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Bio Lite Stove

nz Offline zoidberg

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #60 on: March 12, 2015, 01:58:01 PM


ca Offline Megan

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #61 on: March 12, 2015, 02:20:51 PM
(Image removed from quote.)
WTF happened there?

I was changing out of my snow pants on the passenger's side. We were talking. I looked down and Grant was gone.
All I heard was giggling.

When I went around... this is what I saw! He stepped down and slipped on the ice.
-Megan
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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #62 on: March 12, 2015, 03:54:57 PM
I made a rude comment and Megan caught me with a right cross.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline Aloha

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #63 on: March 12, 2015, 03:56:52 PM
I made a rude comment and Megan caught me with a right cross.

Def

 :rofl:
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us Offline ducttapetech

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #64 on: March 12, 2015, 04:08:50 PM
LOL!

Nate

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ca Offline Megan

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #65 on: March 12, 2015, 04:50:09 PM
I made a rude comment and Megan caught me with a right cross.

Def

I thought we weren't going to tell them that?
What happened to going with the other story?
 :rofl:
-Megan
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us Offline ducttapetech

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #66 on: March 12, 2015, 04:54:38 PM
He threw you under the bus right quick.

Nate

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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #67 on: March 12, 2015, 05:23:29 PM
Looks like a great day out I'd say. :tu:
Be excellent to each other and always know where your towel is.


ca Offline Megan

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #68 on: March 12, 2015, 06:06:05 PM
He threw you under the bus right quick.

Nate

Actually, I threw Grant under the Jeep.
-Megan
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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #69 on: March 12, 2015, 08:00:55 PM
I made a rude comment and Megan caught me with a right cross.

Def

I thought we weren't going to tell them that?
What happened to going with the other story?
 :rofl:

Sorry, I forgot.

I uh, walked into a door....

Def
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #70 on: March 13, 2015, 02:27:59 AM
I mean to ask about this stove, does the fan blow ember all over the place? When I tried to use a fan on my woodgas stove it sent embers sky high and was downright dangerous.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #71 on: March 13, 2015, 02:40:17 AM
Not in the least.  I never noticed any embers blowing out.  I believe the vortex is aimed to keep the ash and embers in.

Def
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ca Offline jzmtl

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #72 on: March 13, 2015, 02:46:54 AM
Good to know. Too bad I don't live close enough to borrow yours for, um, study.  :D


us Offline ducttapetech

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #73 on: March 13, 2015, 10:16:28 AM
He threw you under the bus right quick.

Nate

Actually, I threw Grant under the Jeep.
That you did.


Nate

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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #74 on: March 13, 2015, 01:28:59 PM
Good to know. Too bad I don't live close enough to borrow yours for, um, study.  :D

Honestly, I really like this one.  It is remarkably easy to light- much easier than I'd thought, it heats up fast, cooks things quite well and does a good job overall.  I also like the idea of not having to carry fuel with me and I like that it will charge devices while you cook.  I have bought a couple of power banks to make more efficient use of it, since I can charge the banks while I cook and then charge the phones/lights/GPS etc overnight since I don't want to burn the stove while I'm asleep.

That brings us to the drawback of this stove, which I suppose is also a safety feature.  It is hungry.  It burns the wood at seriously intense temperatures, and to do that it needs to burn the wood fast.  You will find yourself almost constantly feeding this thing if you plan to cook on it.  I'd say you need to add wood about every minute and a half to two minutes or it will exhaust the wood in it and start to die out.  I'll do a more in depth measurement in the summer when dry wood is more plentiful and see how much wood I have to put into it, and at what intervals.

Def
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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #75 on: January 27, 2017, 07:45:07 PM
Thread Necro!

As part of a job application for a local outfitter I was required to tell a story about an outdoor experience I had.  I chose this one, and thought maybe the folks here would also like to read my long winded tale!

While I enjoy all manner of outdoor adventuring, and have even mostly taken jobs that require extended periods of being outdoors in all weather, my hands down favourite activity is kayaking.

