Fuel type: Firewood or pellets
Material: Stainless steel
Dimensions: 5.1 x 6.8 inches
The Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit is the latest in Solo Stove’s smokeless range and by far the most portable. Weighing just 1.4 lbs, this fire pit's most attractive feature is it's lightweight. It’s designed to sit on top of tables so that you can enjoy the flames without having to stoop towards the floor, and it comes with a foldable stand so that all surfaces underneath the pit are protected.
Plus, it claims to be able to create a completely smokeless fire, which these days is more of a necessity than a luxury. Once you’ve enjoyed a smokeless fire pit, returning to the ones that make you suffer from smokey eyes and the lingering after-smelling in your clothes and hair isn't easy.
Aside from producing great fires for people to gather around and enjoy, the best fire pits are also easy to use and straightforward in their design. A fire pit as small as the Mesa should be exactly that, able to be enjoyed by fire pit novices and experienced campers alike. I was keen to put the Mesa to the test and see how it fared in practice.
Its price tag seems a little high for a fire pit of this size, so I needed to get to know the ins and outs of the Mesa, which is exactly what we’ve done. In this review, I put the fire pit through its paces, testing it with firewood and wood pellets to determine whether it’s worth your cash.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Price & availability
Given the size of the Mesa, the price is quite high. That being said, Solo Stove has frequent sales on its site, and you can often find its fire pits at a heavily discounted price. At the time of writing, there is an offer to buy two Mesas and get the second half price, but the price and deals change frequently on its site, so it’s always worth checking.
The colored versions are a little more expensive ($99.99), but they look nice, and the leap in price isn’t huge by any means. Though Solo Stove products are stocked at other retailers, such as Walmart and Fire Pits USA, the Mesa isn’t currently available at any of these as it’s still a fairly new product.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Design
The Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit comes in six different colors. The blue, black, burgundy, olive green and cream options have a ceramic coating, and I received the original silver steel design. I liked how the shiny silver exterior looked on my wooden garden table and thought the fire pit blended into the surroundings nicely.
The Mesa's body is made from stainless steel, which is smooth to the touch, though it can easily reflect fingerprints. I love how easy the Mesa is to move around; being such a small fire pit, it’s no trouble at all to move it from A to B. Larger fire pits can also sometimes make an area feel cluttered, and there needs to be ample space to store them, but this isn’t the case with the Mesa.
The Mesa Fire Pit includes a stand, pellet adapter, and nylon carry bag. The stand elevates the fire pit off the table so that its surface is protected, meaning it can be used on any type of tabletop. The pellet adapter allows you to burn pellets as well as firewood, making this a dual-fuel fire pit.
Like Solo Stove’s other fire pits, the Mesa is designed with the brand's Signature 360° Airflow to super-heat the flames and create a smokeless fire. This means that whether wood or pellets are burning, the unpleasantness of smoke will be removed from the equation, and the fire can be enjoyed without it, which is always a huge plus.
When placed on the stand, the Mesa is 6.8 inches tall and 5.1 inches wide. Its capacity is either four small pieces of wood or one pound of pellets, so it should be easy to get a fire going. Smaller pieces of fuel light much quicker than bigger pieces, though fuel will need to be added to keep the fire going for longer.
The Mesa is the smallest in Solo Stove’s smokeless fire pit range, with the Ranger 2.0, Bonfire 2.0, and Yukon 2.0 each getting bigger. This makes the Mesa the most portable and the easiest to take away on vacation. Though it’s too small to cook food, it can toast a few marshmallows and provide enough heat for two or three people to enjoy.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Setup and assembly
When the Mesa first arrived, I wasn't entirely sure what it was just from looking at the box; it seemed so small for a fire pit. It was packaged very compactly, with the flame ring, pellet adapter, and foldable stand contained within the body of the fire pit, which was in the drawstring carry case. There was no single-use plastic, just two cardboard boxes and two soft foam covers for the pellet adapter and stand.
