Honey or Hive stove - Opinions?

[Roefisher]

Hello,

I've been looking and fancy trying the Honey stove but I'm not sure if it's worth going the extra for titanium over SS?

Also, because it would generally be for solo cooking so would there be any benefit to buying the Hive expansion? I had thought it would maybe be good for making a fry with a couple of pans on the go at the same time.

All ideas, opinions and tips welcome!

Mark

 

[Roefisher]

Well, I've had a quick look at some videos and a couple of reviews since. I had checked all this out before (this wee bug has been biting for a while!) so it was really only to remind me about it all.

I thought "why not?" and went for the Honey stove and the Hive kit.

Really weird how I started out with Meths burners, went on to bottled multi fuel stoves and now I'm back to the Meths again, carrying various little stoves with me every day for my lunch breaks at work as well as my riverside walks and strolls over the fields. Recently, I've fancied a packable woodburner stove for when I'm out with a couple of hours to relax and cook something so this should be a grand way to try them out.

Mark

 

[Barney Rubble]

Good choice! I have the s/s honey stove and find that it's a joy to use. It will warp after a little bit of use but don't worry as it doesn't affect its use and is still pretty easy to assemble. I've yet to get the expanson kit but have been thinking about doing so as I use it with one of those cheap folding grills that backpackinglight like to recommend using with the stove and it is very good as it turns the stove into a dual burner enabling you to boil your kettle and fry your sausages at the same time!. I think the expansion kit will just mean that you can burn bigger bits of wood and spend less time tending the fire (even though it's quite nice, almost therapeutic, tending the fire!).

In it's standard form though I think the s/s honesy stove is great for back packing as it folds down to nothing, weighs very little and can easily burn many different fuels. Best of all, it's designed and made in Britain!

 

[Roefisher]

Thanks, Barney Rubble

That sounds great - all the features and quality I'm after. Like you also mentioned, I fancy the Hive because it'll mean a couple of pots easily on the go at once with no crowding as well as a larger fuel area.

I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Mark

 

[TinkyPete]

I have the stainless honey and hive and I have been using mine well over 5 years now (I can not remember when I got it, but it is an early model pre 2010). It is a great stove I mainly use the Honey but the Hive has been used when I wanted a bigger fire. The Honey itself will accomodated pratically any pan (I did see one pan that does not fit perfectly in the normal Honey set up and I was shocked but for every pan I use it works great ( with the new mesh grill that they have that problem is solved). I have even had a 4 and 8 litre dutch ovens on mine and it worked well with no trouble. I have used most fuels in it with no trouble including coal, BBQ brickets, cat pellets and a large variety of diiferent woods.

It is light and easy to pack as it goes flat and is still very light weight when compared to other SS stoves. I still reach for it on many walking camps cause of the weight and versatility. work great with a trangia burner and you can still use the simmer ring easily in the normal set up but if you go to just 4 pieces it becomes a little harder

 

[Roefisher]

Cheers, Pete. Some range of fuels there!

The Trangia burner option is always useful too as it's handy to have simmering available. Not all smaller stoves have that feature and I've got a couple where you can't even swing it open at all hardly because the frame is too close. I get around it by holding the pan away now and again but that's not ideal, overheating still happens.

Roll on the Honey stove

Mark

 

[Tonyuk]

I use a honey type clone with the mini trangia, it works well with the burner and is more windproof than the stand supplied with the trangia itself, as well as packing down smaller. With this i can fit the stove, burner, tea & coffee + folding spoon all into the bowl and snap the lid shut, putting the bag the stove came in at the top stops the non-stick getting scratched too.

Tonyuk

 

[decorum]

... The Honey itself will accomodated pratically any pan (I did see one pan that does not fit perfectly in the normal Honey set up and I was shocked but for every pan I use it works great ...).

As with most things in life, I can generally find the exception

The offending pan in question is the swing arm billy in the Tatonka Large* Cookset. And it's *that* size ~ a couple of mm too wide to sit within the walls of the stove but, at the same time, a couple of mm too small to sit on the walls


* I could be wrong but I have a faint recollection that it was originally called Cookset 2 ~ the 1 was, allegedly, for solo use, 2 for two ... Nah, not unless you're a seriously skinny bean! ;-)

 

[Nohoval_Turrets]

I have the Honey/Hive in Ti, and I love it! If I'm just cooking I normally use the Honey setup, but I use the Hive to run a small fire. It's not as versatile as just an open fire - you're more limited in the size of wood you can use, and everything has to be broken down to fit inside. And all that means it requires more attention to keep it going. But against that it's much easier to protect the ground, and you can eke out a small amount of fuel.

 

[Roefisher]

I've used the Honey stove a few times (5 or 6, I think) and it has been alright. To be honest, I haven't used the Hive expansion at all although I will do later because I am back fishing again now and want to try cooking Salmon & trout on the larger grill.

Overall, thumbs up and it has performed well. I started out with the Trangia burner to see how it all worked first of all and then I tried a few small sticks before going to charcoal blocks and sticks. The lugs are fair bit looser now than when new but that's mentioned and it's normal. It's still strong and sound.

Light, easily carried but still practical and dependable. Hopefully the Hive kit will be as good when I get the chance to try it out later on.

Mark

 

[Barney Rubble]

Nice one, glad you're enjoying it. Have a look at getting one of the folding grills. They only cost about 6 quid (google coghlans pack grill) and make it easier to cook and manage the fire. They're also good to have on their own whenever youre havingan open fire.

 

[Roefisher]

Nice one, glad you're enjoying it. Have a look at getting one of the folding grills. They only cost about 6 quid (google coghlans pack grill) and make it easier to cook and manage the fire. They're also good to have on their own whenever youre havingan open fire.

Thanks for the tip - I'll have a look at them

Mark