BioLite Stove (1 Viewer)

[CruisingMogollon]

I got my Biolite KettlePot for my stove this past week. This thing is very impressive. I cooked mac n cheese in it as its first test. Really worth checking this out if you haven't yet. Best part is the kettle is a case for the stove. Even though it require constant refueling its so much faster than my LPG camping stove.

 

[68LC]

Have been sorting out my stove and kettle for a week or so now, and have the following observations:

1. Boils 2 liters of water in less than 8 minutes (after flame is fully engaged)
2. No need to carry fuel bottles
3. LED light or cell phone charged, neat feature.

Glad I bought the thing. Will it replace my dual fuel 2 burner Coleman stove and lantern? no. Will it replace my single burner Coleman stove on short trips or emergency kit usage? Yes. This is a neat little piece of hardware. Now lets see how durable it is.

Best regards;
68 LC

 

[gilamonster]

I have this same setup, along with the grill for it. It's cool to use local fuel and all. But most of the time I still prefer my whisperlite international.

 

[BigRed40]

I saw these when they first pitched them and thought it was a really cool idea, but have been curious as to real world experience with them. How much kindling wood or bio-matter do you need to boil some water? Is it pretty efficient and does it charge electronics relatively quickly?

 

[george_tlc]

I saw these when they first pitched them and thought it was a really cool idea, but have been curious as to real world experience with them. How much kindling wood or bio-matter do you need to boil some water? Is it pretty efficient and does it charge electronics relatively quickly?

Charging electronics quickly... tee hee... yeah, right...

It "may" be able to push 500mA out with a roaring flame going. So, if you need to put 500mA.Hr or more you need to keep feeding the fire for 1 hour or more...

It's really not a practical general purpose solution to charging anything real. For emergency use if you have no other way to charge your precious electronics, then you really didn't plan for that emergency anyway. It would be a lot easier to just carry along a small battery powered charger for that desperate need - plenty on the market that can take a couple or more AA cells. Beyond that you could have a small flex solar panel etc.

There's plenty of real world reviews of that stove on the net if you search and I've yet to find one that has glowing reports of it being a wonderful product. It's one of those 'neat' on paper products, less neat in reality.

cheers,
george.

 

[gilamonster]

They are hungry buggers. If your phone battery is low, you're going to need a good pile of wood, and you need to give it a lot of your attention. You can't walk away for to long to do other camp chores. I've been overnight backpacking with it and my MSR as backup. If you run into much rain, it can be a problem collecting enough dry wood to make dinner for two.

It's a cool idea and a neat toy, but I wouldn't want it as my only cooking option when I'm way out there.

 

[BigRed40]

Yeah, I've got my MSR reactor and my goalzero that I take with me when I head for the woods... They do just fine. I was just curious, while we were on topic.

 

[68LC]

Let me bash mine around for a couple of months, I'll report back. Like I said, initial results look pretty good. Have already determined that it is NOT a replacement for the dual fuel 2 burner Coleman, now lets see how it goes long term.

Regards;
68LC

 

[rusty_tlc]

This is based on the Peltier affect junction, the same thing used in the Coleman Thermoelectric coolers;

http://www.coleman.com/product/powe.../3000001497?contextCategory=8570#.UnxaVHCsgk0

The outside fan on those units go bad pretty fast, I see them at garage sales for cheap pretty often. You could scavenge the Peltier junction, heat sink and inner fan out of that.
Or there is this one for $35 and steal a CPU fan from an old PC;
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1335?gclid=CPiIx86e1LoCFYpxQgodz1kAJg


Google "DIY backpackers gasifier stove" and you can find a dozen videos showing you how to build the stove part.
This one looks like a good choice.


Cut a hole in the side of the stove to fit the OUTSIDE heat sink from the cooler, connect the fan wire to the BLACK peltier junction wire, and the black fan wire to the RED peltier junction wire. Follow the same convention when you wire the USB connector ie reverse the connections +5V to the black and ground to the red.

 

[CruisingMogollon]

I've been using mine for 16 months and have put probably 75 hours on the fan. So far it still is running strong. Lately, I've been cooking on it at home too. Typically, it's going for 2 hours each time as I cook rice, then a chile or something like that. I've been using pallets for fuel.

 

[ROBsSON]

I know this is an old thread curious if anyone has any new things to say about their stove!

I think they look great to take in the outdoors! Just hope they hold up to alittle abuse

 

[CruisingMogollon]

I've still been pushing mine as hard as I can. I haven't used my home grill in months. These do take practice to master cooking with especially grilling. You have to pay attention too or you either burn the food or lose the fire.

Anyway, they have the larger version coming out soon too.

 

[ROBsSON]

I've still been pushing mine as hard as I can. I haven't used my home grill in months. These do take practice to master cooking with especially grilling. You have to pay attention too or you either burn the food or lose the fire. Anyway, they have the larger version coming out soon too.

Awesome I wanna use it just in the truck for long trips if I wanna boil water or something like that for some dehydrated food I want it hot.
Fishing trips things like that glad to hear it is fairly hardy and lasts a while!

That should be interesting to see maybe the smaller one will be alittle cheaper too just in time for me to buy!

 

[68LC]

OK, almost a year of banging it around in the back of the LC.
Durable? - nothing broken yet
Good cook stove? - boils water like a champ. If you like to make dinner with boiled water, this is your stove
Utility? - When the light is green, it lights up my Amazon.com 10 LED light wand like a champ
Utility? - 5% of the battery in my Samsung Galaxy III in 10 minutes. If there is nothing else around, it will charge a phone. Slowly. Why do you need a cellphone when camping?
Versatility? - Yes, it will do more than my single burner Coleman.
Fuel consumption? - 2 good hand fulls of twigs up to 6" long and 1/2" diameter will boil 2 liters of water in about 8 - 10 minutes. No more fuel spills.
Glad I bought it? - Yes.

I use it for making coffee and oatmeal in the morning. Sometimes at dinner time I cook one-skillet meals when I don't feel like setting up the big stove. At night I'll use it for a nice little campfire and hand warmer when there are restrictions (Technically it is a stove, not a campfire) or if I don't feel like making a big mess.

All in all, A keeper.