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During or in the aftermath of widespread flooding wind damage, even such minor events as blizzards and ice storms people often find that they are living off grid, and they'd likely be far better off if they were in "the bush" rather than a modern city. If you're away from people you can start your generator without fear of having it stolen. That's not the case when there are close neighbors. In a crowded neighborhood it's unsafe to even show a light.
A camp stove and your regular cookware may save the day. A thermos will allow you to rehydrate and even cook food while conserving fuel. Kurt Saxon pioneered thermos cooking years ago. It does, however, require a water supply.
You don't live off grid today, but you may tomorrow.
The world isn't going to be off-grid tomorrow. If it is, it means nuclear war, yellowstone erupted, the moon split in two, a huge asteroid hit, etc... and in those cases even the preppers are going to have a hard time living past 6 months. Having a bio-lite stove or not, you are in some deep doo-doo.
If Power is out in your area long term, drive to an area with it. Fly to an area with it if you have to. Typically within 24-48 most people can do this. (Drive at least, airports are going to be iffy) Are there exceptions sure, but it this isn't the case for the vast majority of people. I didn't see the people in Valdez, AK die of starvation when an unexpected avalanche cut their only road off last winter. They barged things in and had supplies on hand - they were not living day to day.
Lived through many a Hurricane for weeks without power and water. Andrew in 1992 in South Miami-Dade being the longest time without it. It is a temporary condition. Not too hard to always be prepared for. As far as charging - I have several ways to do this in the vehicles we drive every day - and even 12VDC to 110V inverters in case I need something charged that I only have a 110V charger for. In addition, I do have a generator.
In case of being unexpectedly off-grid, I can use the things I use everyday. It is more about having enough of the things you use everyday. I stock potable water - I have a deep freezer so I freeze a lot of 2-liter plastic bottles and I even have some 1-2 gal. sized zip lock bags ready to go. Those work better in coolers - because a slab of ice fits better than a 2 liter bottle. Either will last at least 24 hours in the coolers I have. As a larger block of ice lasts a lot longer than twice the volume of cubed ice. Dry ice is even better (but expensive). I have enough food and can cook with propane. I even have a propane light in case the generator, car inverters, and batteries run out. If I was in an apartment stuff would be adapted. My last apartment when I was in college had a balcony - so "grilling" was still possible. Ice stored up, etc... Unless you live in a very, very, rural area, driving to another city is generally possible within 24-48 hours. (Ice and Snow could potentially be an exception to that in a rural area, but if you are rural you have the space to stock up)
I live in a Hurricane prone area. Nice thing about Hurricanes you typically get several days notice. I use that time to just top off my supplies. (I already have a hurricane kit and I recycle out the perishable supplies, but sometimes I find myself not having enough stock piled fuel to be comfortable).
In a Hurricane - I evacuate my family to relatives houses out of the danger zone. My job mandates that I am here and I am in the thick of it. That is the only way I can protect my family.
Since I am moving to a potential ice storm, blizzard area I have to rethink my preparations. A bio-lite may or may not be a part of it. I don't hike for days and camp by backpack - so I don't have an opinion on that suitability. Missingall4seasons I believe does, so his opinion is probably valid.
One last point, I would not use a bio-lite stove indoors, unless you want to die of CO poisoning... So your neighbors are still going to know you have power, heat, and food. And just for the record, cell phone towers run on battery backup and shortly after the power goes out they die. Today more have auto generators, but not all of them so. And if it is that bad, no one will be able to get to them to refill them. So just who are you going to talk to on your charged up phone? This was HUGE, HUGE problem in 2005. Gas stations had fuel but no way to pump it. Now all NEW stations and when existing ones renew permits, they have to have generator backups - at least in Miami-Dade.
I didn't see the people in Valdez, AK die of starvation when an unexpected avalanche cut their only road off last winter. They barged things in and had supplies on hand - they were not living day to day.
You can't really compare preparedness or crisis management between urban and remote. The two are worlds apart -- all the logistics are different to begin with.
