Burn Wood to Charge Your Phone or Cook Breakfast, Etc. (Thermo-Electric Generation Pt. II)
I saw this at All Outdoor today. I had quite a few responses to the PowerPot story so I thought I'd post this pertaining to BioLite. If anyone out there has any experience, reviews, etc. please share in the comment section.
I got one of those during their Kickstarter campaign.
I'll be the first to admit I may be a total asshole and it's all my fault, but I never thought it worked worth a damn. I does make a nice, clean burning fire, with a constant stream of twigs and branches shoved into it, but I don't think we ever got it to the point where it would charge anything. I managed to grill a steak pretty well, but that's about it.
Maybe the idea is that if you're out camping, you keep a fire going all day long and that gets it to where it will charge.
I should play with it a bit. It has been long enough since I tried that its internal battery may need to charged.
Took one on a canoe trip up in Michigan last year, actually a friend had one for the week. It seemed to work as advertised. Did charge the phones OK, but reception left a bit to be desired. The only problem was making sure you had dry wood, which we did until the last day when the heavens opened. We had stock-piled some finger-sized branches along the way, but I don't think anything was going to burn in the downpour we encountered.
All, thanks for the feed back. Anonymous, I am curious. When you said "reception left a little bit to be desired", are you speaking of your cell phone or is there some sort of transmitter/gps on the generator itself?
My apologies, I was a bit too cryptic, as I should have pointed out, we were able to charge the cell phones,but were so far in the boonies,I don't think it mattered. But it would be cool if the unit had some sort of transmitter.
To Jeffrey in Alabama, I meant we were able to charge out phones but I'm not sure it mattered as we were so far out in the boonies. But it would be cool if it did have transmitting capabilities.
I got one of those during their Kickstarter campaign.
ReplyDeleteI'll be the first to admit I may be a total asshole and it's all my fault, but I never thought it worked worth a damn. I does make a nice, clean burning fire, with a constant stream of twigs and branches shoved into it, but I don't think we ever got it to the point where it would charge anything. I managed to grill a steak pretty well, but that's about it.
Maybe the idea is that if you're out camping, you keep a fire going all day long and that gets it to where it will charge.
I should play with it a bit. It has been long enough since I tried that its internal battery may need to charged.
Was following when they first came out.
ReplyDeleteThen saw one in EMS and felt they were a bit oversize to carry.
Went with my Solo/Power Pot system.
Took one on a canoe trip up in Michigan last year, actually a friend had one for the week. It seemed to work as advertised. Did charge the phones OK, but reception left a bit to be desired.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem was making sure you had dry wood, which we did until the last day when the heavens opened. We had stock-piled some finger-sized branches along the way, but I don't think anything was going to burn in the downpour we encountered.
I bought one a year ago. Works well.
ReplyDeleteWeight wise, it pays off on backpackng trips over 3-4 days due to the fact that you don't pack fuel cans.
All, thanks for the feed back. Anonymous, I am curious. When you said "reception left a little bit to be desired", are you speaking of your cell phone or is there some sort of transmitter/gps on the generator itself?
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, I was a bit too cryptic, as I should have pointed out, we were able to charge the cell phones,but were so far in the boonies,I don't think it mattered. But it would be cool if the unit had some sort of transmitter.
DeleteThank you for clarifying.
DeleteTo Jeffrey in Alabama, I meant we were able to charge out phones but I'm not sure it mattered as we were so far out in the boonies. But it would be cool if it did have transmitting capabilities.
ReplyDelete