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We've got one. My wife's used it on a weekend camping trip; I haven't had the opportunity so far, so this is her second-hand report ... It works as described.

by cstross 12y ago

We've got one. My wife's used it on a weekend camping trip; I haven't had the opportunity so far, so this is her second-hand report ... It works as described. However, you need to charge the power module before the first time you use it! The Biolite stove relies on fan assistance, so if there's no juice the stove won't work. Once it's working, it works fine and charges the power module (via the built-in thermocouple). The stove is designed to fold down and fit inside the optional kettle, so what superficially looks like a bulky kit is rather less so in practice. However, the stove+kettle combination weighs about 1.1Kg. There are lighter camp stoves out there (until you start adding in gas cylinders). The optional grill doesn't seem to fold down/store concentrically with anything, so it adds bulk while costing rather more than rival cheap camping grils.

sitkack 12y ago
That sounds like a huge design flaw. It should have a hand crank to start moving air over the TEC so it can create enough power to run the fan motor. It seems kinda wrong to be out in nature, burning wood to charge a device. Why is this better than a small solar panel? A panel wouldn't have the fire danger, could be left out all day and charge its own batteries. Also, the efficiency of a TEC is really low, lower than solar panels by a pretty large margin.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Solar panels require sunlight of sufficient strength, something you can't rely on.
- mtabini 12y ago
  I reviewed one of these a couple years ago for Macworld, and ended up buying one to take on my camping trips. You don't actually need to charge the power unit in order to use the stove; even if you start with a completely run-down battery, the unit will eventually generate enough electricity to start the fan and achieve maximum efficiency. Also, it's always seemed to me that the Biolite is designed primarily as a reasonably efficient biomass stove—a role that, in my experience, it fulfills really well, even with wet wood. I've cooked plenty of meals on it, and it's much more convenient to carry around than a propane or white gas stove (as a bonus, you also don't walk around with explosives in your backpack). The ability to charge devices is a happy byproduct. It's handy when you're cooking up some food and want to power up your phone or GPS receiver. It's probably not as efficient as a solar charges but (a) a solar charger won't cook food, so the Biolite is a convenient multitasker that requires less backpack room, and (b) the solar charger doesn't work at night, when it's cloudy, and so forth. EDIT: FWIW, I also have a PowerPot, which is mentioned elsewhere in this thread. It's pretty cool, and works well; it's also my preferred charging method when I am not cooking, since I can just fill it with water and leave it on the campfire for as long as I need (the Biolite, on the other hand, needs constant feeding of fuel to continue running).
qwerta 12y ago
Hm, my solar charger with the same output has 250 grams. Cook-kit 400 grams.

by cstross 12y ago

sitkack 12y ago

That sounds like a huge design flaw. It should have a hand crank to start moving air over the TEC so it can create enough power to run the fan motor. It seems kinda wrong to be out in nature, burning wood to charge a device. Why is this better than a small solar panel? A panel wouldn't have the fire danger, could be left out all day and charge its own batteries. Also, the efficiency of a TEC is really low, lower than solar panels by a pretty large margin.

jacquesm 12y ago
Solar panels require sunlight of sufficient strength, something you can't rely on.
mtabini 12y ago
I reviewed one of these a couple years ago for Macworld, and ended up buying one to take on my camping trips. You don't actually need to charge the power unit in order to use the stove; even if you start with a completely run-down battery, the unit will eventually generate enough electricity to start the fan and achieve maximum efficiency. Also, it's always seemed to me that the Biolite is designed primarily as a reasonably efficient biomass stove—a role that, in my experience, it fulfills really well, even with wet wood. I've cooked plenty of meals on it, and it's much more convenient to carry around than a propane or white gas stove (as a bonus, you also don't walk around with explosives in your backpack). The ability to charge devices is a happy byproduct. It's handy when you're cooking up some food and want to power up your phone or GPS receiver. It's probably not as efficient as a solar charges but (a) a solar charger won't cook food, so the Biolite is a convenient multitasker that requires less backpack room, and (b) the solar charger doesn't work at night, when it's cloudy, and so forth. EDIT: FWIW, I also have a PowerPot, which is mentioned elsewhere in this thread. It's pretty cool, and works well; it's also my preferred charging method when I am not cooking, since I can just fill it with water and leave it on the campfire for as long as I need (the Biolite, on the other hand, needs constant feeding of fuel to continue running).

qwerta 12y ago

Hm, my solar charger with the same output has 250 grams. Cook-kit 400 grams.