Customer reviews from bioliteenergy.com
BioLite - CampStove 2 with FlexLight - Yellow/Chrome
Average customer rating
4.5
(96 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 96 reviews
5 Stars
71
4 Stars
13
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
5
1 Star
4
83%of customers recommend this product.
(
48 out of
58)
Customer Reviews for BioLite - CampStove 2 with FlexLight - Yellow/Chrome
Customer Rating
4
Works great, hungry little beast
on October 28, 2020
Posted by: Dcouch
from Cross Plains TN
Length of ownership:1 week
So this is gonna be my first impression review of the BioLite Campstove II. Being it's a first impression review, is not gonna be all inclusive, and my test was under best conditions, not average. I'll do more tests later on, in the field.
So, upon opening, it was stored with the orange piece inside the burn canister. It comes with a stuff bag, an Android style usb cable, and a light.
The light I consider to be useless.
When I first put it together, the battery was sitting at 50%. The manual tells you to fully charge before use so that you can immediately be able to charge whatever device. For my testing, I was curious to see how long it took to charge, so I didn't.
Getting it started was easy, and within a few moments of getting fire, the fan automatically turned on. You have 4 can speeds to adjust as necessary.
Initially, it does smoke, and bad. But once the fire is going, no more smoke!
You do have to babysit it and keep feeding it. I found having pieces a little longer sticking out the top resting on the probe that sticks inside the burn canister helps the probe be hot enough to create the most power.
It immediately began charging the onboard battery.
So while the battery was charging, I did test number 2, the water boil. It is advertised as being able to boil a liter in 4 ½ minutes. It took 8 minutes to boil almost 750ml. It could have taken less, but I had to keep pulling the water off to add wood.
For the battery to get fully charged from right at 50% took right at an hour, which is impressive.
Allot of the complaints I read was it took forever to charge the onboard battery. However, at taking an hour to go from 50% to 100% I consider to be pretty good, considering if you plug your phone up at 50% it takes about the same amount of time to charge.
How many times can I charge my phone off this battery, that is yet to be determined.
So, upon opening, it was stored with the orange piece inside the burn canister. It comes with a stuff bag, an Android style usb cable, and a light.
The light I consider to be useless.
When I first put it together, the battery was sitting at 50%. The manual tells you to fully charge before use so that you can immediately be able to charge whatever device. For my testing, I was curious to see how long it took to charge, so I didn't.
Getting it started was easy, and within a few moments of getting fire, the fan automatically turned on. You have 4 can speeds to adjust as necessary.
Initially, it does smoke, and bad. But once the fire is going, no more smoke!
You do have to babysit it and keep feeding it. I found having pieces a little longer sticking out the top resting on the probe that sticks inside the burn canister helps the probe be hot enough to create the most power.
It immediately began charging the onboard battery.
So while the battery was charging, I did test number 2, the water boil. It is advertised as being able to boil a liter in 4 ½ minutes. It took 8 minutes to boil almost 750ml. It could have taken less, but I had to keep pulling the water off to add wood.
For the battery to get fully charged from right at 50% took right at an hour, which is impressive.
Allot of the complaints I read was it took forever to charge the onboard battery. However, at taking an hour to go from 50% to 100% I consider to be pretty good, considering if you plug your phone up at 50% it takes about the same amount of time to charge.
How many times can I charge my phone off this battery, that is yet to be determined.
My thoughts on this, I bought it so I could indefinitely keep my VHF radio charged in the field with no access to power. Well this do it? I do believe so. More testing is necessary. Can you boil water or cook on it? Yes, but with it's challenges.
At a little over 2 pounds, is it worth it to carry in your bag? That's entirely up to you. I think so as at first impression it seems much more efficient than solar as solar takes much more time to charge and is dependent on good weather.
At a little over 2 pounds, is it worth it to carry in your bag? That's entirely up to you. I think so as at first impression it seems much more efficient than solar as solar takes much more time to charge and is dependent on good weather.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Customer Rating
5
Amazing stove for camping & backpacking
on February 28, 2017
Posted by: Anonymous
We do a lot of camping and backpacking and it's been a pain to lug around propane containers, especially when you don't know how much you are going to need. This stove works great to eliminate that need. Just add some sticks and you've got a stove efficiently heating your food and powering your devices. I feel great knowing that I am also being energy efficient. And it's an added bonus that I can charge my phone and other devices while I cook. I'm also pretty excited about the KettlePot attachment that fits snugly on top as it completes our coffee needs in the morning. I always love BioLite products and it's great to see they continually listen to the community and improve their products to be better (if that were even possible to do).
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Customer Rating
5
Amazing product!
on March 1, 2017
Posted by: Toni
This last year I have traveled the United States in a small car, so space was limited! The compact design of the CampStove 2 makes cooking on the road a breeze.
I was able to scavenge for a few sticks or pine cones, and start a fire effortlessly. I absolutely love the new LED dashboard - being able to control the fan speed was essential to cooking a good meal on my cast iron.
My favorite part? It not only charges your phone, camera, etc. while it is on but it actually holds a charge so you can used it as a battery pack long after the flame goes out.
A bonus to the new model is the included light. I no longer have to use the single use battery in my headlamp to light up the meal I am cooking!
