Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read so many rave reviews about this fire pit that I decided to give it a try; however I have to say I just don’t get all the fuss. First of all, the thing looks like a fire burning in a garbage can. I’ve attached a few pictures of what it looks like in action, and then a picture of a $30 cheap fire pit purchased from a big box store. I just love watching the logs burn down and seeing the beauty of a fire. With the Yukon, you only see the top 1/4; compare the seated pictures from a regular fire to the solo stove. If you are standing you can see better, but you still miss out. With the solo stove it also radiates very little heat from it because of the design of it. On cold nights, I love nestling up to a regular fire pit where my feet and body are kept warm. As far as a “smokeless” fire is concerned, the solo stove does have less smoke when fully doing the gasification thing, but most of a smoky fire is due to burning unseasoned wood. Even so, the Yukon still smokes like a regular fire pit until you get it going, (which for me took about an hour) so I was still smoky anyway (as it was not completely seasoned wood). Finally, I enjoy “working” my fire. Part of the fun is arranging the wood, chipping off coals, and stacking the wood. In the solo stove you can’t really do any of this. In summary, this thing ugly, prevents you from seeing the fire and coals, doesn’t radiate heat well, is expensive, and takes all the fun out of having a fire.