I've recently moved here from Nova Scotia, where there are a number of different types of kayaking available- whitewater, ocean, flasmurfer etc.  There's even a sport there called Rock Hopping, which basically means you ride a swell up and over a rock, then, as the water recedes you land on the rock and wait for the next swell to take you off of it.

But this isn't a story about that- this is a story about a waterway that splits Nova Scotia in half called the Shubendacadie Canal System- or just the Shubie Canal for short.  It leads from Halifax Harbour to the Bay of Fundy, home of the world's highest tides.  The canal is roughly 100kms long, and I have paddled, on various occasions, almost all of it.  I was taking my new girlfriend, fairly new to paddling on a bit of an adventure that I had come to call the Seven Lakes Run.

As you can imagine from the name, this trip covers the seven lakes that make up roughly the first third of the Canal System and includes flat water, some rapids and numerous portages, and not ideal for my 17 foot fiberglass sea kayak, but I used it anyway, so my girlfriend could use my nimbler 13 foot plastic boat with the rudder.  It was, I decided, preferable as well to have her in the plastic boat, as it was much more resistant to the rocks she was likely to hit along the way!

We started in Lake Banook, which lead nicely into Lake MicMac by passing under a highway overpass, and then had to portage up the locks.  In many ways this was the hardest part of the journey as the next lake, Charles, is fed by springs and is the highest point in the canal, and that means that water flows out of both ends of it, so once we passed Charles we would be going with the current, rather than against it.  Lake Charles is also open and can get choppy, and is the last point to pack it in if you don't think you are up to the rest of the trip.

Between the locks and Lake Charles is a section of canal, hand hewn into the rock called the Deep Cut, and while it is only a few hundred meters long, it is perhaps one of the most beautiful places I have ever encountered to paddle.  It is sheltered by overhanging trees and is bordered on either shore by rough cut stone.  Every time I paddle through there I am reminded of the time my older brother, his friend and I all paddled that section in a half submerged 1 man inflatable boat from Canadian Tire.

But I digress.  Lake Charles was, as usual, relatively uneventful as we paddled it's entire length, with me encouraging my girlfriend to ram all the buoys she saw as I always do.  Simple pleasures, right?

At the far end of Lake Charles we had to portage for the second time, and then a few hundred feet later a third time as the trail ended and then the water became too shallow.  I was just glad that I had invested in a second Wheeleez cart when I bought my second boat- up until this point I had usually paddled alone and I wasn't convinced a second cart was necessary.  Now I was as I repeatedly pulled both boats out of the water and walked them to the next put in spot.

The slime on the rocks was thick, and as I pulled the boats out for the fourth portage of the day I slipped on one and sat down in the water in a very unpleasant matter and stained the back of my shorts with brown slime.  I eventually had to throw those shorts out as repeated washings were unable to remove the stains, and they were no longer flattering to wear in public!

Still we continued on up the canalway, through the overhanging trees that were thick enough to blot out the sun and give us the feeling that we were paddling into a banjo infested scene out of a horror film.  Even passing under an old railway bridge, long since forgotten by everyone but the millions of spiders that now called it home couldn't shake our desire to make our destination- and we were coming up to the fourth lake in our trip- William.

Lake William was another good sized lake, and I believe the second largest lake in the canal system.  It is also quite exposed and can become rather unpleasant in a hurry, but the most concerning part of it is the opposite end of the lake, where we would encounter our first set of rapids on the journey.  However, the rapids are a bit more challenging as they are fairly shallow and the rocks at the bottom can be a bit hazardous, but worst of all, you need to bend down and lie as flat as you can on the deck of your boat to shoot them, because you have to go under a bridge just as the current starts to take you.

With a few slight bumps on the bottom we both made it through unscathed and my girlfriend had done a good job of ensuring that she kept the bow forward and didn't turn sideways in the current.  She had passed her first real challenge with flying colors and I was very proud of her!

We continued paddling and riding the lesser current, past one of my favourite boat shops to the next lake, called Thomas.  Thomas is unremarkable, except for the highway that splits right through it, and it having been the place that I lost the blade on a paddle once, and from then on always carried a spare.  We had a little bit of fun as the current sucked us under the highway overpass, at which point we decided it was time for lunch.

