Brooklyn: Hobo stoves charging cell phones | Hacker News Reader

Brooklyn: Hobo stoves charging cell phones

gothamist.com

40 pointskephra14 comments

Possibly illegal, also. Unfortunately for urban uses. [1]

The stoves got plenty of attention from passers-by, including the police, who ordered BioLite to stop.

“It was going really well until the cops showed up, and we packed up and made our way back,” Ms. Rosen said. “I can sympathize with them — we’re in a disaster emergency, and here come a group of people with literally a table that’s on fire.”

[1] http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/biolite-stove... It seems a little heavy for actually using to backpack. But looks like a great disaster/recovery kit.

Pretty fancy for a hobo (original title) stove: http://www.biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-overview/features...

But it's not a hobo stove. There's certainly a lineage, but this is quite a well done effort (ironic disclaimer: I'd love to buy one of these but it's a bit too spendy for me).

There's a bit of elitism in dismissing this as some some hipster camping stove -- they are addressing a significant real world problem in a very elegant way. I just wish they could make it cheaper.

I was so free to shorten the title. Hobo stove is the normal term of this kind of camping oven, normally build from an empty can, but as robotmay tells also sold by brands like Ikea. Wondering: Do they sell an empty can, knife and instructions, like other DIY Ikea products?

That certainly trumps my hobo stove I use for camping (Ikea cutlery drainer + biscuit tin). If they could drop the price by about half I could see it becoming more popular.

FYI, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_toxicity

Looked at the Wikipedia article and didn't see the connection other than possibly via primer paints.

Presumably, one of those Ikea items is made of stainless steel, which is an alloy of steel containing ~10-11% chromium.

There are a lot of coatings, metals, and metal alloys that are not safe to burn, including Galvanized Steel (Zinc), Stainless Steel (Chromium), and Magnesium.

I only ever use it outside, and rarely at that (I normally use open fires or an alcohol stove these days), but thanks for the link :)

$130, 935 grams. Ouch.

Save on fuel weight, but is rather large, and wonder how it fares in harsher weather conditions

Very large assembled. Looks like the outer orange unit can be stored in the bare stainless steel unit reducing packed space. Still on the large side, but not so much compared to a stove and fuel canisters.

This is an awesome product! I wonder how much the "Home Stove" version costs? I looked on the "Shop" page, but only saw the "Camp Stove" listed at $129. I wonder if the Home Stove can power a netbook?

"Perfect for those coffee shops that don't have enough power outlets" .. a SNL skit on this would be funny

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