Biolite Stove
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biolitestove.com/campstove/…
Gimmic or a real alternative to something like a whisperlite? anyone have any experience with these puppies??? Seems a little too good to be true. |
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When things go bad you can have that stove and I'll keep my MSR. |
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The only benefit I can see is the not needing to pack the white gas and the charger. |
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I looked at these a while back. Its a very interesting idea, but i was not interested enough to purchase one and test it out. Seems like a neat product for car camping and traveling, but pretty worthless for the back country. |
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The only major benefit I can see is that you'd never run out of fuel (assuming you can find dry twigs), so I can see how it would be good for extended excursions. Other than that, I think the USB charging is a gimmick (at least for me...the last thing I want when I go camping/backpacking is to be 'connected'), and it seems pretty damned big compared to other options. |
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If you can go without the charger, it is actually pretty easy to make your own twig-fire stove. The internet abounds with directions. The simplest design is a 64-ounce can (e.g., pineapple juice) with some holes drilled into it. |
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Great, that's just what we need: a bunch of campers scrambling all over vegetated areas to collect sticks... that's one of the surest ways to thoroughly destroy any camp area. |
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It looks like a new verson of A Kelly kettle |
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I've got a wood stove called the Bushbuddy and it's probably one of my favorite pieces of gear. With some practice, I've been able to start it without fail in a whole range of conditions (mid winter blizzard, during and after rain, etc). It does take a lot of attention and is slower than a pocket rocket, but the pros are hard to beat. |
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keep-it-real wrote:@Eric and Lucie: The best wood is usually dead branches at the bottom of trees where it's protected from rain and is off the wet ground. This means that you are effectively pruning and fire-proofing trees. Often times, one or two thumb size branches are enough for a good meal.That might work in places that get one or two visitors a year, but in popular spots, it won't be long before people start tearing branches off bushes/trees. And even before that happens, the entire area will be trampled to death (particularly critical in desert areas). Just camp in any popular spot in the SW and you'll see what I mean. |
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From the videos that I have seen what sets these apart, is that it converts heat from the fire into electricity that powers a small fan to boost combustion, thus boiling water as fast as most conventional camp stoves. |
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Climbed with a guy who demoed it and he raved about the thing |
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I saw this guy named Bear Grylls on the TV, he made a stove like this out of 4 sticks and an old soup can. |