Gear Review: Biolite Campstove 2

Posted by Jenna Brake

So you may have seen this thing all over the internet, or perhaps you’ve heard of it? It’s bioenergy. This stove is not ‘new off the press’… however, I had a difficult time putting it to the test. After trying it in different ways and on different adventures, I’ve come to realize that a Biolite Campstove 2 can be great for specific uses.

It’s great if you are an eco-friendly adventurer living in a dry climate where you have dry sticks available to you. It’s great if you’re a lover of bioenergy (in this case, using sticks to fuel your stove) who doesn’t mind spending the extra money on small wood pellets even if you don’t live in a ‘dry climate’. Then perhaps Biolite is for you.

I feel as if this could be particularly good for someone who canoes or kayaks who can bring dry sticks with them and not have to worry about the additional weight of the stove. Note that: if you are this type of adventurer, this stove is best for bioenergy cooking use only — you will not be able to charge your phone in an efficient manner.

Let me explain:

First of all, I’m from Western Newfoundland where we get a lot of rain and our forests are quite damp. Most dry wood that we come across is driftwood along the shore—which is still damp, but it burns.

When I first decided to review the Biolite Campstove 2, I wanted to see if this stove would be a viable option for a lite backpacker. Keep in mind, when I say lite, in these terms, I mean, multi-day backpacking in comfort but as light as possible with proper amenities such as a stove.

Lite Backpacker Test

This test proved to be a flop—from a Newfoundlander’s standpoint.

We decided to run a comparison of the following considering weight, cooking efficiency and phone charging capacity;

  • the Biolite Campstove 2  
  • an average gas stove (a Whisperlite) or an average pot style stove (a stove that uses wood sticks without fan technology) along with a battery bank (Anker Powercore)

When comparing the two, the ‘other’ stove plus battery bank always won. The Biolite Campstove 2 is advertised as something of which charges your phone. From a mathematical standpoint, it would take at least 4 and a half hours of stick burning time to charge your phone to 100% if the stove was on maximum efficient heat.

With damp wood, it is VERY difficult to get to maximum heat. The reason for this is, first it has to steam off all the excess moisture which results in a lot of annoying ‘smoke’, then it will eventually get to a decent heat—maximum heat near the end of its burning cycle. In addition, if the damp wood isn’t put in the stove properly, the stove will not get sufficient airflow and you may never make it to ideal flame at all; it may just smother into charcoal and therefore get no cooking time. You cannot nurse small flames in this stove as you would a normal campfire. In addition, I need my phone as a means of a GPS so a battery bank is needed. Bringing the Biolite Campstove 2 as a phone charger would not be the ideal solution.

As far as charging your electronics are concerned, the Biolite is lacking.  The stove has a built-in 2000mA battery that powers the USB port. This can quickly power your phone to about 50% if that battery is fully charged. However, once you’ve drained that internal battery, you’re left with the power of which the stove itself can generate. This stove trickle charges with a maximum of 0.6A at 5 volts, this is enough power to charge a cell phone in about four to six hours depending on your phone’s battery size. Although this is a neat addition to the product to use for fun, that’s a long time to feed a stick fire while waiting for your phone to charge if you wish to use it in an adventure related situation.

Starting the fire

The troubles of starting a fire with damp wood

Smoke/steam due to dampness in wood

Key Notes about Biolite Campstove 2 that you should know:

PROS

  • When burning dry, efficient wood or wood pellets, this thing burns beautiful in a circular manner, not wasting any excess heat to outside winds, air, etc. The fan is efficient at keeping the heat in and keeping the flame going. When a fire is started, the fan comes on automatically and brings the flame to life.
  • The lamplight it comes in handy for cooking in the dark.

CONS

  • When the wood is even a little wet, it is difficult to keep the air circulating properly to get the flame going. You have to be careful with how you add the sticks as it can easily smother the fire.
  • This stove cannot be used without the fan. It has no circulation holes aside from the fan circulation itself. You cannot travel with this stove without the fan (a.k.a. the battery) as the fire will not burn.

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