More and more of our creature comforts depend on being charged (sometimes on a daily basis) and as a result a wide range of outdoor chargers have hit the market using various techniques and giving you high hopes for your next camping/hiking trip. We have previously tested out the BIOLITE and have been somewhat spoilt with that as it worked very well, other products we have tested have fallen between working ok to not working at all. The Flame Stower falls into the former category, it is a great idea and hopefully with a little evolution it can be great but right now it is just ok. There are a lot of things we do like about this product, its thoughtfully designed, very light, compact and versatile, you can fiddle about with the stabilizers to get it at the perfect angle for your fire or camping stove. For the best results you need to place the centre of the Fireblade directly over and in the fire a half inch above the flame source, fill the water bath with water (it will evaporate so make sure you keep it topped up to get the best out of the charger) the thermal energy is transferred to the Thermoelectric Generator (TEG), the opposite surface of the TEG is in contact with the water reservoir, one side gets hot as the water keeps the other side cool and the temperature difference generates electricity.

There is a handy green indicator that will tell you when it is ready to start charging and it will charge anything with a USB cable and produces 5V with an average power of 2.5W and maximum Power 3W. Now here is where we came unstuck, the most important thing I would want to be able to charge when I am away from home is my phone, it’s my camera, my emergency contact, my Sat-Nav and my entertainment but when we plugged this in it was really slow to charge, the product suggests that 1 minute of charging equals 2 minutess of talk time but this just wasn’t the reality with our unit. It sat at the same 1% for a long time and crept up to 2% after 5 mins. The manufactures do say that the success does depend on your phone and fuel source but for me this is just something that might be useful in emergencies and not a camping essential, personally I would rather pay more for something more reliable. RRP $99.99

2.8 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Helpful in emergencies or items that use lower wattage to charge up

Compact and light

Clever design

Unlike solar chargers can be used at anytime

Cons

Costly

3W max output

Slow at charging and inconsistent