Most areas in AK, people aren't living day-to-day in the first place because access and supply availability is not guaranteed. Even in the 3 main cities, you don't find many people without at least 2 weeks of preps, most folks have at least a month's worth of supplies. The further out you go, it's usually 3 or 6; out in the bush with no or limited road access, it's normally a full year for most supplies. The weather here is often bad enough that air travel (including the mail and med-evac) isn't always available. Water access, either by sea or river, is a bit more stable; but you need to live nearby, or be able to get there, and your inlet has to be navigable.
This goes back to what Happy was saying -- in a bad crisis where you're cut off for a longer period, it's usually better to already be out in the bush than a modern city, because you're already living that way and prepared for those types of things. We're used to living with no/limited power. We're used to conserving resources like fuel and water. We're used to stocking up on a wide selection of non-perishable food and foraging/hunting/fishing (and have the space to do so). We're used to traveling by foot or non-mechanical vehicle during bad conditions. It's our normal life.
Most folks in the city rely on municipal utilities, developed road systems, and convenient shopping, perishable food, etc... they're not prepped for anything that cuts them off for more than a couple days. Something as mundane as a storm, quake, mudslide or brush fire can jam up the works much longer than folks expect. It doesn't take a Black Swan event. Roadways and airports can get closed, damaged or backed up... sometimes you just can't get out in time, so you need to be prepared to stay put, just in case.
The BioLite is a combustion stove, so you do have to use it "outdoors" or in a very well ventilated area or under a vent/chimney. It doesn't put out a ton of smoke/emissions or suck up a huge amount of room air. If you have a yard, porch, or balcony it's pretty easy. If you're in an apartment without a balcony or usable fire escape, you can affix a shelf to a windowsill so you have an "outdoor" ledge. One of these stoves is much smaller/lighter than a grill and uses a very small amount of fuel, so it's easier to use out a window with available "trash" fuel (like a phonebook, newspapers, magazines, cardboard packaging or paper can labels). It won't necessarily keep your neighbors from knowing, but at least you won't kill yourself making oatmeal or a cup of soup! For many things, you just need to heat/boil water and can then "cook" the food the rest of the way in a thermos or wonder oven (just put the pot between two pillows or wrap it in a quilt).
I think you are making my point - Alaska has 730k people in the entire state. That is the exception not the rule. It would be nice if more were prepared though.
My level of preparedness here is just different - although because of my job I am over prepared in comparison most people around me are and I am one of the first to prepare once a storm threatens.
Good to know you can light a fire in the biolite the normal way and then it gets the power it needs to run the fan and produce the 2W - 4W. I did read a review that said charcoal briquettes worked really well. And from what I have learned from many people on the Alaska Forum on City-Data - I know that wherever I end up in AK I will need to dramatically INCREASE my preparedness days and levels.
You can use charcoal briquettes in the BioLite, but you may need to break them up since a full briquette is way more fuel than you need in such a tiny cooker... I suspect a full briquette would overfire and damage the unit. You can also use fuel tabs and one or two of those shouldn't overfire. A Tbsp dollop of gel chafing fuel would also work. You really don't need much fuel to get a liter/quart to full boil on that stove in a few minutes. Even at -40F, we got a liter to a rolling boil in 15 minutes with 1 fuel tab and 2 handfuls of aspen twigs (just block the wind!). Most folks don't have to deal with temps that low, and at +40F, we got a quart boiling in about 5 minutes with a sheet of newspaper, a cardboard paper towel tube, and the mac-n-cheese box.
Yes, the TEG charges the onboard battery and powers the fan first, then it shunts the remaining to the external charging unit. If the onboard battery is totally dead and not resurrectable, the fan and external port will still power up. From a fully depleted state, I think it took about 2 minutes to charge up the onboard battery and switch power over to the external port.
I've never read of any dangers associated with kerosene lamps; perhaps houses were simply looser when they were in common use. But kerosene, although part of the modern industrial grid, may provide at least a partial solution. Alcohol, which most survivalists could distill themselves, is even better. It' easy to make a Sterno-like product. Just add some soap or egg white or blood to the alcohol as we add it to gasoline when we make napalm. Those who wish to buy either off the shelf may find both denatured alcohol and Sterno at Walmart. Gain alcohol would be great, but it requires payment of alcohol tax. It's illegal to sell in New York state. Gary "Gaz" Regan mentioned that he has to buy it in Connecticut when he needs it to experiment on new bitters formulae.
