Hi, a friend of mine told me about the Biolite Stove. Has anyone used one? It seems like a pretty cool idea. Have a look.

http://www.biolitestove.com/campstov...view/features/

http://vimeo.com/41198061

My buddy actually has one that I am looking forward to trying out. I think the main thing about it is that you're going to need to continually take the pot off whatever you are cooking to stoke the fire inside.

There has been a few threads on it if you do a search for "biolite" in the Gotta Love Gear sub-forum.

This one has received the most replies:

https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=48565

I see MEC are carrying it now also.

It's a neat idea alright. On multi-day hikes where you know you will be camping below the treeline it might actually mean a weight saving as you won't have to worry about carrying fuel or spare batteries. You could also do away with treating water and just boil everything as fuel wouldn't be a concern. Will raise the ire of the Leave No Trace contingent though.

wildtrekker, post up your thoughts when you do end up using it.

try using google to search clubtread

Biggest concern is amperage output from the stove to your device. And the REAL time charging of the device you wish to recharge.

A number of 1-3 page threads on the topic

https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=48565
https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=55441
https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=41319

as well westcoast paddler

http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/comm...php?f=3&t=5240

I don't have one, but saw one in action at Lake O'Hara. From what I observed, it's a pain to use and makes a ton of smoke. We were eating our hot dinner by the time the person with the Biolite had theirs starting to cook, and we starting cooking at the same time; the difference was they had to hunt for fuel and we didn't. They also, oh so kindly, filled the Lake O'Hara campground shelter (and 1/2 the eating area) with smoke.

That said, I still think the Biolite is one of the coolest things out there! I'd love to have one, but wouldn't be taking it backpacking - it would just be a toy for me.

I'd like to see the technology become widespread. How many huts have woodstoves? The heat could power a fan and charging ports. Need to start up a conversation with ACC...

I have one, and I love it. I have responded with my experience in one of the other threads. It smokes at inital start, but is smoke-free once it heats up and the fan is running. It took me 10 minutes to find enough fuel to burn for over an hour. You do need to keep stoking it, but it's no more of a pain than trying to keep my food from burning on my <s>blow torch</s>, er, whisperlite.

Fast boil, and I was able to delicately toast some garlic bread on it without burning just by controlling fan speed and the amount of fuel.

Biolite is coming out with a grill attachment this spring as well.

As for charging, it charged my gopro pretty quickly when I had a good burn going.

Question, about the biolite, I know the whisperlite has no controls for simmering, but does the biolite? Just curious.

There are two fan speeds. You control the heat output by the fan speed and the amount of fuel you put in. So to boil a pot of water, I'd load it up and use the fan on high, and in about four minutes, I'll have two litres or water at a hard rolling boil. By that time, the fuel is starting to diminish a bit. I'd turn the fan down to low and stoke the fire only enough to achieve a simmer. Pine cones are great for simmering. They don't burn too hot but they are dense enough to burn for a while.

FYI - the grill attachment has been released for order. It looks pretty cool, though nothing about this stove is inexpensive. $60

Still, it's going in my kayak gear bag!

http://biolitestove.com/campstove/ne...rill-features/

Check out the West Coast Paddler website -

http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/comm...php?f=3&t=5240

There is more info on the biolite experience there. I got a hand crank charger/flashlight unit from Modern Outpost instead for my electronics as a back-up if my battery supply ever gets used up.

I didn't want to mix cooking and charging - just as soon keep my electronics (VHF radio, GPS, Blackberry) as dirt free as possible.

Happy Trails

The mixing of cooking and charging isn't that big of a deal. I just put whatever I am charging in a pelican case upwind of the stove (not latched). I haven't had a problem with dirt or ashes. I usually build a little platform for the stove to keep it higher than whatever I am charging.

Want one.

I was thinking the same thing john, wouldn't a couple of these babies on the Elfin furnace or any hut with heat source. Could power lights and charge batteries easy.

Power Pot V
http://www.thepowerpot.com/
http://www.examiner.com/review/tech-...ating-cook-pot


http://customthermoelectric.com/tecs...FWpyQgodCAsAfw
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1PCS-...747041160.html

What a terrible stove.

Unless you are wanting to go on a picnic in the front-country and want to charge your electronics, don't buy this stove.

I don't know the spec's off-hand but had the opportunity to try out one that a friend brought to work.

For one, it's heavy. Sure you don't have to carry fuel, but when you're in the alpine, there is hardly any wood so cross it off your list.

Second, it's a b!tch to light. It's tall and narrow, you can't stick your hand inside so you need to filllll it with kindling.

Third, unless you have pre-cut hardwood sticks that are less then 7 inches long, the wood burns fast and you can't really fill the stove with ashes. It's only so big. Maybe about the inside volume of a Nalgene.

The fan does work, so it increases the heat fairly well to boil water, but you need to continuously stoke the stove. And you can only burn so much wood at at time.

The charger works fine as far as I know of, has a built in battery. But I wouldn't want to cook a meal on the stove. Maybe a can of soup.

What a pos.
I found it more of a hassle then anything.
A whisperlite is easier to manage I find.

My two cents.