Biolite Campstove review (pic heavy)

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  • ThawMyTongue

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 26, 2009
    3,465
    Dublin, OH
    I had been intrigued by the Biolite Campstove since I first heard of it about a year and a half ago. The way it works is it converts the heat of a wood fire to electricity and uses this electricity to power a fan which stokes the fire. The fan speed can be used to regulate the heat output of the stove. An added bonus is the excess power is available to be used to charge anything from a USB port on the stove.

    Well after a camping trip a few weeks ago, I started thinking about the stove again. I decided to snag one along with the grill add-on. There is a kettle add-on available, but I decided against it. The two items arrived a little over a week after ordering directly from Biolitestove.com.







    Starting a fire in the stove was easy using small dry twigs. The length of the fuel is important as it will stick out the top if it is to long.



    Once the twigs had caught, and I started the fan, it took about 3 minutes for the flame to start burning clean and stop smoking.



    It took another 2 and a half minutes until the charging light changed from amber to green, indicating it was ready to charge. I had my phone (Samsung Galaxy S4) plugged in for about an hour and it charged about 30%. Once the fire is roaring you can use sticks of about an inch diameter for longer burn time. This stove will burn through small twigs in no time, so thicker sticks make using the stove much easier.

    I decided to see how it performed with a few normal things.

    First off was boiling water. I was most impressed by the Campstove. 2 cups of water to a rapid boil in 2 minutes 45 seconds.



    Next was grilling sausage. I figured some nice sweet thick Italian sausage would be a nice test. I like mine nearly charred on the outside. The instructions for grilling recommend grilling on the low fan setting. I played around with the grill and fan settings and on high there was definitely flame shooting out of the grill, so low it was.



    The access/flame containment door makes adding fuel easy and actually increases the length of wood you can use. After 7 minutes flat, the sausage was just the way I like it.



    Once my sausage was finished I let the fire burn out. It took 15 minutes for the fire to burn down to ash and another 15 for the grill and stove to cool enough to handle. After over an hour of burning, there was a quarter cup of ash to dump out. Everything cleaned up quickly with soap and water. It looks like it will be next month before I actually use this camping, but with my initial impressions, I can not wait. This seems like a great little compact stove! I will update at that time.
     
    Last edited:

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,151
    I'm curious if you've every tried a rocket stove and how the two compare.

    The idea of recharging a cell phone using a few twigs is awesome.
    Thanks for the review.
     

    Minuteman

    Member
    BANNED!!!
    Great review, thanks!

    Blending two things I like, camping/preparedness and tech.

    I bought a Kelly Kettle from the scratch&dent section, it arrived with a couple minor marks on the finish, perfectly serviceable. I took it out for a field test last winter, it worked great! I only boiled water with it, and used the water to heat a freeze-dried pouch; could not have been easier. Plus I used the left over water to put out the fire and rinse up the kit a bit.

    http://www.kellykettleusa.com/KellyKettle
     

    ThawMyTongue

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 26, 2009
    3,465
    Dublin, OH
    I'm curious if you've every tried a rocket stove and how the two compare.

    The idea of recharging a cell phone using a few twigs is awesome.
    Thanks for the review.

    I have never used a rocket stove for comparison, but I do have plans to build two, one portable one not, at some point.


    Great review, thanks!

    Blending two things I like, camping/preparedness and tech.

    I bought a Kelly Kettle from the scratch&dent section, it arrived with a couple minor marks on the finish, perfectly serviceable. I took it out for a field test last winter, it worked great! I only boiled water with it, and used the water to heat a freeze-dried pouch; could not have been easier. Plus I used the left over water to put out the fire and rinse up the kit a bit.

    http://www.kellykettleusa.com/KellyKettle

    I had never seen the Kelly Kettle before... pretty slick!
     

    rob-cubed

    In need of moderation
    Sep 24, 2009
    5,387
    Holding the line in Baltimore
    Thanks for posting! I've been eyeing one of these for a while. I love my home-made rocket stove, but it's pretty bulky anddifficult to adjust burn intensity (no airfow adjustment). However it can easily reach steak-searing temp using just a few twigs. This little gadget seems like the best of both worlds.
     

