Emberlit FireAnt wood stove

When it comes to saving weight in your pack the saying always goes, “ounces equal pounds, and pounds

Emberlit Fireant parts

Emberlit Fireant parts

equal pain”. Building an ultralight kit means looking at everything you have and trying to cut it down as much as possible. One of those typically heavy pieces of kit is your stove, unless you have the new Emberlit FireAnt. This super tiny, titanium, four wall, firebox stove weighs next to nothing, and best of all you don’t have to carry any fuel. The Emberlit FireAnt is designed by Mikhail Merkurieff, the same gentleman who brought us the original Emberlit folding box biomass burning stove. Over the years Mikahail has made a few revisions to the Emberlit product line, with the FireAnt being his latest endeavour. After a successful Kickstarter campaign we are happy to finally have this light weight box of fire in our hands.

 

–Quality and Assembly–

Emberlit Fireant locking dimples

Emberlit Fireant locking dimples

Our very first impression of the Emberlit FireAnt came the moment we opened the mailbox. Sorting through the various bills and junk mail there was a small padded envelope, with the Merkwares address on the return label. We knew immediately what was inside, but were surprised at how tiny and light the package was. Tearing into the package we found a thin silnylon velcro pouch. This was it. The pouch contained only six pieces, being the four walls, solid burn floor and the additional solid fuel tab buring accessory. Running our fingers around the edges you understood why Mikhail decided to produce this stove via a stamping die rather than laser cutting. All of the edges were just slightly rolled, making them not nearly as sharp as the edges on laser cut metal. Also the outside of every piece of the Emberlit FireAnt was covered in a thin onion skin type of plastic film to protect it from being damaged during manufacture. A neat feature and interesting attention to detail, but if you didn’t pay close attention, and notice this plastic, you’d be in for a smelly and sticky surprise on your stove upon your first burn. We meticulously removed all of this film from all sides on all parts, which took a minute but was not a real hastle, and then proceeded to assemble the stove.

 

The Emberlit FireAnt, as previously mentioned, has very few components, specifically six, one of which is an

Emberlit Fireant protective film

Emberlit Fireant protective film

accessory. The solid fuel burning tab is a smart add on for the use of esbit, trioxane or other solid fuel tabs. It creates a shelf about one inch away from the top of the stove so the flame of the fuel tab is in excellent proximity to the pot. We did not test, nor assemble the Emberlit FireAnt with the fuel tab option.

 

Collecting the parts we needed for creating the biomass burner box we snapped together the stove in short order. The locking tabs on each corner of the Emberlit FireAnt stove walls have an elongated ovular dimple in them. This helps to lock up the stove and give it a more rigid feel. According to the Kickstarter logs, Mikhail

made this design modification near the end of the project, which delayed it just a bit, but we believe it was worth it and a smart decision. The assembled Emberlit FireAnt was a sturdy, and tiny titanium box ready to support a medium pot and a small fire.

 

–Performance–

Emberlit Fireant boiling water in a titanium mug

Emberlit Fireant boiling water in a titanium mug

To get the fire started we gathered a fair sum of kindling sized twigs and sticks. Much of this fuel was a bit damp, as we had recently received some generous rain. This being the case we tossed in an old school paraffin and lint egg crate firestarter as our fire starting base. Packing in the twigs we realized a small drawback to a tiny firebox stove. The Emberlit FireAnt did not accept a whole lot of fuel. This was a small concern, but we fired it up and began to snap some more twigs to feed through the open front feed door. The flame went to work and got a nice little fire going pretty quick, and we then began to feed additional fuel into the fire quite easily. As a test we placed a  titanium 700ml pot full of water on top of the Emberlit FireAnt to see about how long it would take to boil. While regularly feeding the stove we did notice that our pot was becoming a bit sooty. This is not terribly surprising as the Emberlit FireAnt is pretty much just fire in a box, and smoke will soot a pot. Unless your are using a woodgas stove such as a Solo Stove, Biolite or Core Stove, this is pretty much expected. Even with this small drawback the Emberlit FireAnt performed well while we provided a steady diet of small combustible materials to the flame. Within fifteen minutes of placing our 700ml pot on top of the Emberlit FireAnt we had a rolling boil.

 

–Overall Impression–

The Emberlit FireAnt is the smallest, lightest, firebox wood stove we have ever used. It is well built, with a good attention to detail, and is quite easy to assemble. The technology that drives this little stove isn’t complicated. If you put fire in a box, and put a pot of water over the flame, eventually it will boil. Given that, the Emberlit FireAnt is a simple purpose built tool that will let you get the job done with the minimum weight and flame. It will require a bit more attention regarding regular fuel feedings, but that is the compromise for size. Overall, we loved it as a simple, everyday carry, firebox. This is the best Emberlit stove yet.

Emberlit FireAnt

9.5

Weight

10.0/10

Size9.0

9.0/10

Quality

9.0/10

Easy of Use

10.0/10

Pros

  • Light Weight
  • Small, easy to pack
  • Easy to assemble

Cons

  • Keep feeding the fire
  • Remove protective film
  • Soot on your pot

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