Cooking is more than just a necessity when you’re on the road, it’s part of the experience. Whether it’s a quick breakfast before hitting the trail or grilling up something special after a long day off-grid, having the right stove makes all the difference. For me, cooking isn’t just a way to fuel up, it’s how I unwind, take a breath, and enjoy the moment. So when I bring gear into my camp kitchen, it has to earn its keep.
Enter the Summit Stove, a compact, all-steel beast that’s become a permanent part of my overlanding setup over the last few months. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t come with a Bluetooth app or space-age attachments. But what it does offer is simplicity, reliability, and versatility, the kind of traits you only really appreciate after a few dusty trips and late-night campfire meals.
What caught my attention right away was the design. This stove folds down into a surprisingly small footprint, yet when it’s set up, it’s rock solid. You can burn wood or charcoal, which not only gives you cooking options but also lets you tap into that unbeatable smoky flavor. It heats up fast, doesn’t ask much from you, and puts out consistently good results whether you’re frying, simmering, or boiling water for a backcountry brew.
In short, it’s the kind of stove that quietly earns MVP status in your camp kit, not because it’s flashy, but because it works. Every time. So, if you’re looking for a rugged, no-fuss stove that delivers the kind of performance outdoor cooking deserves, stick around. Let’s break down everything the Summit Stove has to offer.
Table of Contents
- Summit Stove Review: Essential Specs and Features
- Summit Stove Review: Easy as Pie to Set Up and Take Down
- Summit Stove Review: This Thing is Purpose-Built for Outdoor Adventures
- Summit Stove Review: Cook With Wood or Charcoal for Great-Tasting Food
- Pros and Cons of the Summit Stove
- FAQs
Summit Stove Review: Essential Specs and Features
One of the best features of the Summit Stove is its size. The entire stove folds into a 4″ x 4″ x 17″ box! When you’re camping and overlanding, space is always at a premium, so having something this compact is a major bonus.
Of course, that compactness also means this stove is extremely easy to move from your truck to the picnic table to start cooking. At 22 pounds, it isn’t as featherlight as a backpacking stove. However, it’s not so heavy that you need a team of friends to help you move it, either.
As you can see in the images above and below, the stove has a unique design that allows you to add your combustible material of choice without interfering with the cooking process. The stove can be used with charcoal or wood, so you can cook up some awesome food with that oh-so-good charcoal or wood flavoring (more on that in a bit).
The stove features all-steel construction, which makes it ultra durable. Use it for camping, overlanding, tailgating, cooking fresh-caught fish on the riverbank – you name it!
Summit Stove Review: Easy as Pie to Set Up and Take Down
I don’t know about you, but when I get to camp that first day, I’m usually ready for a big meal. Thankfully, the Summit Stove obliges with an easy set up and take down process.
As I noted earlier, the stove is compact and lightweight, so unloading it from my truck requires minimal effort. After finding a nice flat area to set up the stove (usually on my Tailgater Tire Table), setup is a really simple process:
- Unload the stove’s hardware from inside the vertical tube.
- Fold the fuel feeder tube out.
- Add the pan supports to the top of the stove.
- Add charcoal or wood, and light it with my propane torch!
You can see this entire process unfold in my video above. As you’ll see, it really couldn’t be any easier. In just a few moments, you can have the Summit Stove packed with wood or charcoal and heating up to get your meal ready. Speaking of heating up, this stove gets up to temperature fast. You don’t have to wait long before adding a pot or pan on top of this stove to get your cook on!
Summit Stove Review: This Thing is Purpose-Built for Outdoor Adventures
It’s worth discussing just how well-made this stove is…
When you invest in camping or overlanding gear, you want to get stuff that will do its job and do it for a long period of time. Now, I could’ve added a cheap camp stove to my kit and gotten a year or two of use out of it. But as we all know, cheap camping and overlanding gear is cheap for a reason – it’s usually not built well.
The Summit Stove isn’t like that, though. It’s made entirely of heavy-duty 304 stainless steel, which offers a level of durability that your outdoor adventures demand. You don’t have to worry about dust, dirt, rain, snow, or other elements damaging this stove. There are no buttons or hoses or electrical components to fail, either.
