Jetboil Alternative? Experts Review the OEX Heiro Solo Stove
The OEX Heiro Solo Stove is a lightweight and compact backpacking stove. It is designed to boil water quickly and efficiently, making it ideal for solo camping or hiking trips where convenience is the name of the game. OEX specialises in creating high-quality, hard-wearing gear for a great price. The Heiro stays true to form, with respected outdoor experts praising it for its performance and value. Read all about it and watch the latest expert reviews below.
The five best features of the OEX Heiro stove
Packability
A lot of thought has gone into the design of the Heiro. All components fit inside the 600ml pot and leave just enough room to stash a 110g gas canister. The foldaway handles feel secure when opened and closed and the secure lid keeps everything in place inside your pack.
Stormproof
The weatherproof design means that high winds or rain won’t scupper your chances of a hot meal. If you’re planning to use this stove while wild camping at the base of a mountain or along one of Britain’s remote hiking trails, you’ll most likely encounter at least one of those weather conditions. For extra safety, we recommend using the OEX Gas Canister Stabilising Stand alongside the stove.
All-in-one design
The pot, stove and ignitor are all built-in and the base screws directly onto a gas canister. This integrated design makes using the stove super quick and easy. There’s no need to decant into a separate pot either thanks to the slotted lid with a drinking hole and neoprene sleeve that allows you to safely hold the pot when it’s hot.
Heat exchange base
This clever little feature improves the stove’s efficiency by 30%. The Heat Exchanger is the ‘corrugated’ aluminium section under the pot. It works by increasing the metal surface area meaning more heat is transferred up into the pot. It also directs the heat more to the metal surfaces rather than out and up the sides.
Capacity & weight
A 600ml capacity is smaller than most solo stoves, but it’s perfect for basic soloist use. You won’t be able to knock up a full English in there, but there’s enough room to boil a food pouch such as a Wayfayrer meal or heat up tinned foods like beans. The reduced capacity trims the weight down to just 370g, which is welcomed news for ultralight backpackers.
How does an OEX Heiro compare to a Jetboil?
To put this to the test, we sent an OEX Heiro Stove to outdoor YouTuber Paul Messner to compare with the Jetboil Zip stove. Usually the top of the market, the Jetboil Zip is renowned for it’s fast boiling times and fantastic performance on camping trips, blowing other brands out of the water and making it the king of outdoor stoves. When pitted against the OEX Heiro however, Paul places the Jetboil in a solid second place.
“If you just want something to boil your water or cook up a boil in the bag meal, for £45 vs £80, it’s a no brainer for me. I would go with the OEX stove. Normally I would choose the Jetboil every time but the Heiro, on this occassion, is better than the Zip.”
Check out Paul’s website and YouTube channel below.
What can you cook with an OEX Heiro stove?
The OEX Heiro is a versatile stove that can be used to cook up a variety of warm, energy-boosting meals and snacks while camping off grid. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Porridge: Bring water to a boil in the OEX Heiro and add instant oats for a quick and easy breakfast.
- Tinned Soup/Cup-a-soup: Heat a cup of soup in the OEX Heiro for a warm and comforting meal.
- Dehydrated meals: Freeze-dried meals like Firepot are designed to be prepared using camping stoves like the OEX Heiro, making them a convenient option for camping trips. Just boil some water in the stove and add it to the pouch.
- Ready-to-eat pouches: Instead of boiling water and adding it to the pouch, pouches like Wayfayrer are designed to be submerged in water for around 8 minutes to heat the food inside.
- Noodles: Boil water in the OEX Heiro and add ramen noodles for a quick and easy meal.
- Coffee or tea: Heat up water in the OEX Heiro for a hot cup of coffee or tea.
- Dehydrated fruits and vegetables: Rehydrate dehydrated fruits and vegetables in the OEX Heiro for a healthy snack.
- Eggs: You can also cook eggs in the OEX Heiro by scrambling them in the pot on a gentle heat.
Is the OEX Heiro Stove worth buying?
We also gave English Woodsman a new Heiro stove to try out and give us his thoughts!
“It’s small, it’s compact, I can get a meal inside of it and it has everything that I would use if I went out camping.”
