BioLite Wood Burning CampStove

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

Bought this stove after researching backpacking stoves and weighing the pros and cons of each. What drew us to the Biolite stove was the fuel source. No fuel bottles to pack, maintain, or watch usage on. Also, the USB charging capability is really handy. Took this stove on a thru hike of Bryce Canyon most recently. Not only did it boil our water for food/coffee, but our water filter failed and we were boiling water for drinking. Had we relied on fuel canisters we would have been out of fuel to cook on and out of fuel to filter water. The stove stayed cool to the touch on the outside after burning for over an hour. This stove is one of the best gear purchases we have made. While it is heavier than some of the other backpacking stoves, the lack of fuel canisters makes all the difference. Also, after a long day of hiking, it is nice to have a small fire...light and some warmth makes a lot of difference...

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

I bought this stove purely as a novelty item. I have done backpacking trips but mainly do car camping and weight is not a factor most of the time.

The BioLite does everything it is supposed to do. When I have a good fire burning it can continually charge my Nokia, but it would not be able to produce the power needed for any large devices such as an iPad. The USB charging is a cool feature but is impractical unless it is used as a backup.

For long backpacking trips this stove can be a legitimize option. Before I would consider doing it though, I would take this and a gas stove on some weekend trips and only use the gas if the BioLite fails. The weight of the stove is heavy but there is no fuel needed. It could be a good backpacking stove depending on the location and trip.

Cleanup is very easy. The stove burns everything to a fine ash. I was surprised how little ash there was after I burned wood for an hour. All that needs to be done after fuming the ash is taking a rag or green scrubby and washing off what ash won't come out.

I bought this as a novelty but am highly impressed and might consider taking it on a backpacking trip after some more time with it.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

I followed this stove during prototype and was on the preorder list to buy one when they first hit production but something told me to wait. then when i saw REI carrying them i felt i could now buy with confidence that if it didn't work i would not be stuck with a cool gadget. I have used a few different wood burning stoves, some with a fan and some without. this particular stove burns wood great, nice clean flames and is pretty cool looking. if it was only designed to burn wood i would have given it a higher rating but its suppose to charge your device as well. it does charge intermittently, it cycles between charging its internal battery and your device. ok i just have to keep it going for an hour or so... but the burn chamber is so small that it fills up with ash and you have to dump it out and restart your fire. in the end its just not practical to rely on this stove to charge your device, get a battery storage device you can charge from and maybe go with solar.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

I would highly recommend this product. It does exactly what it says. I followed the directions entirely and it took about 4:00 to boil 2 cups of water and in about 20 minutes I had fully cooked rice from a non-backpacking styled sauce pan. Love the idea of unlimited fuel source, plus it is very green. Charged my iPhone 4s from 0% to 60% in about 45 mins would have kept going but had to get moving. The weight of it could be heavy for weight weenies with their alcohol stoves, but packed up just about the size of a classic Nalgene Bottle. Can't wait to take it on a multi day trip!!!!

Service and delivery comments:

I bought the stove at REI and had a few questions for the Biolite people. The service from Biolite was amazing. They even replaced the faulty USB that came with the stove.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

I am a huge supporter of what the folks at BioLite are doing to make the world a better place. So, I was happy to purchase this stove not only b/c I wanted an alternative to my beloved MSR but also to support a great cause. That said the BioLite doesn't disappoint. The unit is easy to light with the included firestarters. I also purchased lightning nugget fire starters from REI (would have linked but not allowed per REI's policy) for when I run out of the included sticks. You will have a great cooking fire in less than 7 minutes, if you follow fire basics and select varying sizes of wood from kindling on up to get good cooking coals. The fan unit is amazing, and be sure to following the directions and alternate the fan speed for the best results.
I haven't fully taken advantage of using the unit to charge my Android phone, I can confirm it works, but my phone had a decent charge when I plugged it in, so don't know how long it would take to charge a fully depleted phone.
Clean-up was easy, and I give it good marks for packability. I would say that it adds no more weight than carrying a gas stove and equivalent fuel. Now the "but." Usage will depend on the availability of dry fuel. Not a huge deal, but can be a pain foraging for dry fuel in a wet climate after a long day of hiking. My other "but." I also got the camp stove grill. Great unit, but takes time to heat for adequate cooking, and not very pack friendly. It has an odd shape and adds weight for those of us concerned about keeping things light. Perfectly fine for day, car and 3 day trips. But I think that beyond 3 days, most hikers are using prepacked or dehydrated foods
and mostly likely will not be grilling veggies and meat unless they have a resupply.
I give both pieces high marks, with caveats.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

In other reviews I have read some people seem to have missed the main point. When this stove is running it doesn't smoke much.

First time I lit it I was skeptical, we bought this as a cool toy. I stuffed in some shaved pine as tinder then added twigs and finger sized pieces as fuel. It produced a large cloud of smoke. Hmm. But I had charged it for a while so I switched the fan on, a few minutes later the smoke suddenly started burning and the column of smoke came to a sudden end. I could look down past the swirling flame in to the cloud of smoke underneath. Oh, so that's what it does. A few minutes later the fire was going well and the green light came on. Now the controls allowed me to set the fan to high or low. As an experiment I plugged in a USB LED reading light and it worked fine. Cool! Next I stuck a kettle on top with two pints of water in.

I didn't time the kettle, but what I did notice that was that the bottom wasn't jet black like when I used to heat things over wood fire. The time to boil wasn't long, I didn't get round to wondering when it would, I'll time it next time.

When I was done I left it to burn down, as it cooled the fan switched off. All that was left inside was some fine ash. So I packed it in its bag with some storm matches and tinder and added it to my camping go-box.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

One must consider how well a device performs the tasks it was created to do in order to appropriately rate the item. As a charger it fails to perform most tasks at all. The reason for this is the low amperage power output. Power output from this device is comparable to the tiny solar panel on an outdoor light - more than you would see from a calculator solar panel, but much less than a portable flexible recharging panel that would fit inside the stove portion of the device. You would spend a LOT of time finding fuel to keep your power hungry smartphone and idevices going for any length of time. Regarding the stove portion: VERY NEAT - the fan blower really makes it more effective than a traditional swiss volcano stove. I'd compare the stove portion to upgrade to that of taking a wood burning stove and converting it to wood pellets - the air mix really does help it to burn more efficiently. BUT BEWARE - you'll occasionally get hot embers that blow out of the stove - so clear where you intend to burn before lighting it.

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

Great idea! Kept the GPS charged for the entire 7 day trip. Super easy to use, couldn't ask for a "cooler" and more convenient stove for backpacking!

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

Since I bought the camp stove, I find myself picking up small twigs & branches even when I'm just walking the dog in the neighborhood. The plan is to camp on some of the islands that dot Narraganestt Bay this summer - can't wait!

Comments about BioLite Wood Burning CampStove:

I picked one up with my REI dividend and have been thoroughly impressed. Weight-wise, if you consider the weight of fuel and other items that go along with most lightweight campstoves then this campstove is comparable because you don't have to carry fuel (not dependent on fossil fuels, a definite plus). It is very easy to light and keep lit. My kids had a great time breaking up twigs to throw in the fire. The charger does a good job keeping my iPhone charged (the key is to keep the fire hot). We used small pine cones which seem to work great if we could find the right size. We were even able to boil water while charging. I have told all my family members about it. It would be great just to have in case the power went out. Overall, I highly recommend this item.