I loved how no assembly process was required to start using the fire pit. I simply unfolded the stand and put the pellet adapter to one side, keeping the flame ring nearby, as this is added once the fuel has been lit. The four legs of the stand click into place and hold the base of the fire pit perfectly, and I like how this can be folded back up and stored within the fire pit when it's not in use.
There’s also a small fold-up instruction booklet that explains the best way to use the fire pit safely. The booklet includes clear instructions for using wood and pellets, which I thought would be good to refer to in case I encountered any issues. The booklet also contains some smores recipes, which I thought was a nice addition.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Performance
My favorite thing about the Mesa is how easy it is to use. I added a firelighter to the center of the pit and lit this with a long lighter, then placed small pieces of wood around it to catch fire. It took less than five minutes for the fire to spread and the flames to rise out of the pit. I continued to add smaller pieces of wood and some twigs until the fire pit was full, making sure not to cover the burn holes at the top.
Each time I used the Mesa with firewood, I kept the fire going for around 20 minutes. It’s easy to keep adding wood, and there’s potential for the fire to keep burning longer if it receives a continuous supply of fuel. I needed to keep cutting up chunks of firewood so that they were small enough to fit inside the pit, so a little bit of effort was required.
Using the pellets was equally as simple. I placed the pellet adapter in the burn chamber with a fire lighter underneath, which again I lit with a long lighter. I then added a plentiful supply of pellets and watched as they caught fire, creating flames that lasted for around 20 minutes again. Using both the wood and the pellets as fuel created good fires, and I was impressed with how the flames looked coming out of the top of the pit.
I was also pleased with how smoke-free the fires were. There was a little smoke at first, but overall, the smoke produced was minor, and I could stand close to the fire pit without moving. I also made the mistake of smothering the burn holes with too many pellets at one point, which resulted in a lot of smoke. The smoke dissipated once these could breathe again, and the flames rose properly.
The Mesa felt incredibly safe to use, and the children and adults in my family enjoyed it. I loved getting it out in the evening and watching the flames or toasting marshmallows. Being so small, it doesn’t produce loads of heat, and you do have to stand close to feel it, which is something to keep in mind if you want a fire pit that can be enjoyed by many people at once.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Care & maintenance
Storing the Mesa is easy. The stand can be folded and placed back inside the pit with the pellet adapter. I kept ours inside the carry bag and stored it in the outhouse, though it’s small enough to keep in an indoor cabinet.
Something to note is that the steel visibly reflects the ash from the fire. The flame ring was a rusty shade of brown after I lit my first fire, as was the inside of the pit, and my fingers turned black from touching it. This can be avoided if the outer body holds the fire pit, which doesn’t turn brown or ashy. Though the spotless silver aesthetic quickly disappeared, I didn’t mind that the fire pit showed signs of use and thought it would be pointless scrubbing the ashy remains away, as the next fire would produce the same effect.
About caring for the Mesa, Ty Hancock, Solo Stove's Product Marketing Manager, says, “Mesa should be emptied after each use to maintain optimal airflow. Wait until Mesa has completely cooled, then empty the ashes into a fire-safe bin by simply turning it over. If you wish to clean the outside of your Mesa, use Barkeepers Friend for the stainless version, or warm soapy water and a microfiber towel for the colored versions.”
Solo Stove offers a lifetime warranty on all of their products. This covers any manufacturing defects but not general wear and tear or damage due to misuse. Warranty claims are also only applicable for orders placed directly through Solo Stove, which is something to note if you’re considering buying through a third-party company like Amazon.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: User Reviews
As a new product, the Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit has only 45 reviews on Amazon, though these have produced an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars. 72% of reviewers gave the product 5 stars, including one user who wrote, “Our family loves this little stove. If you're looking for major heat output, go with a larger model, but this one is perfect for s'mores and ambiance. It's easy to use and clean.”
