Testing out our Emberlit Ultra-Lightweight Camp Stove: Coffee by the Creek

A friend of ours has the Stainless version of this stove, and had brought it out to our place earlier this month. We were really impressed with how lightweight and simple yet sturdy the construction was—and really stoked it had a lifetime guarantee! Good products get backed up, it just makes sense. We heard there was a titanium version, half the weight of the stainless for a fraction more. Since we were looking for a more natural alternative than propane canisters, a wood burning zero footprint stove seemed like it fit the bill.

We made sure to bring a flint, some dry kindling + catch material to start the fire. It’s been decently wet here in Oregon, so we weren’t sure finding dry moss and sticks would let us beat the slipping sun. Austin packed along some birch bark, and used his Eldris Morakniv to make a featherstick with some dry kindling we keep in the yurt. These Moraknivs are great for the price, you can use them for all your dirty work and bushcrafting shenanigans without worrying about ruining blades that perhaps have more meaning or specialized uses for you. I appreciate that this knife is small enough to hang around your neck and stays locked in tight in the sheath, but it can be removed with one hand when wearing it.

This stove packs flat and weighs in under 7oz (198.44g). Putting the stove together is very simple, just four walls and a bottom plate to catch your ash and keep your fire off the ground. The design allows for a lot of air to breathe life into the fire, making it really easy to keep alight. The top has a cross grid you can use to supply a stable bottom for your pot, but it does seem that you’d be able to cook on the top of it without the grid if your pan is larger than the base. We were able to stoke it easily from the front, and when we wanted a thicker coal bed, we simply added some in through the top as well. The stove does get hot while it is in use, you can see that while it doesn’t leave a footprint, the radiating heat from the stove did dry off the stone we set it on. Perhaps intentional placement of the stove is best to ensure that whatever nature lie underneath it doesn’t get cooked. It cools down very quickly after the fire dies, which makes for an easy + quick cleanup.

We were able to make some delicious Aeropress coffees with the water boiled on the stove. I hand-ground our coffee beans with our Firlar manual coffee-grinder, which I also love! This slim silver tube is pretty simple for a grinder but--it even allows you to adjust the grind of your coffee in the woods! Perfect for a prior barista turned bush-crafter like myself. Hand ground coffee pressed in wood-fired water? Yes please!

We are definitely happy about our purchase of the stove. This is a much lighterweight and natural experience than our propane canister stove, although we consider that lightweight too! Astounding! Now we will be able to take this stove backpacking with us on our future treks, hikes and walks around the land, all without a trace!

Thanks Emberlit for such a stellar product, may those who seek sturdy simplicity find it with you.

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Till next time!