LOFI Ultralight Titanium Woodgas Stove - Comprehensive Review

LOFI Stove
www.lofi.com/?...
Information from Jonny
Hey Mark,
Thank you so much! What a wonderful review, it's so good to see others using and enjoying the LOFI stove. You've obviously put many hours into making this video and it really shows well the thought and detail I have put into designing the little stove. I thought I'd answer a few comments (thanks everyone) and add to the details in your video:
- The LOFI cookpot is a 820ml pot, it's a slightly taller version of a standard 750ml (the stove fits in a 750ml with the lid flipped over).
- I'm working on a new USB-C cable that will power the stove from a phone. Taking approx 1-2% battery to boil 1L water.
- I've powered the stove of a small solar panel and it worked great ( • ☀️Solar powered LOFI w... ).
- The ember guard also works really well as a wind shield in bad weather, it really seems to keep the heat in.
- LOFI ratchet snips weigh in at 129grams and cut through 1" dry wood.
- Burning wood is regarded as carbon neutral, unlike Isobutane gas from fossil fuels.
The price is £155 GBP (not £185 mentioned), that is $266 CAD for the stove only, and can be used with most cook pots.
www.lofi.com/p...
Some people are really enjoying it, and others are finding it too expensive for what it offers them. I get that, and that's ok :) Long term I hope to reduce to cost or make a cheaper Stainless steel version of the design.
The joy for me is design and making them, and am constantly looking into new ideas to explore and have fun with.
I'm currently working on ways to control / reduce the heat output for a simmer & lighter cooking, but I'm not finding it so simple. I think charcoal might be the way forward here... it's extremely lightweight and slow burning.
I hope this helps,
Jonny
185.00 pounds = 317.00CAD (included the pot)
Special thanks to Jonny at LOFI
Comes With
Stove
Ember guard
USB-C cable with speed controller
750ml Pot
2 x stuff sacks
clippers
manual
Key Features
Ultralight titanium wood gas stove
Adjustable speed fan
Multi-fuel (organic)
Clean, smoke-free combustion
Base remains cool. Stove won’t scorch the ground
Can be operated with either a power bank or through the reverse charging function on modern phones
 
Specifications
Weight - Stove 5.0oz / 143g with stuff sack 5.7oz / 143g
Weight - Total 10.3oz / 304g with 750ml titanium pot and stuff sacks
Height 4.3” / 110mm
Diameter 3.4” / 87mm
Power 45mA (low) to 310mA (high) 10,000mAh power bank will last between 24 hours and 175 hours
Operation
Always have fan on when burning
Leave fan on until all heat is out
Can be lit top down (TLUD) or from the bottom
NOTES
Ember guard - Serves to prevent sparks and embers from flying out and reflects heat back toward the pot. Also a condenser or focuser keeping wood gasses in. Also acts as a bit of a funnel for dropping sticks in
How to simmer with it
Turn fan to low speed
Maybe a stand above the top
Enough pellets to bring to boil and use embers to simmer. Add a few pellets as required
 
Cost-benefit comparison with a gas canister stove
Weight of stove and power bank VS stove and canister
Stove, pot and Klarus PB (6.2oz/176g) = 16.5oz/480g
Hornet 2, 750ml Ti Pot (4.3oz/123g) and 8oz fuel = 19.4oz/550g
Cost for each new and over time
Environmental considerations
Wood pellets cost $0.04 per gram = $1.80 per 2-cups of water
8oz/227g fuel canister costs $9.00CAD and weighs 13.4oz/380g
Isobutane costs $0.24 per gram. Six times as much as wood pellets
FM Hornet 2 weighs 1.7oz/48g and uses 6g to boil 2 cups/500ml water = $1.44 per 2-cups of water
Ergo = 8oz/227g of fuel will provide 37 boils
Alternative Fuels
Charcoal works reasonably well and is long lasting
Pinecones produce intense flame and heat but are short lived
Tested with dried deer pellets. Works well but must be dry
Tested with pasta, Triscuits, peanuts. All worked well by required that a fire be started first. They left a thick ash behind
Tested with a Trangia and was slower than Trangia and simple holder
 
Performance Testing
Max capacity for wood pellets - 185 grams - 20 minutes burn time
Minimum amount of wood pellets to boil 2 cups of water = 45g
Time to boil 2 cups of water using wood pellets = 8 minutes
Pro / Con
Expensive (compare with BioLite at $200.00 stove and $70.00 pot)
Weighs 2.06 lbs / 935g
Compact lightweight
Requires a power source
Extremely fuel efficient
Low to no smoke
No need to carry fuel
Does not work well with an alcohol stove
Needs to be refilled with wood often
Small sticks must be dry
Very small power draw