We pulled up on one of the islands on Lake Thomas and pulled out my Bio-Lite camp stove.  This was the first time I'd really used it, but I thought it was really cool to have a stove that turned wood into electricity while cooking my lunch!  We fried up some vegetables and then a hunk of steak to slice up, but unfortunately the stove was burning a bit too hot and the steak was going to burn, so we dumped in some Lemon Lime Gatorade in hopes of cooling it down to a proper cooking temperature.  This of course lead to a lemon-lime steak, which actually tasted a lot better than you would expect it to!

After lunch we rested for a bit, knowing that the 30 degree weather was going to take it's toll on us, and the next part of the journey, known as Fletcher's Run was going to take a lot of effort.

You see, Lake Fletcher is the next lake in the canal, but to get to it you have to navigate a very significant drop.  I would estimate they are a Class IV rapid, and certainly not the type of thing a novice paddler like my girlfriend should be doing, nor something I should be doing in a 17 foot fiberglass sea kayak.  So, it required another portage, but not like any of the others, because there was no trail to the bottom at that time.  There is now, but there wasn't then, and largely the reason the trail and stairs were put in was due to this particular trip, and my girlfriend, who worked with the Shubendacadie Canal Commission, the organisation that maintained and represented the waterway we were on.  Naturally, being the manly man I am (read: idiot) I had previously shot these rapids in both of my boats- insert rolling eye smiley here.

But as I said, that hadn't happened yet.  What we needed to do was portage the kayaks about 50 meters by hand (carts were virtually useless for this portage) to where the trail ended, a six foot stone wall.  I then had to climb down the wall and catch the boats as she fed them down to me, one at a time.  I put the boats into a small cove off to the side and helped her climb down, knowing we weren't out of the woods yet- figuratively speaking of course!  The small cove was actually the inside of another set of locks, and there were still a couple of good bumps to go over before actually entering Lake Fletcher, and we had to be careful as this was the only public access to the lake.  If something happened and either of us were injured, it was going to be very inconvenient for help to get to us.

In the end, we managed it, and went off across Lake Fletcher and beyond, into another section of canal with a bit of current and some smaller, more manageable rapids before finally managing to get out onto Shubendacadie Grand Lake, the last and largest lake in the Shubendacadie Canal System.

We had planned to cover about a third of the lake and finish at a place called Oakfield Park, which was where we had left my girlfriend's car, but we ended up being just too beat at this point (royal "we" here) so I ended up contacting a friend of mine to pick us up at the beginning of the lake instead, telling him that we had accidentally lost her car keys in the lake, rather than admit we didn't want to go the last little bit. 

It ended up being a good run for me, and a monumental run for her, and we both had an excellent time.  To this day we still enjoy kayaking every chance we get, and since coming to Ottawa we have explored the Rideau Canal, the Ottawa River and Meech Lake in Gatineau Park- although just between you and me I think the kayaks are the only reason she keeps me around!

There you have it- one of my best stories- I can tell you some better ones, but they would involve a pitcher and some phrasing that one ordinarily doesn't use when one is looking for gainful employment!

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #76 on: January 28, 2017, 01:14:00 AM
well, I'd definitely give you a job mate.  :tu:  I'm not sure I'm ever going to try lemon-lime fried steaks myself, so I'll just have to take your word on it that they don't taste bad. :D
Be excellent to each other and always know where your towel is.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #77 on: January 28, 2017, 03:07:16 PM
You of all people should know that when you are in the woods you make do with what you have handy!  :D

Def
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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #78 on: January 28, 2017, 06:20:14 PM
You of all people should know that when you are in the woods you make do with what you have handy!  :D

Def

I can tell you that the one thing I've never had handy is steak. :D  I'm more a noodles and peperoni type of cook when in the wilds.
Be excellent to each other and always know where your towel is.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #79 on: January 28, 2017, 09:01:36 PM
Usually so am I.  I tend to stick to hot dogs or freeze dried stuff, but Megan was in charge of food that day and that's what she brought.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #80 on: March 01, 2017, 04:18:58 PM
Fire gets upgraded:

http://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/campstove-2?utm_campaign=CampStove+2+Launch+Remainder+%28HFTagf%29&utm_medium=email&_ke=Z3JhbnQubGFtb250YWduZUBnbWFpbC5jb20%3D&utm_source=CampStove+2+Launch+remainder+group#videos

Looks like they updated the original model with a 50% increase in power output, four fan speeds instead of the current two, the ability to use it as a power bank (I don't think that is an option on the original, as the battery needs to be charged to start cooking) and an upgraded LED readout to monitor everything.

