Walking Equipment and Accessories

BioLite Campstove 2 Bundle | Review

An ultra-efficient camp stove that enables you to grill burgers and charge your phone at the same time

Why We Chose The BioLite Campstove 2 Bundle: Efficient, versatile, innovative

Price: £220
Weight: Campstove 935g, KettlePot 465g, Grill 850g
More info: uk.bioliteenergy.com

Perhaps we’re getting cynical, but it seems that the word ‘innovative’ is over-used in the outdoor industry. Every season, a raft of new gear arrives with plenty of accompanying hype that invariably heralds some amazing, game-changing ‘innovation’. When BioLite arrived on the scene a couple of years ago, however, we genuinely stood up and took notice. This was a camp stove that ran on biomass fuel – twigs, pine cones and such like – which could generate electricity and charge smartphones in the field. It achieved this via some very clever tech, and although the stove wasn’t perfect, it genuinely worked.

With the revised Campstove 2, the design has been further refined for improved performance and efficiency. When bundled with a portable grill and kettlepot, it now creates a fully integrated system that can grill, boil, cook and charge on the go. There’s even a USB FlexLight to plug in for added illumination. At full capacity, the stove generates 3W of power to charge your devices, and has an in-built 2600mAh rechargeable battery to store energy. It burns biomass cleanly and smokelessly thanks to an internal fan, so there’s no need to carry liquid fuel or gas canisters – you can just burn whatever sticks, chips and other bits that are to hand.

Related: Best Camping Stoves Reviewed

It’s still not the lightest camping stove around, but it is a versatile cooking system that means you can do a lot more than just boil water, like most ultralight backpacking stoves.

There’s another element to what BioLite does too, which is where it has its most significant environmental and human benefits. It is a sad fact that more than three billion people across the globe are forced to cook on smoky, toxic open fires. This causes over 4 million deaths per year, according to World Health Organization data. These open fires also release CO2 and produce a staggering 25% of global black carbon emissions. This is more than all the world’s cars and lorries combined.

The pot can be placed directly on top of the stove. Photo: Chris Johnson

The grill. A USB light is also included with the bundle. Photo: Chris Johnson

Moreover, access to electricity is limited or non-existent for many people. Families are forced to purchase dirty, expensive kerosene lamps for lighting. Meanwhile, mobile phone usage by off-grid consumers is growing rapidly. But while the mobile phone is an important tool for economic development, in many parts of the world, locating reliable electricity for charging devices is difficult and expensive.

That’s why BioLite’s ‘parallel innovation’ business model develops useful technology that helps campers and backpackers in the developed world, while also applying the same innovations for off-grid households in emerging markets. So gear like the BioLite Campstove supports similar products that help people in need of energy and electricity throughout the globe.

Kudos – and for once, this is a product that seems to warrant the ‘innovative’ tag.

Trade Secrets

“The CampStove 2 is the second generation of our flagship product. This upgraded design outputs 50% more power, features a 2600mAh onboard battery so you can charge gear whenever you want and an updated LED interface so you can see what’s going on inside your stove with instant feedback on the heat of your fire, the speed of your airflow, and the power available to charge devices. We also upgraded the stove to feature four fan settings so you have more control over those flames when cooking.”

Tester’s Verdict

Will Renwick, Outdoors Magic Editor

“This is a great addition to a campsite. It’s a lot of fun to use and the technology is fascinating – particularly the way you can control the heat using the fan settings and the way it minimises the amount of smoke as well.

“Getting a fire going and the kettle boiling was straightforward the first time I used it. I’d say I had it bubbling in less than 10 minutes. It was equally easy to get some sausages sizzling away nicely when using the grill.

“The whole thing is very robust, and sturdy. I can’t see it breaking. That being said, the whole set is quite heavy, so its definitely more of a car camping stove rather than one for backpacking.”

“Admittedly, I’m yet to do a thorough test of the USB charging so far. I’ll update this as and when.”