DBODS - Solo Stove Mesa XL Tabletop Fire Pit with Stand | Low Smoke Outdoor Mini Fire for Urban & Suburbs | Fueled by Pellets or Wood, Stainless Steel, with Travel Bag

Price: $89.99

Link: Solo Stove Mesa XL Tabletop Fire Pit

Accessories to get WITH IT: Grill Trade Fire Starter Squares

Rating: 8.5/10

TLDR: If you want something that can heat up a smaller area for 3-5 people, this stove can cook, roast marshmellows, and keep a flame going for about 30-45 minutes depending on the wood you use. Would recommend this over the smaller Mesa, fits more types of fuel, and really not THAT much bigger. Pair with these square fire cube starters. for the perfect combo.

ABOUT THE SOLO STOVE MESA XL

I was looking for a camping stove that wouldn't break the bank, but also had some type of cool "camping swagger". I was actually looking for an actual portable gas powered stove, but found out quickly, the liquid butane that should be inserted in those foldable stoves can't be shipped to me directly from Amazon. Of course, me being lazy and not being able to get it delivered to my door, I looked for something that I could just light immediately without any set up or shipping restrictions and this seemed like a good alternative in addition to having a great looking outdoor stove. As you can see from the picture, it came with a nice bag cover, some removable legs which are a little on the flimsier side and the main stove itself. The Mesa XL comes without a pellet adapter, which you can use dual fuel sources, pellets or wood. The claims on these specific models are that they provide a "smokeless" experience, and are vented in a way to give airflow that removes most, if not all of the smoke.

CHOICES: SOLO STOVE MESA VS SOLO STOVE MESA XL

As you can see, there were so many choices on the Solo Stoves, but the deciding factor for me was to be able to put larger pieces of fuel inside the unit in addition to NOT using an adapter for the pellets. On the smaller mesa, you are required to insert an adapter. I'm lazy, I don't want another thing to fiddle with nor carry with me, even though it may be smaller. Also after watching this gentlemen's video, it was clear to me just the few things that pushed me to get the XL.

VERDICT

If you are looking for something that has multiple purposes more than just a firepit with portability, make s'mores, or light campin cooking, you should give this a try. I would definitely opt for the XL version due to the capacity of fuel being 3x the regular Mesa, and having the flexibility of putting larger pieces of fuel so you don't have to feed it every few minutes. Also, the portability factory is indeed lighter, and slightly smaller than the XL, however I think if you owned one side by side, you'd end up regretting not getting the larger one just for efficiency of burning fuel, and not getting irritated with trying to fit fuel into the stove to be able to use the "smokeless" burn. If the pieces are larger than the top of the stove, it won't burn on the top nor blow through the holes at the bottom, pretty much defeating the purpose.

Pro TIp: If you are going to purchase, grab these items so you don't have to run to the store after:

Fire Starter Squares