I have to say, I think all of these upgrades will greatly improve the function of this stove.  I wonder if the additional output is the result of more efficient mechanisms or if it is hungrier?  Or some of each?

The big problems with the original stove still seem to remain though, and that is sourcing enough wood to keep it burning, and getting it started in the first place.  We struggled getting and keeping it lit when all the wood we could source was under a lot of snow, or was green, and while the intense heat of the stove was able to burn the green and wet wood once established, it was very difficult to built that level of inferno with wet and green wood.

Over the summer I did an experiment called "Can I boost my Jeep with the Bio Lite stove?" in which I tried to use the Bio Lite to charge my NOCO GB 30 booster pack with the Bio Lite.  It took an awful lot of time and wood to charge the pack to 50%, which technically should have been enough to boost the Jeep, but I really wasn't brave enough to flatten my battery to see.   :ahhh

Maybe the Basecamp or the Camp Stove 2 wold fare better at such a challenge?  When the weather clears up and I can get my hands on some better wood I will give it another shot!

Def
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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #81 on: March 26, 2017, 05:07:44 PM
During last week's excursion with the Etekcity stove I noted the amount of deadfall around our new lunch area, and so we decided to go back this week and test out the SOG Camp Axe and make lunch on the Bio Lite.

The first thing I had to do was find a good way to carry the Camp Axe since the cover doesn't have any attachment points.  But, the Maxpedition Grimlock solved that problem quickly and easily.



In fact, it seemed to be almost made to carry the SOG Camp Axe.



So, with that problem solved, we were off to the woods to play and have lunch.  Unfortunately, since last weekend we have had a lot of rain, a lot of snow and then a thaw, so when we got to our usual spot all of the deadfall was soaking wet.  This did not bode well for the Bio Lite stove.



Keeping the Camp Axe company is my Sync II, Kleen Kanteen bottle and the UCO match safe I picked up a few weeks ago.  The Bio Lite and my LiTech pans are inside that lovely Multitool.org Tenth Anniversary Backpack  :pok: along with a few pairs of gloves and some other random stuff.



First step was to start cutting some wood, and let me tell you, that Camp Axe was amazing.  Not that it was a great test mind you, as the wood was so old it pretty well shattered when I hit it with the axe.  Still, the axe performed excellently, despite the lack of a challenge.



The UCO match and tinder block did a great job of getting the fire started, which was good.



Unfortunately, the rest of the fuel wasn't as helpful.   :facepalm:



After some effort I did manage to get the fire going, which was great.  One of the nice things about the Bio- Lite is the intense heat that can boil off the water in the wet wood in a reasonable time. 



Unfortunately, as more and more wet wood goes in this is what you get more often than fire.   :facepalm:



I wasn't willing to give up though, and I tried to add a bit more oxygen to the mix.  The good news is that it helped.



The bad news is that it didn't help for long.



I could get the fire going for short periods, but the stove is fairly hungry and I had to keep adding the driest wood I could find, which wasn't that dry.



Unfortunately, between the wet wood and the partially wet wood, I was unable to get the stove going, which unfortunately just ends in another Bio Lite fail.  I love this little stove and I love the concept behind it.  I am also looking forward to getting the new one, but it is important to note that this stove is just not much good if you don't have access to fuel.  I know that a lack of fuel is a blanket statement that applies to any stove, but I have never gotten to where I was going and found that my naptha, propane or alcohol was too wet to make my lunch.

Fortunately Megan had also loaded the Etekcity stove into the wonderful and handy Multitool.org Tenth Anniversary Backpack and eventually I was forced to throw in the towel and make lunch on that instead.

