Best Wood-Burning Backpacking Stove
Backpacking is exciting but also tiring. You'll be happy to sit down to a hot and refreshing meal after a long day on the trail. Having the best wood-burning backpacking stove can go a long way to make this possible.
Over the years, the quality and size of backpacking stoves have significantly been enhanced, increasing their convenience. They have been improved to reduce the amount of time you spend cooking, and they also help your pack stay light.
These improvements also mean that there is now a wide assortment of wood-burning backpacking stoves to choose from. Picking the right one can be an uphill task as you try to sort through the different features.
Comparison Chart
Best Wood-Burning Backpacking Stove Reviews
We've put together a review of the most popular backpacking stoves to help you narrow down your options.
TOMSHOO Camping Stove
The Tomshoo camping stove is made from sturdy stainless steel and is built to last. It conveniently withstands pressure in the form of heavyweight and high heat.
Review
The Tomshoo camping stove is a foldable and portable backpacking stove ideal for outdoor hiking and picnicking. It comes with an upgraded BBQ version and a windproof serrated cross stand for enhanced stability. Your cookware will be safe on the stove and will come into contact with maximum heat for faster cooking.
The wood ash plate collects ash as the wood burns, so you don’t have a mess to deal with after cooking. The handle of the stove is foldable so that you can handle the stove with a lot more convenience.
Efficiency
One of the improvements that have come with the Tomshoo backpacking stove is the design. It’s based on a scientific structure with a wide opening that creates enough space to hold wood. The double-wall construction ensures that the combustion process produces less and cleaner smoke than other stoves.
The stove also features air vents that improve air circulation. The effect is that the fuel burns more efficiently, and less smoke is produced.
Economical
With wood-burning backpacking stoves, you have more economical fuel options. Twigs, branches, wood, and leaves are all available for use. You won't have to spend more money on gas canisters.
The stoves are also friendlier on the environment as they produce no chemical emissions. They leave no carbon footprint in the atmosphere. The stove also comes with a tray that holds solid alcohol fuel.
Lightweight and Foldable
You’ll like the Tomshoo stove because it’s easily collapsible into a compact size. This means you can pack the stove in a mesh carrying sack for more convenient storage. It weighs only one pound and significantly reduces the burden in your backpack.
Versatility
You can set up your Tomshoo backpacking stove anywhere in the woods. The grill provides the convenience of starting a barbeque wherever you set up your camp.
The stove is ideal for camping, backpacking, hiking, outdoor survival, BBQs, and picnics.
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Rayhome Wood Camping Stove
If you wish to reduce the carbon footprint on the environment when backpacking, choose the Portable Wood camping stove. The stove relies on renewable energy sources like wood, pinecones, twigs, feathers, wood shavings, and cotton pads. Any organic matter that can be used as fuel will come in handy, and you don’t have to worry about running out of fuel.
Review
The stove is easy to carry on your backpacking adventure. It has a compact size, is foldable, and very durable. The high-quality stainless steel that makes the stove is safe and stable and distributes heat evenly.
The folding dimension of the stove is 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches, which is perfect for backpacking. It won't take up a lot of your space; neither will it increase the weight of your luggage.
Environmentally Friendly
The stove relies on organic matter like twigs and leaves for fuel. It’s a better option than stoves that come with heavy gas tanks that cause pollution through chemical emissions. The open-feeding fuel door design will help you get rid of the smoke.
It also provides the convenience of cooking your food without having to lift your cooking pot off the fire. You can easily add fuel through the door.
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Solo Stove Titan Wood Burning Stove
The Solo stove is ranked top for having a patented design that you may not find in other stoves. The design comprises a unique double wall for enhanced ultra-clean gasification and complete combustion. This means that you can enjoy cooking without having to endure a lot of smoke emission.
Review
With the Solo Stove’s patented design, you can expect to have hotter fires while burning less fuel. Its double-wall provides for a unique flow of air, which makes the stove extremely efficient. The lightweight and compact wood burning stone is the most recommended backpacking stove.
At the bottom of the stove are air intake holes that channel air to the bottom of the fire so that the fuel burns completely. The holes also help warm up the air between the walls and the stove so that there’s even distribution of heat.
