It set up quickly and fire started easy. My firewood is not great. Some pine and probably elm, bought from the backyard of some random person in town.

When I got the bigger 3-4” logs in the flames, the fire grew quickly, burned well, and I could see the “gasifier” effect; flames appear to shoot from the round holes near the top of the unit.

I ended up with a lot of black smoke. It’s probable my wood was a bit damp.

My biggest disappointment? Heat does not effectively radiate from the stainless steel walls. I placed my hand an inch or so from the side, where it felt cool, and was fooled into thinking it wasn’t hot. When I touched the side it would definitely have left a nasty burn had I not been quick.

Heat radiates well above the top of the unit, while there’s a hot fire. Sitting around the bonfire, my legs were not kept warm.

This is a very efficient way to burn wood, and directing nearly all that heat straight up like a focused mag-light. Some is radiated outward, but most is directed in a beam towards the sky.

A nice conversation piece, fun to play with fire in this unit, but not really a great source of heat to sit aroun.md on a cold evening.