When I first saw the Biolite Campstove, I thought to myself, “Man, that really looks dumb and uninteresting.” Little did I know that it would turn out to be an amazing product that was nowhere close to “dumb.” This campstove made by Biolite, is an incredible and ingenious piece of technology that not only sustains a fire in itself, but also can cook food, boil water, and the highlight, it can charge your phone and itself.
The Campstove bundle I got, bundle 2, comes will all sorts of cool knick knacks. The precharge cable, so that you don’t have to only rely on burning fuel to charge the battery. A touch sensitive light that turns on with one click, turns off with another, and brightens/dims when you touch and hold. The light plugs via USB right into the orange battery pack. A Biolite fire starter, a plate and bowl are also included into the deal along with a pot for boiling water… but that’s not all. It also comes with a small, portable grill that sits directly onto the fire chamber to allow you to cook, steak, shish-kabobs, and much, much more.
The first thing to cover about the campstove is probably the battery pack. The battery is the orange box that is attached to the burn chamber. The great thing about this pack is it does more than just hold power. It also contains a fan that helps oxygen to circulate throughout the burn chamber so that the fire stays ignited. The pack has built in sensors and a temperature gauge. When the gauge senses heat, the fan turns on automatically. There are four settings for the fan: High, 2 medium settings, and low. The light in the middle of the pack indicate what setting the fan it set at. To the left is another series of light that indicates the temperature of your fire. To the right is the indicator telling you how much charge is in the battery. When the fire in the chamber gets hot enough, the battery begins to charge. You can also precharge it at home with the port of that is found underneath the pack. If the battery pack overheats, the fan will automatically turn to high speed in order to cool down the device. You can control the fan with the power button. One push simply turns on the battery , so you can use the light or charge a cellular device, and another click will turn on the fan. The battery itself can hold enough juice to charge one full device and thanks to the ingenious technology, it can keep recharging itself every time you light a fire.
The second thing to cover is the assembly and storage of the campstove. The assembly is very easy. Simply stick the temperature rod attached to the battery back into the hole in the burn chamber and then lock it in place underneath one of the legs. The storage does, however, take a little more time. I small packing bag is given to put the battery pack in. This package then slips easily down into the chamber. The chamber is then placed inside the water pot along with the bowl provided in the bundle. Everything can be put securely into the another bag that is the perfect size for everything. Unfortunately, the grill and plate don’t fit inside this bag. Once bundled all together, the camp stove takes up very little room and is very space friendly.
The last and final thing to cover is, of course, safety. The campstove must be completely cooled down before you try to put it away. With the fan system going, this process occurs much faster. The stove will reduce the fuel (wood) to ash. As I stated before, if the stove begins to overheat, the fan will automatically turn onto high speed. If the sensors continue to sense heat in the stove you cannot turn the pack off. The fan will automatically come right back on in order to cool down the stove. You can burn small pieces of wood and wood pellets inside the burn chamber. You CANNOT put any kind of fluid inside the chamber in hopes to either cool it down or start a fire. Doing this increases the chance of ruining your stove. When attaching the grill, it must be facing away from the battery pack. Make sure you stove is on a fairly flat surface to decrease the chances of an accident. And honestly, just use common sense and don’t do anything dumb!
I really like this product because 1) it burns wood and is actually quite warm and 2) It can continue to recharge itself so you don’t have to worry about it running out of battery. If it does, simply start a fire and the Biolite Campstove will do the rest. Since it’s made of stainless steel, it is very durable and lightweight. In general, it is an amazing product and definitely worth the money.