Vargo Titanium Hexagon Wood Stove | Collapsible Portable Wood Burning Stove | Ultra Lightweight Compact Wood Stove for Backpackers & Outdoor Explorers T-415

I knew from youtube when I bought it that drilling extra holes would be necessary for it to be a killer wood stove. I tried it and they were proven right. After drilling the holes, it became a tiny beast of a wood stove. Also saw on youtube that people needed to add a pin to keep it together. On closer examination, I noticed their doors didn't line up correctly. This is due to not pushing the last side in completely until it snaps. The door lines up perfectly when assembled properly. Still have a tiny hitch pin in the bag just in case. Saw that others used bobby pins or craft pins. The extra large size of paper clip should work just fine.Included are pictures of my hole pattern and hitch pin.July 15.Used it as a windscreen for my Trangia burner with the side holes in constant 16 kph winds with faster gusts, and it worked just fine. Also lit a couple more twig fires and fed it for about an hour each time with a pot of water for testing. The snap to close part was getting easier to snap, and the hitch pin was getting harder to insert. Thermal fatigue does play an important role when using as a woodstove for the locking tab. I spent 40 cents and got a couple of smaller hitch pins which work even better. The rest is just fine with that little attention to detail. It's getting blue with some soot, but that suits me. A light touch with green Scotch Brite scrungy pads and water removes enough soot to keep it from marking up the fabric it touches. Decided on the hole size and pattern myself after watching youtube and looking at the first fire. Seems like I got it right. Drill some holes in the right places, trust me. Mine were 3/8 inch, similar to the ones on the bottom plate.You can tweak this to be both a great windscreen and woodstove at the same time with complete safety for what it is.Vargo, are you listening?July 22WOW!!!With the holes drilled, this thing is a fully adjustable blow torch. It contains the heat and focuses the flame with the right amount of extra air.At full blast, it went through 75 ml of denatured alcohol with an Alocs knock off of the Trangia in 15 minutes while it boiled a LITER of water in a titanium pot (Toaks 1.6 liter kit) in less than 9 minutes (may have been 7). This is one stove base / windscreen that will make you use the simmer ring for more than a snuff cap. With the simmer ring on one setting, I was able to reach and hold a consistent full boil with a liter for an hour and forty five minutes on 3 ounces of fuel. 25 minutes to reach boil. The ranges of heat and fuel consumption are phenomenal if you learn the tricks. I filed a notch under the swing cap at the spot where I got those results. The extra space above the burner allows the heat to more fully distribute, reducing hot spots. The door is plenty big to insert the simmer ring and use in pretty much any position with room to move the burner around some. Don't waste your weight or money on a separate windscreen or stove base if the burner you have fits.If you use it as a wood stove, get plenty of fuel ready. You will need to build a big bed of coals with the ashes constricting the bottom air holes and then use relatively medium to big chunks a few at a time to keep it going. It's a contained mini camp fire if done right. DO NOT try to cook on it when you are building up the coal bed. Leave the top open while progressing up the chain until you can add just the larger sticks cut into 3 inch pieces at will. No mini wood stove is quick. You will need to set it on a hard, safe place (like a big flat rock) or carry something to put under it when burning wood. For my tests, I've been using an old stainless camping plate. Intend to use a piece of welder's carbon felt when backpacking.This can be adjusted from a jet fighter to a bulldozer to a moped; if you understand the principles.Cleaned it up and will include more pictures with the new hitch pin set up in good daylight.With the extra mods, this thing is awesome for people with the sense and experience to use it properly. It fills many needs with one very lightweight and durable solution.Vargo, are you listening?

5 stars for size, weight and the fact that the Vargo Titanium Hexagon Wood Stove works. At least in my backyard.I tested time to heat a liter of water to rolling boil. (Sea level, water at tap temperature to start.) With various kinds of wood scraps you'll find in a suburban setting, the stove brought the water to a boil in 20 minutes. My son, who was assisting, thinks subsequent tries may be a few minutes faster due to learning how to keep the stove fueled and burning strong. See below. By comparison, my Snow Peak GigaPower reached a boil in 10 minutes. IMO the 10 minutes difference (perhaps less if my son is right) is a fair trade to get the volume of propane canisters out of the pack for a multi-day trip. With that, I backpack solo so I only need to boil the water for one person and cook for just one.Now, stoking the fire. Yes, the fire will burn out quickly. Some may find the need to constantly attend the fire to keep it strong a big negative. For myself (a solo hiker), what else am I going to do with my time?5 stars: Ultra (ultra) light, meets my needs, it works. The 1 negative, if you want, is that the pots get black with soot. Like in the old days of camp fire cooking! Get a scrubber out when you get home. Or, better, use some sand from a Sierra river or creek.PS: I've seen some suggestions to use this as a wind screen for the Vargo alcohol stove or for Sterno. I tried both (in my back yard). The Streno cooking option is valid, and it might make sense to pop a canister in the pack as a contingency for low wood fuel environments, but I would not suggest that as a primary use. This is a wood stove.

The media could not be loaded. Excellent quality. Extremely light and very sturdy once the clip snaps in during assembly, which takes five seconds. Cools quickly after use. Had no issues starting and maintaining a wood fire under windy conditions (see video). Ten minutes to boil two cups of water from assembly to boil. Paired with the vargo titanium alcohol stove, it’s perfect as a wind guard and concentrates heat for your pot. Great product with no need for modification as far as I can tell.

I love everything about this stove. It's weight, strength, portability, ease of assembly and cleaning, type of fuel and it takes up almost zero room in your pack. It is a little price prohibitive but, based on the Amazon ad's description and it's apparent clever design, I bought one for my Grand Daughter who is in the Girl Scouts. I recently began putting Bug-Out bags together with her also and this was to be included with the kit. We fired it up on her concrete driveway and was surprised to see the flames shooting out of the top. I put a 10 inch skillet on top and added 1 inch of water, it came to a boil in 4 minutes, with only a handful of small twigs. With the side door it is easy to keep the fire fueled and it is strong enough to hold a full sized skillet full of food. Other commenter's have mentioned that if you are used to liquid fueled stoves, it may take awhile to get used to this but, the best thing I can suggest is to go ahead and take your normal stove and throw this in as a Back-up. I've made many Rocket or HoBo stoves and this has them beat in every category. I couldn't be happier with the purchase.