hot cooker.

I made this one from a rather large beer tin and a coconut milk tin, and a Dremel. The entire beer tin was used in one way or another and all the pieces ended up fitting together nearly perfectly.

It took about a day to create after I had spent a lot of time studying the physics of the Solo Stove and how I would find parts to piece one together myself. Solo Stove retails for around £80 and weighs next to nothing… a factory replicated one retails at £20 on Amazon but it’s quite heavy. There are many other designs from genuine companies and knock-off companies to try as well but the design of the Solo Stove to me looked the easiest to create in a shed. Because why not? I am curious about all kinds of gear and systems and set ups. This way I can find out whether or not I am going to like this system without having to spend a cent.

So after a few trial runs, I still wasn’t about to get the water to boil. The function is spectacular and pure genius but there are probably things about the physics of it all that require delicate calculations in order for the stove to make the most of the fuel/air combination. Either that or the wood is damp. It was generally slow in lighting and by the time the jets stated up, it was half burnt. Adding more fuel really seemed to disrupt what the stove was doing at the time. So there’s an art to that as well.

It was really fun to make this stove and I am so happy at how well it turned out for a first time run.

I haven’t tried it camping yet and not sure if I will or not, but to see and feel a real one has really helped to satiate my curiosity and save my bank account.