People go camping to get away from the city and for the most part – leave a lot of their fancy high-tech gadgets at home as most camp sites don’t have electricity. But wouldn’t it be pretty sweet if you could use the heat from a fire to charge your gadgets such as phones or tablets? I think so!
The BioLite CampStove does just that. Not only does it heat your food but charges your device(s). The heat generated from the stove is converted into electricity and you are able to charge various devices with a USB connection. Using heat to produce electricity is not the only cool feature the BioLite CampStove has to offer.
The stove also reduces emissions and eliminates the need for petroleum-based fuels as well as batteries. Wood is used as the fuel for the stove but with its efficient burning process, it uses less than half the wood of an open fire and also reduces smoke emission by more than 90 percent. Very cool!
The BioLite CamStove is expected to be released later this year (Spring 2012) and an expected price tag of $129 which is a very fair price in my opinion (if it does what it’s advertised to do). The stove also comes with its own stuff pack and measures in at 8 x 5 inches when packed away. It’s also very portable as the whole thing weighs in at only 2lbs. This sure as hell beats heavy solar chargers that people take on camping trips.
This could also potentially be used in developing nations where open fire kitchens are a fairly common scene.
Pre-orders can be taken at Biolite Stove.
BioLite CampStove Intro Video
This looks nice, I think it would go nicely with the fire piston I wrote about last week: http://www.unfinishedman.com/sparxgear-fire-piston-start-fires-the-easy-way/
This is a really neat gadget. I don’t think I ever would have thought that it would be a good idea to have your iPod so close to a flame, but heck if it is safe I’m all for it!
It looks like this would be better suited for a one or two person camping trip only though; the flame produced is so small it would take forever to heat food for any more people than that. Do you know how it burns the wood “more efficiently” than normal wood-burning stoves?
I am wondering if they are will come out with a model that does not have USB charger. I just want a good all around back packing stove. The stove would be much lighter without out the fancy USB outlet.
what about making a bigger one and attach it on to a woodstove in a home. to run the electricity for the house.
Not a bad idea for cabins and such.