Coleman makes what is essentially the old Peak 1 stove which can use Coleman fuel, unleaded gas (Is there any other kind in this blighted era?), or kerosene. There are little Sterno burners as well. Lehman's carries kerosene cook stoves, but they're not inexpensive. I bought a Japanese two burner model some years ago; it's an excellent product but apparently not available in the US today. Any stove that can use Coleman fuel can use cleaning fluid as well as charcoal or cigarette lighter fluid. Too expensive to stock up for the purpose they can be lifesavers in an emergency.
For those who don't wish to build their own rocket stoves or simply wish to have one that's more portable there are stoves that do everything a Biolite can do, but they do it without continuing dependence on the manufacturing grid.
Finally, for those who wish simplicity and versatility this stove may be the best. This product is a must for those who wish to free ourselves as much as possible from the chains of modern society. All of the technology existed in 1881.
Amazon has a veritable cornucopia of survival stoves. Here are a few other places. Learn about all of the following stoves. It doesn't matter whether you buy any, but understanding them and how as well as why they work could someday save your life.
FYI - You can still buy leaded gas. Race cars use it - and 100LL (100 Low Lead) is used in airplanes. It's nice to use that in lawnmowers, the fuel doesn't go bad/stale nearly as fast and it runs a lot better on it. E10 sucks in anything uses a carb. especially lawn mowers and weed eaters.
Hard to find non-ethanol fuel, but two places by me sell it for $4.55 a gal, when super is $3.98. 100L is around $8/gal. and you can only get it at an airport.
You can buy ready made and manufactured still or make them stills later - and if the world has ended as we currently know it - who are you going to pay the grain alcohol tax to and who is going to stop you? To me, the problem with a still is the cost of the yeast and sugar. I haven't figured out a way to make it cheap enough.
Kerosene lamps can be very dangerous - especially if you knock one over. The old "hurricane lamps" that my parents and grandparents used down here were very simple and very dangerous. Newer ones came out that wouldn't break or spill as easily if knocked over, but still are not the safest.
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Missing - Interesting about the sterno and the way you used the Biolite stove.
Yeah, that was just playing around with the demo units at our outfitter; so I can't say how it would perform long-term in a real life-or-death situation.
But, from my experiments, it would be great for an urban apartment/townhouse dweller for a few days/a week without power or gas. Or to keep in the car for long or inclement-weather trips... the real bonus is that it doesn't need any special fuel (tabs or canisters); you can use dry grass, twigs, maps/paper, cardboard, whatever trash you can find that will burn.
It would even be pretty decent as a 4th or 5th backup at the bush cabin; but it would be really nice in the semi-stationary shelter on the trap line or ice-fishing, where you pack in your gear by sled (or leave it packed in a drum during the off-season). It's sure nice to be able to recharge your GPS, MP3 player/radio, or headlamp while you're making coffee and heating stew... 'cuz you ain't charging jack-diddly with solar up here in the winter (no sun!) and hand cranking a dynamo with gumby mitts on is a serious PITA. It takes a while to get a tent or shack warmed up with a stove or even get a campfire going in the winter when it's so cold the simple ignition can be a problem. With one of these type cookers you don't really have to worry about the temps like you do with other fuels (kerosene gels, propane doesn't flow, etc), and you can get something warm in you fairly fast while you're getting the main fire going.
I've yet to experience being outside for long periods of time in that kind of cold... And I can only assume getting warm and something warm in you as quick as possible is a good thing.
I am sure someone will buy one and test it out for a couple of seasons and let us know how durable or not the unit is. And being able to charge a phone/gps while ice fishing is a plus, not like you can plug it in to the ice or a tree on the shoreline to charge. I would think if you had one of the hand crank chargers, you would hand crank it BEFORE you left though.
Keeping a charged booster pack for your phone is much simpler and makes more sense than a gadget to make a fire to charge your phone. Way too much hassle for $130.
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