Biolite

[SHTF]

This looks interesting.

http://fortcollins.craigslist.org/spo/3849249536.html Anyone use this thing? Sounds like something I could put to work =-)

 

[colonel00]

I looked at them last year but could never pull the trigger. Very interesting idea but I could just never truly justify the need. Seems many of the reviews were mixed and it was a bit heavy and bulky once you figure you still need to carry another container of some sort to actually boil or cook in. Still, I am interested to see if anyone has used them extensively and found them useful.

 

[TheRambler]

Check out the reviews I did for Trailspace over at Trailspace.com. I reviewed both the biolite and the power pot. Power pot wins hands down IMO. The biolite was finicky, a big pita, but It did work as advertised....when it worked. Bigget flaw with the biolite was once you or a fire goig that could charge something you could only charge for like 30-45 minutes before needing to dump the ash out and start all over again. Biolite=big,finicky, unreliable. Power Pot=heavy, but power within 10s every time.

 

[Rizzy]

That power pot looks impractical to me. Wouldn't it take a whole canister of fuel just to get a partial charge on an iphone?

 

[colonel00]

Yeah, kind of my thoughts too. After all, how much charge are you going to get boiling water for 2-3 minutes 2-3 times a day. Now, if you have a mini stove that ran on natural fuel that you could run for hours then that would be the winner. For instance, set that pot on a tent stove that is running and you would have hot water and a charged device. But yeah, running on a stove powered by a fuel cannister just seems impractical.

 

[TheRambler]

Ever hear of a fire? =p It woks great sitting on just a few coals even.

 

[TheRambler]

It takes very little heat to make the power pot work, a few tea candles even do the trick. But for prolonged charging setting it in or near a fire does the trick and let's you charge for as long as you desire.

 

[SDHNTR]

I had one, and gave up on it. Just wouldn't charge all that well. Worked ok for 30-40 minutes when new, but that then dwindled down to next to nothing after it had some carbon build up. Cool idea, just needs more refinement.

 

[TheRambler]

Those were my findings as well SDHNTR

 

[Tag stew]

Not sure I have a need for it personally and am far from a tekkie, but gotta admit the technology is pretty cool on this.