Tags
Biolite, camping, cell phone, hiking, nature, outdoors, power charger, products, REI, review, stove, technology, wood, wood burning
Stove and Power Charger in One
Biolite Wood Burning Camp stove. It combines the easy, no propane, wood burning stove and an off grid power charger so you can cook a meal and charge your gadgets at the same time. Using patent-pending thermoelectric technology, the stove converts heat to electricity that charges an internal battery and powers a fan to increase the efficiency of the fire. For an iPhone 4S, with 20 minute charging time of a good fire, you get 60 minutes of talking time with your cell phone. The stove comes with a battery to help kick start the fire so they suggest charging the battery 2-4 hours before leaving. The stove weighs 2 lbs and is 5×8 1/2 inches. Oh yeah, its $129.95 at REI.
Now, one of my favorite spots gets no cell phone reception and that’s why I love it! I love not having my cell phone! Nothing is more foreign to me than talking on your cell in the middle of the forest. I can understand if you are on-call or need to talk and I also understand if you need a GPS or other gadgets! The technology sounds pretty cool though! We have an MSR MicroRocket and we love it- the propane last a few trips too so that doesn’t bug us. And it boils water super fast so I have mixed feelings but that’s just me. What do you think about the BioLite Stove?!
Girly Camping® 
This post came at a perfect time for me. REi is having a garage sale at 9 AM in New Jersey and I was going to buy a stove.
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Nice! Its new to the market so if they don’t have one, try MSR MicroRocket or PocketRocket stoves! They are awesome and around $30-$50 regularly
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I like the idea of not driving around with propane but if they don’t have the stove that could charge an iPhone 5, I’ll go with what you suggest. Thanks, I’ll be following you for advice.
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Yeah, unfortunately its new technology so the chance of getting it on sale is kinda slim BUT you never know! They have solar chargers so you may have to get a charger and a stove seperately. Please let me know what you end up getting! 🙂
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I have the PocketRocket and it cooks like crazy. I used it at Sturgis and it cooked my hash (corned beef that is) and boiled water crazy fast. I do like, however, the idea of using scrap wood and not having to buy fuel.
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I think it’s kind of a waste for backpacking. It just weighs too much. I could see the appeal for car camping because weight wouldn’t matter as much, and you would also have more time in camp to keep the fire stoked for charging. If you’re standing still, I think a good solar charger would be a lot less work.
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Yes, very true! 2 lbs doesn’t seem like a lot but when you have 40-60 back, every pound matters!
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I carry a base weight around 7-8lbs. My stove, windscreen, fuel bottle, spare battery and 5 days of fuel weigh 1lb total. Carrying the Biolite would increase my load by 12-14% and be less versatile. The gear nerd in me still wants to get one if they ever go on sale. It would be fun to play with on a normal campground trip.
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I have had one for almost a year now and have only used it once or twice. I think the concept is great, but the fact that it weighs 2lbs has me reach for my JetBoil or Pocket Rocket every time depending on the trip. I do however think it’s a great product for emergencies.
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Good to know! Don’t you love the Pocket Rock though?! Those are great! It would be hard to buy something else!
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Looks pretty sweet!
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I keep hearing about this stove and it would be something that I might consider for kayak camping, not only due to the silly gadgets we all cannot live without (well, a Spot Tracker is worthwhile as is cell phone cause I need to play Angry Birds in my tent at night), but with no fuel bottle it is one less thing to carry in the hatch. My campfire embers would transfer to the stove well enough too.
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Angry Birds! Nice!! That would be great for kayak camping! Sounds fun!
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Have you tried this? It seems like the perfect idea, but not really at 2 pounds when a cheapish Jetboil is about 10 oz. I love the idea of being able to charge things (the best backpacking here is well beyond cell tower range, but I have a bright flashlight that charges by USB), and I’m wondering how it works in the real world…?
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I have not but I saw it at REI the last time I was there and wanted to do some research about it. All the reviews I’ve read online says its great!
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I think the technological mechanics of it is pretty cool, but I don’t know that I can think of a practical situation that I personally might need it. Maybe if I wasn’t backpacking THAT far into the woods, but was going to stay more than a night, and wanted it to charge a camera or flashlight. I’m sure the perfect situation exists, but it just seems awfully heavy for what it would allow you to do.
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There’s a lot of people complaining about weight, but in my case it weighs about the same as my Trangia setup and is actually lighter when you factor in the need that one doesn’t have to carry fuel.
The only downside from my point of view is that I suspect it’s not really usable in the tents open vestibule – which during high winds or bad weather could make this one hard to light.
I love the idea of being able to charge stuff, but alas all my hiking electricals – the lamp and GPS – are non-chargable.
When it gets to the Uk I will pick one up to trial it and see how it goes!
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And let me know how you like it!
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Saw this last year via a TED Talk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Zsj4Lfs_o and how it’s helping people in poorer communities and how they use the bigger versions of the stove. Anyone who hasn’t seen the Biolite might like this footage.from Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/41198061#at=0 .
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I too saw this at REI. I agree with other comments that it is a bit heavy and it’s hard for me to justify based solely on its recharging ability–it is a cool idea though.
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Probably great for certain scientific expeditions, but for pleasure backpacking sort of defeats the purpose.
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