The Honey Stove is built from components each time you need to use it and when not in use packs flat in its own carrying pouch. To assemble the stove you simply slot the side walls into each other and the base plate you choose to use. For a single person this can be four walls while for two people you simply change the baseplate and add a further two walls. For even larger groups you can purchase an expansion pack of even larger base plate and additional wall panels. The baseplate can be either a wood burning plate for twigs or a carefully manufactured holder for Trangia style meths burners and remote canister burners. The baseplate height can be adjusted to bring the burner closer to the pan if desired.

With the walls and baseplate assembled tent pegs can be used in a series of holes on the side walls to adjust the gap between the flame and the pan and to allow for use with pots having a smaller diameter than the stove. A sturdy grill is also included and can be placed across the top of the stove for direct cooking of sausages, bacon etc.

In use the Honey Stove has proved extremely adaptable, working with meths, twigs, gas and gel based fuels in a range of conditions. As expected boil times using twigs were considerably more than using high output fuels like gas but at around 7 minutes to boil 500ml of water isn't unreasonable. Using remote gas canisters and the adapter baseplate the Honey Stove worked as a very efficient wind shield and while only reducing boil times by a few seconds it also provides a very stable base for pans.
While heavy at 362g that's the weight of the full, 6 wall, set-up along with both standard baseplates and grill. For single person use you only need 4 of the walls, and a single base for the fuel you're using. On long trails where fuel availability is a potential issue the Honey Stove gives you more options than most stoves and as there are no mechanical parts it's both reliable and durable.

Overall we really like the Honey Stove. Packing flat and not including a gas burner head by default it doesn't get turned back at customs as gas stoves can as well as packing easily in a rucksack on the trail. Set-up only takes thirty seconds once you've practiced and the arrangement of the burner heights and peg holes means that you have real adjustability when burning twigs and additional control for simmering when using gas. As with all wood burners there's also that special feeling you get from a real fire - even if it is on a tiny scale.

Price: £38.99

Weight: 362g

Colour: Silver

Features:

• Expandable
• Multi-fuel
• Packs flat

Pros:

• Adaptability
• Expandability
• Multi fuel
• Easy to use
• Stability  

Cons:

• Weight
• Slow except when used with gas

Note: This article was restored from the archives. It's published creation date is inaccurate.