Solo Stove Bonfire vs Yukon: Which Size Smokeless Fire Pit?

Choose the Bonfire 2.0 if

• You usually sit with four to six people.
• You want to take the fire camping, to the beach or to a friend's yard; it comes with a carry case.
• You buy firewood by the bundle and want each fire to use less.
• You want a fitted spark screen available now: the Solo Stove Bonfire Shield Spark Screen.

Choose the Yukon if

• You regularly host eight or more around the fire.
• The pit will stay in one place on a patio or gravel pad.
• You have plenty of seasoned wood, including larger splits.
• You want a fire that reads as a centerpiece from across the yard.

Seating space is rarely the limit; heat is. A 19.5 inch Bonfire warms a tight circle of four to six chairs pulled close. A 27 inch Yukon throws a larger fire that can warm a wider ring of six to eight or more. Because secondary-burn pits send much of their heat upward, owners commonly report sitting closer to a Solo Stove than to an open steel bowl. If your group is five to seven, the Solo Stove Basecamp 24 in. Fire Pit with Stand at 24.6 inches is the size many buyers overlook. Plan for chairs about 3 to 4 feet from the rim, and use the fire pit size calculator to check the full circle fits your patio.

It can be. A 27 inch pit plus a ring of chairs set 3 to 4 feet back needs a circle roughly 12 to 14 feet across, and that is before safe clearance from the house, fences and overhanging branches, commonly at least 10 feet for wood fires or more if local code says so. At 44.1 lb it is also a two-hand lift, not something you stow in the garage every night. On a small patio, a Bonfire or Basecamp gives a better fire-to-space ratio and still leaves room to walk around the circle.

The Bonfire, simply because its chamber holds less wood. Owners of all Solo Stove sizes commonly report that efficient secondary combustion burns wood faster than an open bowl, so the size of the chamber drives how much wood an evening takes. With a Yukon you will add larger loads more often to keep a fire that fills the chamber. If you buy firewood in small bundles, a Bonfire keeps each fire affordable; with a woodpile of seasoned splits, the Yukon's appetite matters less. Split wood short enough to sit below the top air holes in either pit, and tend it with long Solo Stove Fire Pit Tools 2-Piece Set rather than reaching in.