How Freakin' Cool is the Biolite Stove?

Technology and camping are two topics that don't typically mix that much.  Occasionally you'll see some new upgrade to a fabric or tent design, but electrical engineering and the outdoors don't seem particularly compatible.  However, I saw a product on a survival forum that blew my mind and I had to share it.

The Biolite Camp Stove, $129

Biolite Camp Stove

This is a small stove that uses the heat generated in the stove to power an electric fan and generate electricity to charge electrical devices.  The fan pulls air in through the orange portion of the stove and into the main chamber, making the fire more efficient and generating power.

It charges through a standard USB port and will charge almost anything that uses a standard USB, smart phones, Ipads, etc.  Obviously, you would need to double check the manuals for the device and for the stove to make sure it's compatible before you plug it in, but it looks incredibly versatile.  For example, I have an emergency radio that could be charged with the stove in the field.

 It's small, light weight, and relatively inexpensive.

There are other options out there but they don't appear to be as versatile.  There are small solar panels and windup generators you could get, but according to the Biolite website this thing generates more electricity and faster (20 minutes of charging provide 60 minutes of talk time according to the website).  Plus, it will work day or night, cloudy skies or not.

It might not be the perfect solution but it certainly seems like an extremely cool.  It's definitely going on my wish list.

The Biolite Website

DIY Cool Cheap Firestarter

I've done a couple posts on firestarters and a DIY version of my cotton balls in vaseline kit.  Ordinarily I wouldn't go over such well trod ground, but I saw this video on another site today.  I thought it was so cool that I would try and share it with all of you.

I know what I'll be making next weekend.

Fire Starter DIY

When I was in Boy Scouts we had this really easy fire starter recipe, cotton balls and vaseline.  These are pretty popular with hunters, campers, and anyone else who needs to make fire in uncertain elements.  Basically, these act like mini-lanterns, the vaseline heats up and acts like oil, then the cotton ball is like the wick that burns the oil.  They burn in almost any condition and will easily stay lit long enough to get a fire going.

A lot of people douse the cotton balls in the vaseline and then put them in an old film container or something similar.  I don't know about you but I generally don't have film containers sitting around and if one of them popped open in your bag it would be quite a mess.  So I came up with my own variation of this time tested fire starter.

Jercol's DIY Firestarter:

Paper bag

Ziploc Bags

Cotton Balls

Vaseline

Total cost was about $2 (I already had the Ziploc bags) and will make plenty of kits.

Cut the paper bag into three 5x6 rectangles.  The cotton balls I bought were huge so I cut them in half.

Take a cotton ball, rub it in the vaseline until it has a fairly even coat, and put it on the first piece of paper bag.  Do this six or so more times until the paper bag has a nice line length-wise.  Then roll up that piece of paper like it's a big cigar.  Some of you might have more experience at rolling than others, I don't judge.

Make another fire starter 'cigar and put both on the third piece of paper.  Then roll the paper with the two cigars inside it.  Put the whole package into a ziploc bag and you have a nice little fire starter kit.  If you want to add some rigidity you could put the cigars into a toilet paper tube, you probably have a few of those rolling around, then put it in the ziploc.

What I like about this kit, rather than the film container version, is that you have a very large number of fires you can start with it.  You've got twelve individual cotton balls, twelve fires, plus three good sized pieces of vaseline soaked paper.  Rip the paper up into some smaller pieces and you've got quite a few more fires.  Plus, with the ziploc bag (I usually double bag them), and the paper soaking up the excess, you don't need to worry as much about it spilling in your pack.  

It's a simple, cheap, and reliable fire starter kit.  Throw these in your BOB or GHB and you're ready to light the fires.

Enjoy.