Breaking

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Wood Burning Electricity Generating BioLite CampStove Campstove

BioLite CampStove Campstove 2 Wood Burning Electricity Generating
The award-winning BioLite CampStove's latest upgrade features 50% more power, an integrated battery, and an updated LED dashboard for improved control and feedback.
Burning only wood, the CampStove 2's fan creates a smokeless fire that can cook meals and boil water in minutes while turning its heat into usable electricity.
Stove generates 3W power to charge devices
Compatible with the KettlePot and Portable Grill, sold separately, cook up wood-fired meals and charge devices using only the sticks around you
Grill top fits up to four burgers. Boils 1L of water in 4.5 minutes. Burns any renewable biomass (sticks, twigs, etc.)



Product Description


BioLite
BioLite is on a mission to bring Energy Everywhere with revolutionary products that transform the way we Cook, Charge and Light our lives off the grid.

BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
CampStove 2
Electricity Generating Wood Camp Stove

The CampStove 2 is a portable camping stove that cooks meals and boils water in minutes while charging your devices.

Make wood-fired meals and charge devices at the same time using sticks and twigs found around your campsite so there’s no need to carry additional fuel.

 BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
What's New?
The CampStove's 2 latest upgrade features 50% more power, an integrated battery, and an updated LED dashboard so you can control fan speeds and get real-time feedback on fire strength and battery level.

The internal fan creates virtually smokeless flames (95% less smoke) compared to a regular wood fire so you're cooking faster with cleaner air.

How it Works

BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
BioLite’s patented core technology captures waste heat from the fire through a heat probe attached to the orange powerpack.

Heat is converted into electricity via a thermoelectric generator. This powers a fan and sends electricity to a USB charging port. Excess power is stored in an internal battery.

The internal fan injects air back into the burn chamber dramatically improving combustion and creating a cleaner, more efficient burn.

 BioLite CampStove 2 Wood Burning Camping Stove
Features
On-Board Battery - Integrated 2600 mAh battery charges devices with or without a live fire
Smart LED Dashboard - Real-time feedback on fire strength, power output, and fan speed settings
USB Charge Out With 50% More Power - Updated thermoelectrics create even more electricity from fire
Internal Fan Jets - 4 fan speed settings circulate air for improved combustion and efficiency
Lightweight Aluminum Legs - Fold legs up and away for nested portability
Honeycomb Heat Mesh - Protective barrier from inner burn chamber
Scalloped Pot Stand - Accommodates BioLite KettlePot, Portable Grill and other cookware

Customer reviews

Great Owl
5.0 out of 5 starsBiolite 2 bundle review, updated after 2 years


Surprised to see no reviews on amazon. I bought this Biolite 2 camp stove bundle at REI. I also have a small round huhu twig stove(about $20 on amazon) and an ember lit stove (about $40 from merkwares, also on amazon) that I will weigh into the review. Biolite 2 bundle at REI was on a pre-summer sale for $150, so I'll weigh that cost in as well.

What you get:
Campstove 2 (the electronic thermal device with a battery in it that puts out a fan, along with the burning chamber)
Kettlepot with the blue pour lid
French Press for kettle pot (coffee, tea)
Grill + cover
USB Light
Plastic bowl

Before reviewing each item I'll note how it packs: The electronic device plops right down into the burn chamber of the stove, and that burn chamber fits in a stuff sack they include. This will help keep the creosote off your gear a bit when packing with it. The electronic + burn chamber in the stuff sack fits nicely into the kettle pot, even with the coffee/tea infuser press at the bottom. The long handle for the french press screws off and you can place it alongside the stove within the kettle pot, and the lid will fit with the stove and press in the kettle pot. In this arrangement, the plastic bowl does not fit unless you remove the press.
The grill has a plastic cover which is great to keep soot off your gear again, or off of your car. I doubt many would carry the grill addon backpacking. It's just bulkier.

Review of each:

Campstove 2: (Electronic) The electronic part is mostly used as a fan, has 4 fan levels that fill the burn chamber with air, so whatever is burning inside burns down to near-nothingness. For the small burn chamber it has, that's good design. It has a built-in battery that can "charge" your phone. It can get mine about a 40-50% charge. Once the battery is down from charging, it takes hours. I mean hours. HOURS of feeding twigs to get the battery recharged by thermal power. Do you want to sit out at your campsite for say 6-8 hours feeding twigs constantly hoping to keep the thermal temperature up to keep it recharged? Honestly, it's mostly just made to power the little led light while you are cooking, and the built-in fan. Bring a 21w+ foldable solar panel if you want to charge your phone, and use the stove if it's night and you want to top off your phone, then use your solar panel to recharge the electronic on this stove when day hits.

Campstove 2 with kettle pot and infuser: 5 stars for this part.
The kettle pot is made for this stove. It props up an inch or so from the bottom of the kettle as you can see in the picture, with 6 holes (in 3 places) so you can aim the flame away from the electronic device. The handles are silicone and I wonder how long they will hold up, with heavy use the kettle pot may require you to pack a leather glove to pick it up if the handle wears over time. Anyway, when you get the flame going and put some water in the kettlepot the flames shoot out the holes in the bottom of the kettle pot. This is where the design of the stove shines.