The burst of preheated oxygen is fed back to the firebox through the smaller holes at the top of the stove. This causes secondary combustion, making the fire burn more finely, producing very little smoke during the process. Consequently, you end up using less fuel as compared to when using an open campfire.
Built to Last
The Solo Stove is made with high precision and is free of defects in materials and artistry. It’s made from a premium grade 304-stainless steel that heats evenly. When you buy the stove, you have the assurance that it’ll perform as per your expectations and won’t disappoint.
Solo Stove Line
The Solo Stove brand makes a host of several stove sizes. Some reliable cooking models include the Solo Stove Lite and Solo Stove Campfire besides the Solo Stove Titan. The good thing is that they all function on the same principles as the bonfires, but on potholders.
Hotter Fire and Less Smoke
Have you ever sat around the kind of fire that leaves your clothes smelling of choking smoke? This won't happen to you when you use the Solo Stove Titan. It features a patented air intake system that makes the fire hotter, leading to secondary combustion, more flaming fire, and less smoke.
However, take note that less smoke doesn’t mean there won’t be any smoke. You’ll still see some smoke coming out of the stove when you start burning the twigs.
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BioLite CookStove Wood Burning Camp Stove
Another high-quality wood-burning stove you should try is the BioLite cookstove. It’s lightweight and conveniently burns pine cones, twigs, pellets, and more. Its performance is a lot better than that of gas-fueled stoves.
Review
The BioLite Cook Stove delivers a pleasant, smoke-free operation based on the four fans. As the game-changer it is, the BioLite Cook Stove brings a taste of luxury to your camping adventures. The stove allows you to grill, cook, and even charge your devices while you're out in the woods.
The stove uses wood for fuel and comes with a USB port, which you can use to charge your phone or flashlight.
Performance
The BioLite is a lightweight stove that measures a little less than one kilogram and hence is easy to carry around.
You will like it for its efficiency in performance. It takes about four minutes to boil a liter of water. The USB output generates 5V of power and supports several gadgets like smartphones and rechargeable flashlights.
While coking, it’s possible to recycle a lot of the unused heat. You can capture it through a heat probe where it’s then converted into electricity to charge your electronics. The internal fan of the stove makes the fire burn hotter.
The excess energy is stored in the internal battery, making a reserve available the next time you pull out your stove.
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Lixada Camping Stove
Another portable and reliable wood-burning backpacking stove is the Lixada camping stove. It’s made from sturdy stainless steel for extreme durability.
Review
The stove is foldable and easily converts from a box into a fully functional stove. The cross stand creates a stable platform for you to do your cooking. It’s easy to quickly boil a cup of water on the stove using sticks, wood pellets, and other organic fuel sources.
The Lixada Stove comes at a very attractive price that matches all it has to deliver. The top is large enough to hold a standard cooking pot. It works great on relatively flat surfaces but ensures the surface is suitable since the bottom gets very hot.
However, ensure you use a wind guard to protect the fire from spreading wildly and also to speed up cooking times.
Quality
The quality of the Lixana stove isn’t as good as you’d get from other more expensive stove versions. However, for the price you pay for it, you’ll get all the features you expect from a camping stove.
The most significant advantage is that you can use firewood as the primary source of fuel. This saves you from having to carry a gas canister on your backpacking trip. It's recommendable to use large twigs for a more reliable fire.
On the downside, it's relatively tricky to add wood to the stove with a pan on the burner. There’s so much inconvenience of having to lift the cooking pot to add fuel to the stove.
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FINAL VERDICT
Having a backpacking stove is a sure way to settle down to a hot meal after a long day on the trail. It’ll also keep your warm when camping out in the woods. Finding a reliable stove with multipurpose functions will require an investment in time.
This review can help cut down the time you spend shopping for a good stove. The BioLite stove stands out as the best wood-burning backpacking stove for all the features it has to offer. The USB port is a plus, ensuring that you remain in touch with the rest of the world.
It keeps your phone charged so that you remain in communication. It also has a fan that keeps the fire going, although it produces some noise. Overall, it gives you the best value for your money.
