The RV stove and Camping accessory from BioLite offers something truly unique. It takes two time tested necessities any RV’er can appreciate and combines them into one handy RV accessory. The BioLite Campstove promises to cook your food, charge your electronic gadgets, eliminate the need to carry fuel, and do all that without any smoke. Needless to say this could be a no brain-er for the boondockers among us who need a no power RV stove. This handy invention from Biolite feels solid to the touch which was unexpected. The unique design is made of high temperature graded steel surrounded by a mesh steel outer covering so that the unit wont put a burn on your hands when you pick up after use. The only plastic portion of the RV stove covers the fan and power generator which should be generally away from any flame or heat issues. What we thought was incredibly neat is once the unit has cooled the plastic portion comes off and can be stored inside the steel housing itself.
Getting the Fire Going
Starting a fire couldn’t be simpler. You light a fire-starter, throw in some wood bits, flip on the fan and in a few seconds you have a nice fire going. The device is surprisingly easy to cook on except for the occasional issue with the stove temperature which is remedied through the regulation of the fan setting and possibly removing the cooking container your using for a moment. The only sticking point with the fire starting is that you either must be a master of fire starting or have fire sticks to make the RV stove from BioLite a painless endeavour. We don’t find that to be too much of a chore as they are easy to find at any camping store and are of nominal cost.
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Using the Charger
The charging function of the Biolite campstove is part two of the two functions this little RV stove is claiming to serve. It does in fact charge devices but it does need to be a fire going for it to work. Its important to understand that the function that charges the phone also powers the fan. This can be an issue if the heat gets to low to power both the fan and the device your charging. We didn’t experience any problems while using it but its certainly a possibility. The charge wont bring your shiny phone from low battery to fully charged in one cooking but it should give enough juice to make an emergency 1 hour phone call to your stock broker should you need to sell your Wells Fargo stock. Only kidding (I hope), but the RV stove did give us about an hour of talk time after cooking up a few burgers (25 Minutes of fire time).
The only real sticking point is the price tag at $129. But if you are a RV’er that likes to be energy efficient there aren’t many other options when it comes to RV stoves that use no power and also charge your devices.
Video Demo of the RV Stove and Gadget Charger: The Biolite Campstove
Closing Thoughts
We found ourselves letting the fire burn after the meal was done for a little heat and to charge our devices. We think this is a well built, unique, and handy RV stove accessory that many folks will find useful around the campsite. We assume that if your setup in a full hookup park this wont be your first choice but if you do a fair amount of dry camping or boon-docking then this just may be your new favorite toy.
If your interested in the Biolite Campstove you may also like the Grill accessory. It turns your shiny new RV stove into a fully functional grill.
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The company responsible for the BioLite Campstove are the recipients of the 2012 EPIC Award
Biolite Campstove Website
Photo credit: John Biehler / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