-Cleanup with kettle pot is very easy, very little soot and all just on the bottom, as the stove shoots hot flame on the bottom and out the sides, it doesn't line the sides of the kettle pot with soot. Just a little coloration on the bottom with use.
-Comparing Emberlit: The ember lit stove after use is full of soot, smells the house up like a campfire when going to clean it as you have 5 pieces of metal to clean along with your percolator or pot (whatever you use for water) having soot built up on the sides all around. For coffee/tea or water, soup, whatever you cook in the biolite 2 kettle pot, you have less soot to clean up.
-comparing to Ohuhu: Same with ember lit, but you got around the stove to clean soot off all the parts of, and whatever pot you use, soot all around.

Kettlepot for me is what makes this biolite stove worth 5 stars for quality


yohanna690
5.0 out of 5 starsPower-Outage/Camping Life Saver

I was initially hesitant to purchase this item due to the price tag, but I felt like it would make a good gift for my outdoorsy brother so I bit the bullet and picked one up before buying him one as well. After it arrived I convinced my wife to let me take her camping so I could test it out in conditions that would necessitate its use.
Wow - seriously. This thing is nuts. It gets so hot that the coals constantly glow red hot inside. On high speed (the fan settings on the outside) I had 4 eggs and bacon strips cooked up and ready to eat in about 8 minutes. Boiling water took a bit longer, but still faster than I feel I could have done it on my stovetop.
After that trip, it kind of just sat on a shelf in the event that I ever got around to camping again. I did purchase another unit for my brother that he literally keeps it in his trunk whenever he heads out on a lengthy road trip. My brother has freely advertised his unit to all his friends and has probably helped BioLite sell another 30 units all on his own.
Fast forward a few months to Hurricane Matthew that tore along the east US coast. I was in one of the cities affected by the storm and was without power for about 2 weeks. This was especially difficult due to having 2 adult and two children family members visiting during that time from Europe (not the greatest of impressions for their first experience in America) and cold showers are never enjoyable.
So, I break this stove out after about the 3rd day to start cooking meat that would otherwise go bad due to lack of refrigeration. Every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for about 10 days this stove kept 8 people fed, EASILY. I did get the Thermos add-on for the stove which ended up being invaluable for making coffee in the mornings. The entire stove breaks down and fits inside the Thermos, which is pretty nifty and saves space when packing a backpack or storing it on a shelf. As a parting gift I ordered another stove and gifted it to my European in-laws on their way out of town. It was WELL received and appreciated.

Alright, so you know the life story of my BioLite stove, so let me point out a few things for those potential buyers so you know what to expect:
1) This stove is voracious - utterly insatiable. You have to keep feeding it to maintain the heat necessary for cooking things. I will caveat this though. Fire consumes, right? So, it is to be expected that if you introduce a source of fuel to fire, that source will be reduced as it is consumed. The harder the fuel source, the longer it takes to be consumed. That should be common sense, but I didn't come around to the obvious without some trial and error. On my camping trip, I was using pine-cones and dry fuels of that nature (Wet fuel is a no-no and will irreparably break your stove - I'll explain in the next point). But... Lump Hardwood Charcoal (which is healthier to cook with than briquettes anyway) is a very hard fuel source. I have learned that the fastest way to get up and running is to fill the stove cavity with hardwood charcoal, dribble a very small amount of lighter fluid over it, wait a second or two for it to soak in, then light it. Breakfast in half an hour or less - I guarantee it.
2) I do not recommend getting the grill add-on for this stove... It is made of really cheap metal and I've found that putting a skillet directly on top the stove works just fine, and long as you can balance your cooking apparatus. A round pot without a long horizontal handle works even better.
3) When the stove heats up, it trips a sensor in the attached thermal-charging battery/fan that you attach to the side during set-up. At the base of the inside of the stove canister, there is a small port that sits right in front of the little fan in the piggyback unit. Note: The fan blades are PLASTIC. This is why you cannot use wet fuel with this unit and also why after you're done using it and try to turn off the fan it will not turn off. Your stove is not broken, it simply has to spin the fan while there is still a heat source near the fan blades to avoid melting them and making the stove worthless. The fan has two speeds: Keep it Hot Speed, and Burn Your Eggs Speed. I use Burn Your Eggs Speed to boil water - works very well.
4) Once you get the heat going and the fan is on, etc, you can't just plug in a USB and go to town. You must wait for the little green light to come on, indicating that there is enough of a charge being created. Only then will the stove charge an attached electronic device. (We kept two smart-phones charged enough to conduct our daily lives just by charging them during meals. Note: smartphones charge faster if you turn them off before plugging them in.)

The charge generated is a trickle but is enough to make the difference between an emergency situation and a situation that is merely uncomfortable.

Thanks, BioLite for an amazing product - I've freely advertised for you guys ever since Hurricane Matthew!
I paid full price for this stove and have purchased 3 other stoves as gifts for friends and family also at full-price. One emergency and it's worth the money, you'll see.

No comments:

Post a Comment