Instead, you get a rock-solid cooking stove that can take the bumps and bruises of overland travel and inclement weather. That’s exactly what you want when you’re buying components for your camping kitchen!
Summit Stove Review: Cook With Wood or Charcoal for Great-Tasting Food
I don’t want to gloss over the importance of being able to cook with charcoal or wood…
I personally love the flavor that charcoal and wood bring to the table for cooking. The food simply tastes so much better when cooking fuel isn’t involved! Plus, without the need to lug around a heavy propane tank, you free up space in your rig for a bag of charcoal or a few pieces of firewood.
Of course, cooking with wood as I do, I can also scrounge around camp to find wood to burn (in most cases, anyway). So not only do I save space by not having to bring propane, but I also save money by using what nature provides to fuel my Summit Stove. It’s a win-win!
Pros and Cons of the Summit Stove
So, by this point, you have a sense of what the Summit Stove does well:
- It has a bulletproof design that’s easy to set up and take down, compact, and lightweight.
- The ability to use charcoal or wood gives you options for cooking how it best suits you.
- The stove heats up quickly and maintains an even temperature.
- The stove is usable in all sorts of applications and environments.
- The stainless steel construction makes the stove really easy to clean.
Now, what about the downsides of the Summit Stove?
After several months of usage, I’m struggling to come up with any true cons with this thing. Sure, you have to bring charcoal or wood along to cook, but you’d have to bring a propane bottle with you if you had a gas stove, so the space factor is a wash.
Honestly, the only nit-picky thing I can think of is that the bolts at the top of the stove can interfere with removing the hardware when setting up the stove (you can see what I mean in my video found earlier in this article). But, to be fair, the difficulty I had with unpacking the stove had more to do with my not unpacking it in the right order than it did with the stove’s design.
In other words, this stove is a total rock star – that’s why it was my top pick for the best overlanding cooking accessories of 2024! It does what it’s supposed to do and does it well without much fuss from you. Though I have plenty of other cooking options when I’m camping, the Summit Stove has become my go-to. Check it out for yourself to see if it should be in your camping kitchen as well!
FAQs
How portable is the Summit Stove for camping and overlanding trips?
The Summit Stove was clearly designed with portability in mind. It folds into a tidy 4″ x 4″ x 17″ box and weighs about 22 pounds. That makes it easy to stash in your rig without taking up a ton of room. While it’s not ultralight like a backpacking stove, it strikes a great balance for vehicle-based adventures—compact enough to carry around, but sturdy enough to trust with real cooking.
Is it really that easy to set up and use?
Yep, this thing is refreshingly simple. Setup takes maybe two minutes, even if it’s your first time. You pull out the components from inside the main tube, fold out the feeder, snap on the pan supports, and you’re ready to load up fuel. There’s no messing around with wires or valves. It heats up fast, and once you get it going, you’re cooking on a stable, hot surface in no time.
What kind of fuel works best, charcoal or wood?
It depends on what you’re cooking and what kind of vibe you’re after. Charcoal burns more evenly and gives you a steady, predictable heat, great for low-and-slow cooking or searing steaks. Wood, on the other hand, brings that unbeatable smoky flavor and a touch of wilderness charm. I usually bring a bag of charcoal but love having the option to forage for burnable wood around camp if I want that extra layer of flavor.
How does it perform compared to gas or propane stoves?
In some ways, it’s better. You don’t need to haul a propane canister, worry about regulators, or mess with clogged jets. The Summit Stove heats up fast, holds heat well, and gives you that delicious flavor you can only get from live fuel. That said, it’s not as instantly “on-demand” as gas, and you’ll need to tend your fire a bit. But honestly? That’s part of the fun. It brings a more natural, hands-on feel to cooking outdoors.
Any real drawbacks or things to watch out for?
Not really but like any solid piece of gear, there’s a small learning curve. If you don’t unpack the hardware in the right order, it can get a little jammed (as I found out early on). And yeah, you’ll need to bring fuel or find it at camp. But those aren’t downsides, they’re just part of the experience. Once you get a few uses under your belt, setup becomes second nature and you’ll wonder how you ever camped without it.
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