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I'm currently on the Appalachian Trail and have seen a few of these... They're neat, but dont work very well. Maybe for a weekend trip. Not for serious distance

I'm currently on the Appalachian Trail and have seen a few of these... They're neat, but dont work very well. Maybe for a weekend trip. Not for serious distance hikers.

mattgrice 12y ago
For a few days, you can just bring a battery. They are much cheaper and more convenient. It is an interesting novelty, but it is just so heavy, bulky, and slow that I am having trouble understanding who this would work for.
- swalberg 12y ago
  I could see this being handy on larger group camps. I'm a Scout leader and for a weekend camp will take a battery pack that will keep all our leader's phones charged for the weekend, but if it were any longer or wanted to give the neighbouring camps a charge, would need something solar or fuelled. From what I've seen of the solar stuff out there, most can't keep up with constant charging.
  - mattgrice 12y ago
    All the reviews I have seen seem to agree that it takes around 4 hours to for the BioLite fully charge an iPhone. For the same amount of weight you could carry 3 Anker 12,000 mAh batteries, which I believe would provide on the order of 15 charges, at a cost of $150. Unless you have scouts tending the BioLite constantly, I think it is definitely not a solution for groups.
    - thret 12y ago
      Fortunately scout labour is free :)
    - hrjet 12y ago
      But can the batteries cook your dinner?
      - mattgrice 12y ago
        Well, it only boils water. For that purpose some competitors would be: - Backcountry Boiler, which is also wood-fueled and 1/4 the weight. - Jetboil Sol, half the weight including fuel canister. canister good for 20+ boils - alcohol or esbit burner + titanium cup and fuel - less than 1/3 the weight including fuel The only scenario I can think of where the BioLite makes sense is if you have no access to electricity for weeks at a time. Even then I think solar panels make more sense.
sitkack 12y ago
Why not a solar panel?
- mpapi 12y ago
  It's primarily a stove, and does a relatively good job at boiling water or cooking food. As a nice bonus for us, we used it to shave some crank time off a hand-crank/USB-chargeable lantern, deep enough in the woods that a solar panel probably wouldn't have done a whole lot. (FWIW, I generally agree that it's probably not great for serious backpacking, but I had a lot of fun using while camping.)
uberuberuber 12y ago
On the AT up to a few weeks ago. A few hundred miles in a weekend hiker with one of these at a shelter let everyone recharge their devices and they were a modern Prometheus to us. If weight (33 oz + pot + utensil) were not such a crucial consideration to one's happiness when long distance hiking it would definitely be in my pack. It has worked very well for me when testing at home (boils 1 liter of water in ~4 minutes using a handful of wood fuel) and charges devices (subjectively) as fast as my wall outlet. I plan on winter hiking thru some areas with re-supply locations > 7 days apart and may use the biolite in place of my solar external battery (9.4 oz) since it will also serve for melting snow. I did not cook anything while on the AT (just soylent and mainstay bars) but I anticipate that warm meals will make winter hiking more enjoyable.

I'm currently on the Appalachian Trail and have seen a few of these... They're neat, but dont work very well. Maybe for a weekend trip. Not for serious distance hikers.

mattgrice 12y ago

For a few days, you can just bring a battery. They are much cheaper and more convenient. It is an interesting novelty, but it is just so heavy, bulky, and slow that I am having trouble understanding who this would work for.

swalberg 12y ago
I could see this being handy on larger group camps. I'm a Scout leader and for a weekend camp will take a battery pack that will keep all our leader's phones charged for the weekend, but if it were any longer or wanted to give the neighbouring camps a charge, would need something solar or fuelled. From what I've seen of the solar stuff out there, most can't keep up with constant charging.
- mattgrice 12y ago
  All the reviews I have seen seem to agree that it takes around 4 hours to for the BioLite fully charge an iPhone. For the same amount of weight you could carry 3 Anker 12,000 mAh batteries, which I believe would provide on the order of 15 charges, at a cost of $150. Unless you have scouts tending the BioLite constantly, I think it is definitely not a solution for groups.
  - thret 12y ago
    Fortunately scout labour is free :)
  - hrjet 12y ago
    But can the batteries cook your dinner?
    - mattgrice 12y ago
      Well, it only boils water. For that purpose some competitors would be: - Backcountry Boiler, which is also wood-fueled and 1/4 the weight. - Jetboil Sol, half the weight including fuel canister. canister good for 20+ boils - alcohol or esbit burner + titanium cup and fuel - less than 1/3 the weight including fuel The only scenario I can think of where the BioLite makes sense is if you have no access to electricity for weeks at a time. Even then I think solar panels make more sense.

sitkack 12y ago

Why not a solar panel?

mpapi 12y ago
It's primarily a stove, and does a relatively good job at boiling water or cooking food. As a nice bonus for us, we used it to shave some crank time off a hand-crank/USB-chargeable lantern, deep enough in the woods that a solar panel probably wouldn't have done a whole lot. (FWIW, I generally agree that it's probably not great for serious backpacking, but I had a lot of fun using while camping.)

uberuberuber 12y ago

On the AT up to a few weeks ago. A few hundred miles in a weekend hiker with one of these at a shelter let everyone recharge their devices and they were a modern Prometheus to us. If weight (33 oz + pot + utensil) were not such a crucial consideration to one's happiness when long distance hiking it would definitely be in my pack. It has worked very well for me when testing at home (boils 1 liter of water in ~4 minutes using a handful of wood fuel) and charges devices (subjectively) as fast as my wall outlet. I plan on winter hiking thru some areas with re-supply locations > 7 days apart and may use the biolite in place of my solar external battery (9.4 oz) since it will also serve for melting snow. I did not cook anything while on the AT (just soylent and mainstay bars) but I anticipate that warm meals will make winter hiking more enjoyable.