Updated 21st August 2026

Solo Stove
Ranger 2.0

The Why!

As a family we quite often sit out of an evening and have a few drinks and catch up on what everyone is doing and have a bit of a laugh.

Obviously the evenings can get a bit cool and we would light a fire.

We have had a couple of Chimenea style fire pits which looked great but were very smoky and frequently had to keep moving around the fire to avoid the smoke.

After a bit of research we came across these solo fires and decided to give it a go.

First Impressions

So on getting it out of the box you are straight away struck by how solidly it is constructed.

At the time we ordered ours you could get a backyard bundle. This comprised of a ring that elevates the fire off the ground, a spark guard and a waterproof cover.

All looked good quality.

Using it

We already have a log burner in our home so have plenty of kindling and kiln dried logs.

Just to add; we have to use kiln dried as our local council insist on it to reduce smoke, however I end up with lots of untreated offcuts from my work and these will go in the Solo Stove.

I'm not going to tell you how to light a fire as I don't think that's relevant here.

Before Lighting

Image showing patina and effect of fingerprints

Now this is entirely up to you. We looked at quite a few reviews and there was a lot of mention of an uneven patina/colour after the first burn.

It seems that the Brushed stainless steel is susceptible to picking up grease from fingers etc and when the fire gets up to temperature it effects the unevenness of the patina. So some suggest cleaning the stove before using but we didn't bother with this as once the fire is cooled we put the cover over it.

It's worth noting that high heat will change the stainless steel surface, creating bronze, copper, blue, or purple shades.