My wife and I met at camp. So campfires are a big part of our relationship DNA. But one thing I don’t enjoy about campfires is the residual smokey smell that permeates everything from hair to clothes and lingers sometimes even long after a shower. This is precisely what made me so excited about Solo Stove. With their line of smokeless fire pits, they have changed the way I feel about campfires forever! And now, I can pack my Solo Stove Mesa into the RV and enjoy smokeless campfires on the road, picnic table or a friend’s house thanks to its portability.
If you have some favorite podcasts or youtubers, you’re definitely familiar with Solo Stove’s massively popular Bonfire 2.0, the company’s best selling fire pit product. With Mesa, the company has shrunk the Bonfire with its 360 degree signature airflow design, down to two tabletop sizes. They’ve also added a carrying bag, 6 beautiful colors and even an optional accessory pack that includes skewers, a pellet scoop, a lid and a carrying case to hold your accessories.
My Solo Stove Mesa came with a branded nylon carrying bag, stand and pellet adapter ring (more on that later). The Mesa and Mesa XL hold the same beautiful design that made the Bonfire so incredibly popular. It measures 6.8 inches high, 5.1 inches in diameter (or 8.6” and 7” diameter for the XL version) and holds 285g of pellets (or 1000g for the XL model). Solo Stove also allows you to get your stove etched at the time of purchase with your name or a favorite collegiate team logo, great for tailgating!
Lighting the Mesa is easy and due to the stove’s dual fuel capability, I can burn wood or
hardwood pellets! For my Mesa’s first burn I chose some hardwood pellets. With the Mesa on its included stand and the pellet adapter ring inside, I just filled the Mesa until the pellets reached the secondary burn holes at the top and lit a fire starter brick on top. It’s those secondary burn holes that allow all of Solo Stove’s fire pits to produce a really satisfying fire without all that smoke. The flames were nice and high without becoming an inferno and it was easy to add more pellets as the fire burned down. This is definitely where the pellet scoop included in the accessory pack comes in handy! If you’re burning wood, the folks at Solo Stove say that any small twigs, branches or chunks of wood (cut to 5” or less) will work as long as the wood is nice and dry.
It’s worth noting that if you’re not sure what size your wood should be, Solo Stove has you covered here too! The company sells small bundles of perfectly sized wood just for your Mesa as well as a variety of types of firewood sized for their complete line of firepits.
At the end of a nice hour-long burn, there was no smokey smell and the ashes were easy to empty into my garden with virtually no clean up. Everything packs up inside the Solo Stove itself and is stored in its bag for another day. How have I lived without this?
There’s literally nothing I could find wrong with the Solo Mesa. It’s a tabletop version of its immensely popular big brother, the Solo stove Bonfire, in literally every way. With Solo Stove’s lifetime warranty against manufacturer’s defects and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, I can’t think of a single reason why every backyard table, apartment patio and RV shouldn’t have a Solo Stove Mesa!
Note: Our reviews are always 100% independent but Gearadical receives a small affiliate amount if you purchase the product on Amazon.