Except that it wasn't all fun and games either- the igniter on the Etekcity stove needed to be clicked a dozen or so times before it gave us that wonderful fire.  Of course, it eventually did, and lunch was enjoyed by all as we sat there, marvelling at how beautiful and useful the Multitool.org Tenth Anniversary Backpack is.... :D



Def
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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #82 on: March 26, 2017, 05:29:17 PM
Very interesting mate.  I've always struggled with the idea of completely relying on making fire in order to have hot food, especially in wet and cold conditions.  Anyone who says they've not struggled to make fire in those conditions hasn't tried often enough.

Fantastic looking axe and bag BTW.  :tu:
Be excellent to each other and always know where your towel is.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #83 on: March 26, 2017, 05:39:16 PM
If you can get enough dry wood to get the stove up to it's operating temperature then wet wood won't affect it much, as I have proved in the past.  Unfortunately, getting it to that temperature requires a lot of effort and at least some dry wood. 

Bio Lite sells wood pellets, the exact same ones that you buy for pellet stoves and exactly the same ones I used to load onto ships 20,000 metric tonnes at a time.  If you were to carry a small bag of those, you could probably get the stove burning well enough to start feeding it occasional bits of wet wood, but that negates the concept of not having to carry fuel with you, so I am not sure how good an idea that may or may not be.

However, the Bio Lite still does provide power, which is something the other stoves don't, and so you really do need to factor that into any decisions you make regarding what stove to bring.  I will say that from that standpoint, the new version with it's built in battery bank is a HUGE improvement that addresses one of the issues I had with the Bio-Lite, and that is that your lunch is getting cold while you are still feeding the stove to charge your phone.

At any rate, like anything else, this stove has it's limitations, and long term in the woods (more than a couple of days) I feel that it might be worth the weight, but as usual, your mileage may vary.  :D

Def
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scotland Offline Gareth

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #84 on: March 26, 2017, 06:45:24 PM
Oh, no question it's got a lot going for it and in slightly better conditions I'd not be even slightly concerned, but as you say everything has it's design limitations.
Be excellent to each other and always know where your towel is.


us Offline Aloha

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #85 on: March 27, 2017, 12:46:46 AM
So, I was thinking to the idea of not wanting to carry fuel.  I say if you only have to carry a small amount and that amount could easily be carried within the stove, why not!  I mean we carry lighters and ferro rods instead of rubbing sticks together.  We are also carrying a stove as well as pots and pans.  I say if the amount of pellets needed to carry is easily carried and it will get the stove hot enough to dry fuel then all the reason to bring some. 


My little stoves electronic ignition does require a few pushes to get it going however I'll always have a lighter on hand. 

 
Esse Quam Videri


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #86 on: March 27, 2017, 01:17:58 AM
You are absolutely correct.

Carrying a small amount of fuel and picking up the sticks when you need them would be better than having to carry all of the fuel.

Plus, if you rupture a container of wood pellets it doesn't ruin the rest of your stuff the way naphtha will, so there are still serious up sides to the Bio Lite for sure.  Just make sure you have them when heading out if it's wet.

Def
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us Offline Aloha

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #87 on: March 27, 2017, 01:57:14 AM
I like the concept very much of your bio tite stove.  This type stove makes a lot of sense.  Having to cary liquid fuel then having it spilled would not be cool at all nor would a puncture to a propane/butane canister.  You'd be pretty well up smurf creek.  At least with the bio lite you can manage with carried fuel until you were able to dry enough or find suitably dry wood.   
Esse Quam Videri


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #88 on: February 14, 2018, 12:45:38 PM
I have added to my Bio Lite repertoire, but not with the next bit I anticipated.  I'd been interested in their Base Camp model, the second generation stove or the solar panel, but Cabelas made me an offer I couldn't refuse on the portable grill attachment for my original stove.  I found it in the Bargain Cave and got it for about 40% less than it usually goes for and I was happy about that.

One of the problems I have had with the BioLite is that you have to constantly feed it, which means constantly taking the food off the heat to toss more wood in.  The Portable Grill funnels the heat out across the grill surface to cook things and has a convenient flip cap that you can open to feed the stove without disturbing the food.  Along with the greater variety of food that I can now cook on the BioLite, it looks like it will make all cooking a lot easier.  It will be interesting to see if I can use pots and pans on the grill as well, or if there's too much heat loss to work efficiently.

