Over the summer of 2018, I learned that BioLite had brought another new product
to the market. I’ve written enthusiastically before in these pages about the
BioLite Camp Stove,
Cook Stove, and grill attachment.
These are small wood burning stoves that work great for camping, but I also use
them at home to grill burgers and dogs.
The BioLite stoves use a small fire pot that is surrounded by ventilation holes.
A small variable speed fan attached to the outside of the stoves drives air
through these holes into the combustion chamber to recirculate the smoke that
is normally generated by the process of burning wood, back into the flame. Wood
smoke is basically made up of incompletely-burned wood products, both solids and
gases. By recirculating the smoke back into the combustion chamber, a more
complete, cleaner burn of the wood is accomplished.
And that is also the basic idea behind BioLite’s newest fire toy, the BioLite
FirePit. The classic campfire consists of a shallow pit dug into the ground
surrounded by a ring of rocks. We have all had the experience of sitting around
a campfire and having the smoke seemingly follow us around as we move ourselves
around the ring trying to figure out where the smoke-free side of the fire is.
Somehow, it is always wherever you happen to be sitting!
The real problem is that a fire sitting in a hole in the ground cannot get
adequate air flow for a clean burn. The classic campfire is smoky because it
is starved for one of three basic needs of fire: oxygen (the other two being
heat and fuel).
With the FirePit, BioLite solves this basic problem of the campfire in a
number of ways. First, the fire within the FirePit is contained by a fine
screen mesh. Three sides of the FirePit are made with this mesh construction.
The BioLite marketers refer to the FirePit as having an “X-Ray Mesh body”.
Second, the burning logs are kept suspended above the solid steel floor of the
FirePit by a grate. With the mesh sides, this allows air to circulate freely
all around the burning wood. BioLite advertises that this creates the appearance
that the fire is floating in the air.
Finally, the FirePit has a forced air circulation system, similar to the BioLite
Camp and Cook Stoves. There is a large blower pack that attaches to one end of
the FirePit. This blower pack contains a fan, a 10,400 mAh battery, and an
electronic control board.
One perforated air injection tube travels the length of the FirePit underneath
the steel grate at the bottom of the FirePit, and two more air injection tubes
are located on the sides toward the top of the FirePit.
When I first learned of this new fire toy, and then learned the cost, about $200,
I was not particularly enthused. But as my deer hunt started getting closer, the
thought of having one at deer camp started to grow on me. I mentioned to my
family that this might make a very nice birthday present 
.
Why did it start sounding like such a good idea? I like to have a nice campfire
at camp, but I hate the pre-fire prep work -- digging out the fire pit left by the
last campers, with their melted or broken beer bottles and aluminum cans and other
trash. Then there is the dirty after-fire dowsing and ember burial chore.
And usually, the existing fire pit at a camp that I’m occupying will not be in the
best place with relation to the center of my camp – where I’ve placed my camping
trailer, my kitchen canopy, where I’ve parked my truck. With the FirePit, I can
place my campfire exactly in the best place for my camp setup. I don’t have to
create a new fire ring where I would want my campfire. This also absolves me of
any guilt over the environmental impact of the creation of a new fire ring. The
promise of a smoke-free, or at least greatly smoke-reduced campfire was also very
appealing.
The BioLite FirePit still has a number of other features that I have not yet
mentioned. The log rack has two positions. You set it at the lower position
for burning common 16” long cord wood. It is advertised to hold up to four
chunks of the type of wood that you find bundled at stores or at campgrounds.
The log rack has a higher position for use with charcoal briquettes. The
FirePit comes with a removable second grill for cooking that sits at the top of the
FirePit so that you can grill over charcoal. Users report that the briquettes
ash-over, ready for cooking, about twice as fast as typical charcoal grills,
due to the forced air. I have not yet tried cooking over charcoal on mine.
The legs on the FirePit fold for transport. In use with the legs extended, the
heat of the fire is far enough off the ground to prevent the environmental impact
of “sterilizing” the soil underneath. Overall dimensions when the legs are folded
for transport are 10” high, 27” long, and 19 pounds heavy. It comes with a nylon
weather cover for storage outside, though I do not store mine outdoors. I use the
weather cover as a carrying bag with the addition of two nylon straps. A carrying
bag is available for separate purchase that contains a solar panel to charge the
blower pack. That seems like a gimmick to me, because the panel is too small for
effective charging, so I did not opt for that.
The blower pack is easily removable and charges through a USB cord to a power input
port. There is also a separate USB power output port so that you can take advantage
of the significant battery storage capacity to charge small devices such as cell
phones and such.
There is a single button on the side of the power pack to cycle through the fan speeds
(4 speeds, hold for OFF) and to display battery state of charge (4-LED battery meter).
It seems like everything today has a smart phone app. Yes, the BioLite FirePit can
be controlled through Bluetooth from your phone. It’s actually a pretty simple app.
It can remotely take the blower through the 5 fan speeds, and also control the USB
power output port for On/Off. BioLite also sells USB powered LED camp lights, so
control of these lights for your camp is the usage they envisioned for this feature.
The one annoying thing about the app to me is that it won’t work unless the app has
access to your location data through your phone (!!). Now why the hell does BioLite
want to know where you are using your FirePit? Bluetooth just needs to be in-range.
It doesn’t need your location data. This irks me to no end.
After you stop feeding the fire, the forced air ensures a complete burn of the fuel.
You don’t have long-lingering embers like you do in a regular campfire. In the
bottom of the FirePit, there is a sliding trap door. When the fuel is completely
consumed and the FirePit has cooled, you open the trap door, and using an
owner-supplied 3” wide paint brush, sweep all the ashes out the bottom through the
door.
Yes, it is a little on the expensive side, but after weighing the advantages of
owning one, it seemed worth it to me.
BioLite FirePit video:
https://youtu.be/1vGKgBDfL5g
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