BioLite CampStove™

Our Scout group received our BioLite CampStove™ yesterday. We have been waiting for months for it. It didn't take us long before we had the package ripped open and the stove fired up.

BioLite CampStove™

First impressions are the materials are of a good quality and the item is well made. The exception that the carry case is a thin nylon bag.  If it were by personal equipment I would look for a hard case to protect the screen or a least a heavier bag. The base seems very stable on flat ground.

With one sheet of paper and some twigs we got the fire going. As soon as the heat hit the copper probe the thermal-electric generator started up the fan which really got the fire going.  The stove gave off a lot of heat. After five minutes the LED turned to green which meant we could charge our device via the USB port on the stove.  We plugged in an iPhone in and it began charging.

One the fire was done, the device cooled down quickly.

I took this stove on a week long camping trip to Owen Sound in August.  There was a fire ban and the stove became our defacto campfire for the week. We used cut up drier cedar shingles as the fuel and man did they burn. Three shingles 12" x 18" would burn for the entire evening. With the fan going the fire burned hot and clean and there was very little ash left afterwards.

The price is $129 on their web site. I know our group paid more as shipping, taxes and handling pushed the price to over $200.  However $129 is a really good price for this device.

It weights just over 2lbs which makes it a little heavy for ultralight camping, but considering you don't need to pack fuel makes this an acceptable choice. (If small pieces of wood will be available)  With it's solid construction it also works well in the wind and the fire is mostly protected by the sides. The size of the stove is approximately 8 inches long by 5 inches in diameter, or the size of a 1 litre water bottle. It packs down nicely into a bag.

The charger kept our iPhones charged during the week and we could boil water on it. The iPad has higher power consumption and this device had trouble keeping it charged.  The propane stove and electrical outlet work better than the BioLite CampStove™ but if you wanted lightweight wilderness camping I would recommend this stove.

Here are a couple of videos of the stove in action.