The down side of the Portable Grill (at least from what I can see initially) is that it is pretty large and bulky, and weighs a bit more than you think it will.  I see this as a great add on for car camping, but I doubt very much any hikers would be interested in lugging this thing around.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Bio Lite Stove
Reply #89 on: May 22, 2018, 02:10:10 PM
Those of you following me on Instagram have already seen these and have been probably waiting or me to update this thread, so here goes.



I got the portable grill a while ago but hadn't had the chance to try it until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to get some little steak medallions and wrap them in bacon.  And, why not?  If you are going to put something to the test, why not make sure it's tested in the best possible way?  :D



The Bio Lite and portable grill both performed excellently as you can see, and I very much enjoyed the results of it's use.  The usual problems occurred though- the stove is still extremely hungry and I had to keep feeding it.  The nice thing about the grill is that I don't need to remove the food from the heat to put in more wood like I did when I was just cooking on top.  The heat on the grill may drop slightly when the lid is open to put more fuel in, but it is only a slight, short term drop and I don't think it affects much.  After all, I am grilling meat, not making a souffle.

The problem I did have is that I was using mostly wood chips to feed the stove, as that was what I had handy when I was cooking on my back deck.  The heat coming out of the stove when you open the cover to feed it is so intense that you really can't put your hand anywhere near it, so you have to kind of toss the fuel in, which means you end up with wood chips all over the grill as many don't make it in.  And, they are hard to grab when they fall on the grill, and you'll probably lose any/all hair on your knuckles trying, even with tongs.  Did I mention this stove burns HOT?   :ahhh

The nice thing is that the Portable Grill comes apart for fairly easy cleaning, which is great because bacon wrapped steaks make a hell of a mess on a grill.  Both the grill and the vented shield (doodad with the holes) come right out of the main housing, so you can scrub them down really good- just be careful that you don't bend the parts when cleaning, or you may have to bend them back slightly to fit back together properly.  But then, find any small barbecue that doesn't bend when you put a lot of pressure on it.  :P

Still, there are bound to be hiccups any time you use a new product for the first time, so I gave the Portable Grill another shot last week, this time with hot dogs.



There are actually two zones on this grille, which were obvious while cooking the steaks, and even more obvious when cooking the hot dogs, as one end of each wiener tended to cook faster than the other.  No big deal, as wieners aren't too difficult to turn around.  Basically the closer to the center (heat source) the hotter things get, which really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone.   :facepalm:

The hot dogs didn't take as long to cook, so I really didn't need to add fuel once the grill was warmed up, so I was at least saved that particular problem.  Both times the stove burned all the wood down to the finest ash, and both times it cooled down in a reasonable amount of time.  You are supposed to leave the fan running until it shuts itself off, and the same internal vortex that allows it to burn so hot also does a great job of cooling the stove (and by extension, the grill) down afterwards, and they aren't kidding when they say that you could pack the stove away in 10-15 minutes after use.

I am still a big fan of this stove four years later (can it really be that long?), although like any stove it has it's pros and cons.  Many state, federal and provincial parks don't allow you to gather wood, and that's a real drawback since it defeats the purpose of not carrying fuel if you have to bring your own fuel.   :facepalm: 

Also, the wet fuel problem can be an issue.

Further, it is hungry, and this model doesn't allow you to charge anything unless you are actively burning wood.  The newer model is supposedly significantly more efficient and has a battery bank feature, so these problems probably aren't issues anymore.

But, I hold true to my original comments that I think this is a much better option for an extended stay in the woods, be it intentional or otherwise.  Other than solar panels (limited effectiveness) there really aren't any other ways to charge products indefinitely.  Power banks are good for a few charges, but once they are dead, they are dead, and so you may be as well without light, communication or GPS.  The Bio Lite will charge things and keep charging things as long as you have wood to feed it, and wood is remarkably plentiful in Canada. 

Maybe I'll get the second generation stove someday, but I have to say that so far I am quite happy with this one, even with it's problems.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


 

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