Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We've found it easy to start fires in this cook stove, as the airflow provided by the fan makes a big difference. With a very modest amount of dry wood, we can bring water to a boil pretty quickly. So the stove does what it claims to do very efficiently. We also considered the more expensive model that converts heat into electricity for charging devices, but decided that particular feature is of little value to us. If I truly needed to charge my phone while backpacking, I'd buy a solar charger instead, which would generally be more effective. It's great to be able to cook without constantly carrying containers of fuel. Realistically, though, I think that any environmental benefits of not using fossil fuels are outweighed by the fact that wood smoke is unhealthful, and it is more work to create wood fires. That said, we've always enjoyed having fires while camping, and the BioLite stove allows us to create fires that do useful work while burning less wood and producing less smoke. These fires are also easier to extinguish and we can still roast marshmallows! UPDATE: As in another reviewer's experience, the top mount for the blue blower/battery attachment has melted. I contacted BioLite, but they stated that they don't warrant products sold through third-party Amazon sellers, which is news to me! Also, the fan sometimes gets noisy as if there's something trapped in it, so I'm hoping it won't break down. We're dismayed that BioLite won't stand behind their products, and I would advise against buying this particular model due to an apparent design flaw. In the meantime, we will continue using it, but we have to use a rock or other object to hold the blower/battery attachment in place.