THERE HAS been a recent upsurge of equipment designed for use in third-world countries entering the home family camping market – and the Frontier Stove is a prime example of a piece of practical kit eminently suitable for that nostalgic camping holiday. This wood burner is reminiscent of drawings that I have seen of cookers used by UK campers in the late 1800s and early 1900s. And, boy, is it fun to use – definitely a great present for those who enjoy camp cooking with a difference.

The stove is supported on three very sturdy and stable legs that are locked into position by pins. You won’t lose the pins as they are attached to the stove body by a small chain.

The chimney comes in a number of short sections that just push together. The first section contains a simple damper. The stove is fed via either the front or top entry – the door to the former can be locked closed or part open to supply air to the fire.

A small shelf fits at the base of the front opening to catch embers or to support longer logs as they are fed into the fire.

Right or wrong, I lit a small fire with paper and kindling, and kept the front and top ports open while it took. I slowly added larger bits of wood until I had a reasonable sized fire burning. I then closed the top and just used the front entry to feed in larger branches, part closing it to hold the fire when the cooking process was complete. Fully closed, embers from the damped fire lasts for hours.

The cooking surface is large enough for a pan and kettle. It gets very hot – as does the chimney. I’m really looking forward to using the Frontier to heat a suitable tent when I go camping over winter – it should keep me really snug!

You can suspend cooking utensils, pokers etc from a long bar that runs the length of one side of the stove – this bar also helps you stand the stove upright when packed for travel. And the Frontier packs easily and neatly with chimney and shelf residing in the stove while the legs fold and lock against the stove body. A handle on the opposite side to that long hanging bar makes carrying a doddle.

Camping Solutions has a number of neat accessories in the pipeline that include a water urn. Build quality is superb and the Frontier should provide years of use burning a variety of solid fuels. To date, I‘ve only tried it with short, small diameter logs and Green Dragon compressed oil seed rape husks – a fuel that we included in last month’s Talking Shop.

Expect to pay £129.99 plus £7.99 delivery. Purchase direct from manufacturer
Web campingsolutions.co.uk
Tel 01872 870839

This review was published in the December 2010 issue of Camping magazine. Order our latest issue.