Ouspots Twig Stove

There’s nothing more satisfying in the wilderness than starting a fire and cooking over it. But let’s be honest, we don’t always have the time, energy, space or even enough fuel to start a proper campfire. Luckily, we have twig stoves. These ingenious little contraptions that allow us to harness the campfire into a small, containable, efficient, flame throwing cooking tools that can cover most of our outdoor cooking requirements. So what’s the price for the convenience and ease of harnessing the campfire into our hands? Potentially a lot less than you would think.

For this review, we’ll focus on the double walled gasification stoves. Which essentially means the stove burns cleaner, longer, and uses less wood by mixing the exhaust gases that come from the burning wood and mix with preheated air coming in from the intake holes of the outer shell. You get a real nice burn that essentially looks like a cooktop on any gas stove. Some of the brand named models (Bushbuddy, Silverfire, Solostoves) will run you around $60-$100 dollars. In this post, we’re looking at a model that that costs less than $20 shipped. Will it do everything you ask from your stove? Let’s find out.

Gasification process going. No pot stand

3.5" mini cast iron over on the stove

Throw your trail burrito on the 5 x 9" camp grill, and heat it up!

Packability

One of the most important things with any of your gear is going to be how easy it is toss in your pack and get it to where you want to use it. That usually comes down to two things, size and weight. The stove nestles all 4 pieces into itself and comes in a really cool drawstring mesh bag that is slightly padded, which does a good job of keeping the soot off of the other items it comes in contact with. The ultimate trade off with these stoves is that while they might not pack down into the smallest or lightest package, you don't need to bring any gas canisters to fuel the stove. Whether you are out for a day trip or a week long trip, the size and weight of stove doesn't change and you never have to worry about running out of fuel. Now with that in mind, this stove is coming in at a very respectable size of 13cm X 7.5cm, and a not so great weight of 15.75oz. So ultimately, you can pack this thing wherever you go, but if you were hoping for an ultra lightweight backpacking setup, you’ll be able to find better options with a mini gas stove or a non gasification wood stove. So it's up to you to consider the amount of time you will be out in the woods, the amount of terrain you plan on covering, and the amount of fuel you would need to cover that span. I personally wouldn't use this on one of my through hikes, or long backpacking trips, but when I'm out camping, or doing a bit of bushcrafting, this really hits my sweet spot.

Function

This thing works. You basically pack it full of twigs or wood chips, or any kind of biofuel that you find in your area and it’ll burn it up. Like any fire, just make sure you leave little room for airflow, and after a few minutes of burning and the gasification magic begins. You start seeing the flame transition from the burning wood inside the stove, to the secondary burn towards the top of the stove. Honestly, I still don't exactly understand how it works, but it's super cool. No more smoke, and just a clean flame. The only problem with all of the double burn stoves is that they are hungry little monsters and you need to feed them. You start with your twigs and dry grass or any other thing that will catch a flame quickly, then you move to slightly larger pieces that will keep the burn going. But since you can’t really put anything much thicker than your thumb in the the stove, you’ll be looking to feed it quite a bit and often. As opposed to some of the other designs, this particular stove will allow you continue to feed the stove even while a pot or pan is being used for cooking. I found this feature to be a must, and a major design flaw with some of the other budget stoves or the Silver Fire Scout that don't account for it.

Durability

This is one piece of equipment that I don’t mind banging around. It’s solid, made from stainless steel, and feels as sturdy as it needs to be. It’s a little bit heavier than some of the other options, but you know it’ll hold up to whatever you will throw at it. The top potholders, while non adjustable, feel sturdy enough to put any kind of cooking vessel you would want on it. If you can balance it on the supports, it’ll hold!

The carrying case is also a major upside when it comes to longevity. Plus it does a great job of keeping the rest of your camping gear soot free when in your backpack next to this stove.

Fun Factor

So you know this thing works now, but how much are you actually going to want to use it? So I mentioned at the top of this review that nothing beats cooking over an open campfire right? Well I have to say this comes in a very close second. Primarliy, you don't need to carry any fuel with you. You still get to gather your fuel, break it down, process it, and cook something over a real flame. You can throw your 5x9 Camp grill right on top of this and heat up your trail burrito, or bust out your mini cast iron and fry up some eggs for breakfast or a nice little cut of meat! This stove is a super fun camping accessory that is quite functional. And once you see that secondary burn going, you'll kind of feel like a wizard out there.

No Fun Factor

The not so fun element of these stoves would have to be that they are a little messy. You will get soot on the stove and probably on the underside of any vessel you are cooking/boiling food in. But the mesh case is a little padded and keeps it from smearing the soot in your pack or any of your gear. Another thing you will have to watch for, is that this stove takes a while to cool down even once the fire is out. And make sure you are in a safe place to start a fire, because even though you’re off the ground, the stove has the ability to char anything underneath it, or will spill ash from the fire onto the ground below it. Lastly, if you are planning to cook over this stove, temperature control is a constant balance. So be prepared to pull things on and off the flame and keep feeding the fire when it needs it. You will develop a coal base to a certain extent, but since it is such an efficient burn, you won't end up with much more than ashes.

Clean Burn and gasification in full effect. Pot stand attached

Nestled in mesh carrying pouch

All four separate components

Final Breakdown

If you are at all interested in small camping stoves, and particularly efficient gasification stoves, this is the place to start. For $19 including shipping, you can’t go wrong. I love using this stove for boiling water for a cup of coffee, some oatmeal, or even cooking up some ramen without needing to build up a whole camp fire. You can also throw a pan or small grill on there and cook up some real food pretty easily. Now this stove is less than 1/4 the price similar brand name stoves that will essentially do the same thing. You might save a couple centimeters or ounces on the more expensive models, but overall, it pretty much does exactly the same thing. The truth of the matter is that I would say this is a great piece of kit just because it is so much fun play with. There really are countless stoves that boast countless features. So if you don't mind a Chinese knockoff, and want to go for the budget friendly option, I can't recommend this stove enough. For me personally, I know this won't be the last twig stove I buy, but I sure am glad it was my first.

--José