I was able to scavenge for a few sticks or pine cones, and start a fire effortlessly. I absolutely love the new LED dashboard - being able to control the fan speed was essential to cooking a good meal on my cast iron.
My favorite part? It not only charges your phone, camera, etc. while it is on but it actually holds a charge so you can used it as a battery pack long after the flame goes out.
A bonus to the new model is the included light. I no longer have to use the single use battery in my headlamp to light up the meal I am cooking!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Posted by: Paul
from Kelowna BC Canada
Length of ownership:1 week
Verified Purchase:Yes
I received the stove for Christmas. Having seen it in a store I knew what to expect but was still pleasantly surprised by the build quality and robustness if the beastie. I immediately took it outside to break it in. The battery was 1/2 charged when I started and during my testing it charged up to 100% in about an hour. The stove works exactly as advertised. Is well designed and well built. Once you figure out how much fuel to put in and the best sizes for a hot flame it keeps the flame strength at maximum with fan setting on one or two.
The led’s on the battery showing flame strength and battery level are extremely handy. Would definitely recommend this stove.
The led’s on the battery showing flame strength and battery level are extremely handy. Would definitely recommend this stove.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Posted by: Craig
from Indiana
Length of ownership:1 month
Verified Purchase:Yes
It doesn't really charge very fast. You got to be prepared to put wood in it like constantly I got some wood pellets because I thought they worked better not so much.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from bioliteenergy.comBy BioLite, CS, June 16, 2020
Hi Craig, we're sorry to hear that you're disappointed with the CampStove 2.! Our support team will gladly walk you through some steps to get the stove operating and burning more effectively, please reach out to us here: https://www.bioliteenergy.com/pages/contact
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Customer Rating
4
Best portable heater/furnace
on September 23, 2020
Posted by: Bleddyn
from Central Coast California
Length of ownership:6 months
Pros and Cons. Con.....possibly the worst portable self charging device on the market, it takes forever for it develop enough spare power to charge the battery and you won't get any power out of the unit until it reaches at least two LED's because it needs power for the fan, I estimate you would have to keep adding wood for 12 hours to get enough charge on the battery to charge a phone.
Pros: The best portable heater/furnace I have ever owned, the hotter it gets, the more power it generates. If you have a plentiful source of wood this could easily be a smelt for melting lead for casting, the thing literally turns into a fire tornado at high fan speeds and once it really gets going, it doesn't seem to matter what you put into it, dry wood moist wood, cigarette butts, leaves, charcoal...it quickly incinerates it all. It's like the Mr. Fusion of the portable heater world. But you do have to feed it every minute or so when you are in the tornado mode. This product is well worth the price for just the heating benefits, but over time, it will eventually charge the internal battery enough for an emergency charge of a phone.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Customer Rating
5
Just brilliant
on February 8, 2020
Posted by: Beau
Length of ownership:1 year or longer
Had mine for 3 years, used in -40 degrees to + 40 and never missed a beat!! Love this company and their products!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com
Customer Rating
5
Stove 1 has been great - for years
on August 9, 2020
Posted by: Peter
from Lake Tahoe, CA
Length of ownership:1 year or longer
I’m still using my Camp Stove 1. I’m surprised at the number of mediocre or unhappy reviews, since my stove has worked fantastic over many years for backpacking and car camping. There is a plastic label on the power module that is lifting, and the whole thing is a bit dirty, but it still boils water quickly, does a mediocre job of charging a phone, and a great job of grilling.
I’ll echo some other comments in the hopes that people may be able to use their stoves effectively more quickly.
1) get your fuel in order. You’ll use a lot of twigs and sticks. Break it up to size - up to about an inch in diameter, and have it ready to go. As with any fire, dry fuel burns hotter and cleaner. But once started, you can use moist fuel if you can deal with smoke. Just like with any fire. Wet fuel doesn’t burn in any fire, it just makes lots of smoke.
2) use dry twigs, pine needles and pine cone bits as a starter. Again, just like with any fire, you won’t get started with large chunks of wood. Smaller is better. And don’t overload the stove. A light load of dry small material has always lit right up for me, then progressively feed larger pieces. An overloaded stove will smoke heavily, especially on startup.
3) again, just like with any fire, overloading it will make smoke. With the forced-air, the Bio-lite is actually pretty tolerant of packing in a fair amount of fuel. But too much will make smoke.
4) feed it regularly with small amounts of fuel. The bio-lite will burn nice and hot, and the forced air keeps it hot which means a lot of fuel. The faster the fan is going, the more fuel. But again, don’t stuff it full. Small, regular additions keep a happy fire going. Having your fuel ready and next to you makes life much easier.
5) if boiling water, be prepared to lift the container to add fuel (notice a theme here?)
6) i love using the grill. It works great and is easy to add fuel through the flip-up lid.
7) fire restrictions are real. The bio-lite does great, but can still create sparks and embers depending on your fuel. Comply with local restrictions and don’t be the bozo who starts a big fire.
8) clean out the stove when finished. Turn it upside down and sideways to shake out as much ash as possible.
I’ve used my stove easily more than a hundred times. I left it unused for a year when I hurt my back and when I came back it started right up. I still use an MSR jet-boil equivalent sometimes. But other times the bio-lite is the best choice, and yes, you can cook a marshmallow over it when you start letting the fire die down.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting bioliteenergy.com