There are many more customers who bought the Mesa directly from Solo Stove. 2014 reviews on the website produced an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is a really positive indicator of how people are responding to the fire pit. One customer wrote, “It is so much fun and easy to use. Portability can't be beat!”
Unfortunately, some people have been left disappointed by their experience with Mesa. One reviewer wrote, “I'm a huge fan of Solo Stove but highly disappointed with this little Mesa stove. I can't keep it going with pellets, and it smokes terribly when I try to add pellets to the stove. It provides very little heat when it is burning.”
Most complaints seem to come from people using pellets rather than firewood as fuel, suggesting that the pellets are the main source of difficulty, though this wasn’t our experience in testing. Some people believe the Mesa to be overpriced, given that it’s too small to produce a long-lasting fire.
Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit: Expert opinion
Ty Hancock from Solo Stove says, “The Mesa is perfect for anyone who wants to spend some enjoyable time outdoors. From parents who want to roast smores with their kids to individuals who want to sit outside and enjoy a mesmerizing flame, it is extremely usable for all households and skill levels.
We really feel like this product is easy enough for anyone to use, and appropriately sized for virtually any space/house.
Ty Hancock
If purchased, there will be the ongoing costs of fuel as well as the initial upfront cost of the fire pit. Ty says, “How much it costs to enjoy the Mesa over a couple of years depends on usage, as well as the cost of fuel, which fuel you are using, and if fuel stays at a similar price as right now. Theoretically, if you burned a pound of pellets daily for a year, that could cost you as little as $61.”
Should you buy the Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit?
The Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit is a really enjoyable little fire pit. It’s easy to use, hassle-free and doesn’t require a lot of cleaning. Though small, it produces strong fires, and the flames that rise out the top are enjoyable to watch.
The silver steel version looks great on top of an outdoor table, but the ceramic versions, with their choice of stylish colors, could look even better. If you’re looking for a small fire pit that takes up very little storage space and that you can easily take away on vacation, then the Mesa could be the one for you.
Plus, it is smokeless; just make sure to keep the air holes free of fuel, and you’ll be able to enjoy the fire without suffering the unpleasantness of smoke. You’ll be able to enjoy a fire for 30 minutes or longer if you keep supplying it with fuel. Pellets and firewood are both suitable, though firewood needs to be chopped up small to fit, which can be a little bit of effort. I’d recommend the Mesa for people with little fire pit experience. Compared to bigger designs, this makes getting a nice fire going easy.
The only critique I have of the Mesa is the price. It’s quite expensive for what it is, and given that it can’t create a lot of heat, you may want to buy two so that multiple people can enjoy using the Mesa at once. That said, you may get good value for money if you buy directly from Solo Stove because of their frequent sales and offers. There’s also the ongoing cost of fuel to maintain, though the Mesa requires less fuel than other, larger fire pits.
How does the Solo Stove Mesa Tabletop Fire Pit compare?
The Mesa is around $100 cheaper than the next fire pit in Solo Stove’s range (Ranger 2.0), but it’s also significantly smaller. We’ve also tested Solo Stove’s Bonfire 2.0, which works like the Mesa but gives a different experience because it’s so much bigger.
The Mesa obviously gives off a lot less heat than the Bonfire, and you do have to stand pretty close to feel it, but this doesn’t make it less enjoyable. I liked how easy it was to get a fire going in the Mesa; it took much less time and fuel than the Bonfire.
We’ve also tested the BioLite FirePit+, which had smart technology features and a rechargeable powerpack that controlled a fan in the fire pit. I enjoyed the FirePit+, but it produced more smoke than fires in Solo Stove’s products.
The Mesa is by far the most hassle-free and easiest to use, and something I’d recommend for those with less fire pit experience. It’s also the most portable, though if you want a fire pit that can be used by several people at once, the Mesa may not be the best choice; only a couple of people at a time can get close enough to feel the heat.
