Welcome to Extraordinary Tech 2018 Day 8. Join Buchanan, Joelle, Mike and myself on our adventures as we test out some of the best tech available in 2018. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we’ll be showcasing devices that came with us on a cross-country trip this summer, ranging from an outdoor speaker that will change the way you think of sound to a smartwatch that offers the best fitness features at an affordable price. Along the way, we’ll be hosting giveaways of some of the tech featured in this series, so stay tuned!
Also read: Camping Packing List: The Pack Hacker’s Guide to Actually Useful Tech
A weekend at Los Prietos seemed so ideal – two nights venturing in the wilderness, surrounded by the Santa Barbara landscape and away from the worries of our daily lives. We would feel the Santa Barbara coast breeze wafting over us as we gathered around a campfire, listening to acoustic renditions of songs from our talented musician Buchanan.
But when do expectations meet reality? As we entered the campsite, all we saw was the ominous sign: “No Open Fires Allowed.”
Realistically, we didn’t know what to do. The whole point of camping was to end a day of outdoorsy ruggedness around a campfire, roasting s’mores, and telling ghost stories, smiling and laughing the whole time.
Without a campfire, none of that could happen. We decided to make the most of the trip, opting instead to travel with our BioLite FirePit as an alternative to a campfire. Might as well try and cook the food we had bought after all.
Our feet took us far away from the campsite and we ended up in a friend’s private backyard. Paved with red brick cobblestone, surrounded on 3 sides by fences or large doors and a pool on the other, the backyard was majestic. But a campsite it was not.
This wasn’t the campsite we imagined, but we were excited for the BioLite FirePit. It didn’t disappoint; as we set it up, the exhaustion were replaced by wonder and inner peace.
It was surreal – with the flames of the fire rising higher and the soft crinkle of the wood filling the air, we were transported back to Los Prietos Campsite 32. Laughing around the campfire, hot dogs roasting over an open fire all neatly contained in the BioLite FirePit – now this was camping. This was what we wanted. A firepit in its own right, the BioLite FirePit was exactly what we needed to end our day.
Bottom Line:
Advertised as a smokeless, solar rechargeable grill, the BioLite certainly had set a high bar for itself. To its credit, both aspects worked well, but there’s still room for improvement. Some smoke did escape and to create the smokeless effect, the wind tunnel was fairly loud.
The technology is there, though, and the next iteration might be 100% smokeless
But one thing’s for certain: the BioLite FirePit will always bring the campsite to you. From an actual campsite, to the beach, to even a modern backyard, the BioLite can transform any gathering to an extraordinary arcadian camping experience.
It’s a reminder of what camping should be, a way to enjoy the outdoors anywhere, anytime.
The Extraordinary Tech series was produced in partnership with Xperi. We were provided the BioLite FirePit by BioLite for review. BioLite FirePit is available at bioliteenergy.com for $249.90.
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