The Tiny Solo Stove ‘Mesa’ Is a Sweet Little Camp Or Backyard Buddy

Often when I’m solo camping I don’t build a fire because it just feels like overkill and lots of work. I either have to buy a box or two of wood and haul it around with me or collect downed wood, then build the fire, tend to it as it grows, only to finally sit around it for a little while before going to sleep after making sure it’s out, or can wait until the morning but then I have to put it out, etc.

Sometimes you just want a little fire, for a little bit. Enough to roast a marshmallow, to throw enough light to read a book, to warm your hands. All that can be true at home too, in the backyard, when your three-year-old says, “dad, can we have a camping fire tonight?” and it’s like 20 minutes before bed but you can’t resist her little smiling face.

That’s what the Solo Stove Mesa is for. It’s a little tabletop fire pit only 7 inches high. It has the same smokeless design as bigger offerings from Solo Stove and the same round shape. It can burn sticks or wood pellets. I use wood pellets since I always have them around for the smoker anyway. Put some dryer lint in there, pour pellets over it, flick a lighter and presto, the three-year-old is smiling, marshmallow poked expectantly on her roasting stick.

I’ve used mine often while camping or sitting in the backyard when the kids are asleep, getting some reading done by firelight, sanity meter slowly rising. It’s a great little unit and so easy to pack in a car. I’m looking forward to bringing it on snow trips this winter, to warm our hands between sledding runs, toast some marshmallows to drop in hot chocolate.

• BUY $79