    Ender

    Active Member
    Jan 9, 2011
    346
    Its another interesting tool to have. I guess my concern would be at what rate it burns twigs. Its nice to have the option to go off the land, unless the land is wet. That would make me have to carry twigs just in case and then I would have to work out the weight of carrying twigs and that somewhat large stove vs an ultralight/alcohol stove and fuel. Another downside for me would be that my camp stove also doubles as my emergency stove and I don't have a lot of access to twigs in my apt complex. I always like innovative new gadgets like his, I have brunton foldable solar panels and battery packs that I used to keep my electronics/AA batteries going in Afghanistan and having alternate sources of electricity is one of those little things that can make life a little more bearable. I could definitely see where under the right circumstances this thing would be pretty cool.
     

    marko12

    Senior Member
    Sep 28, 2009
    6,281
    Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay
    ThawMyTongue, I've been watching this for over three years and can't thank you enough for your spectacular review. The members over at MDPreparedness.com have also been watching this rather closely. The general consensus was that this was too good to be true especially since it took such a long time to hit the market.

    You touched on many good points with the BioStove and we appreciate the in depth reporting. MDP does three season camping if you're interested, usually at Green Ridge State Park. :party29:

    Also thanks to dblas for finding this thread and sharing. :thumbsup:
     

    ThawMyTongue

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 26, 2009
    3,465
    Dublin, OH
    But you have to light the fire manually, correct? Still a very cool device.

    Yes you need matches, a lighter, a bow drill, two dry sticks, a ferro rod, a magnifying glass, a lightning strike, a battery and a gum wrapper, an electrical short or an act of God to get the fire started... the stove takes it from there.


    Its another interesting tool to have. I guess my concern would be at what rate it burns twigs. Its nice to have the option to go off the land, unless the land is wet. That would make me have to carry twigs just in case and then I would have to work out the weight of carrying twigs and that somewhat large stove vs an ultralight/alcohol stove and fuel. Another downside for me would be that my camp stove also doubles as my emergency stove and I don't have a lot of access to twigs in my apt complex. I always like innovative new gadgets like his, I have brunton foldable solar panels and battery packs that I used to keep my electronics/AA batteries going in Afghanistan and having alternate sources of electricity is one of those little things that can make life a little more bearable. I could definitely see where under the right circumstances this thing would be pretty cool.

    Small twigs are consumed quickly, 1" thick sticks work better/longer once the fire is going. I would not recommend this as an emergency stove unless you have access to twigs/sticks or untreated lumber.

    I'm going to try and see how it works with hardwood logs cut and split to fit.
     
    Oct 21, 2008
    9,273
    St Mary's
    Really neat stove. I'm going to look into that. I've got a rocket stove and it works great until I'm in a wet area. Thanks for taking the time to post this up.
     

    ThawMyTongue

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 26, 2009
    3,465
    Dublin, OH
    ThawMyTongue, I've been watching this for over three years and can't thank you enough for your spectacular review. The members over at MDPreparedness.com have also been watching this rather closely. The general consensus was that this was too good to be true especially since it took such a long time to hit the market.

    You touched on many good points with the BioStove and we appreciate the in depth reporting. MDP does three season camping if you're interested, usually at Green Ridge State Park. :party29:

    Also thanks to dblas for finding this thread and sharing. :thumbsup:

    I had completely forgotten about signing up over at MDP until your post. :lol2:

    Just posted in that thread... :thumbsup:
     

    Jaybeez

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Patriot Picket
    May 30, 2006
    6,392
    Darlington MD
    try it with pelletstove pellets. unless the directions say not to.

    there is a similar product im interested in. I stead of the thermal exchangers being built into the stove, they are built into pots. you can generate electricty off any fire (woodstove, campfire, rocketstove, engine block).
    http://www.powerpractical.com/powerpot-v

    I may try building my own, the thermal exchangers only cost about $5 each on amazon. they are cpu coolers that someone discovered could be used in reverse.
     

    ThawMyTongue

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 26, 2009
    3,465
    Dublin, OH
    try it with pelletstove pellets. unless the directions say not to.

    there is a similar product im interested in. I stead of the thermal exchangers being built into the stove, they are built into pots. you can generate electricty off any fire (woodstove, campfire, rocketstove, engine block).
    http://www.powerpractical.com/powerpot-v

    I may try building my own, the thermal exchangers only cost about $5 each on amazon. they are cpu coolers that someone discovered could be used in reverse.

    Hmmm, great idea with the pellets. A few bags of pellets, if they work, could be great for emergency stove duty. The instructions say "any biomass fuel"... I will try it ASAP.
     

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