I had a chance to test one out, the one with the griller option.
As a cooker, it is just ok IMHO. Mostly smokeless with the in-built fan (I say mostly a it still did smoke when fuel was low and you had to blow into the base to get it lit). And having been spoilt by ease of flame control on gas stoves, I was not as good with this stove. It consumed twigs fast, and needed constant top ups, which can be a pain if you have a pot on top and not the grill which has direct access to the burner.
For your main concern - the power generation, it is not the most efficient. The power generated is used by the internal fan first and then by the USB output. Using dry wood, and in dry non-windy conditions at under 800m elevation, the USB output was quite low. Usually around 0.25A, and regularly less than 0.4A. Relying on this to charge a phone even to top up a powerbank quickly is really not it's strong suit, even if you could constantly it feed wood. The specs from recollections advertised an output of 1A at 5V but I couldn't get it outputting consistently above 0.4A.
Still, I thought it would be a handy backup stove for car camping/emergencies. I wouldn't rely on it as the primary power source.
Your experiences with solar panels may well have to do with the small size of the panels. I don't recommend those solar powerbanks you can get that are the size of a paperback novel. The surface area is too really small to efficiently charge modern devices.
There are a few of us here that do use solar panels. If you pop over to
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=24317 there is a budget one that that a few of us have - and that I've been using for about a year now. It's a 125g 6.5W solar panel, and even with it's basic controller, I've been happy with it's performance on various 6-14 day walks. I'm not babying it as I do my other more expensive panels, so it cops a bit of abuse in and out of my pack as I am curious how long it will last. With this panel in non ideal conditions (strapped to my backpack, walking in and out of sunlight, not always facing the sun) I could still charge up my 10000mAh to around half way in around 5-6 hours. From my USB current meter, it output around 4500mAh. In ideal conditions (not flat on the ground, but angled to face the sun) which you can do at camp, it charges quicker.
If you need stronger solar generation, multi fold panels like the Anker 21W that Mark F has or the Blitzwolf 20W panel that I have also use the higher efficiency panels that work well.
Dexter wrote:The PowerFilm Light Saver seems to be a bit better for bush walking though.
FWIW, I have used the older powerfilm AA solar charger. I also looked at the Powerfilm lightsaver. While good products, these use panels that are not as efficient as the ones mentioned in that thread above. The lightsaver for example, takes around 6 hours to charge the in built 3200mAh battery, at 0.5A at 5V. The 125g Sunwalk 6.5W charger I mentioned above can output > 1A at 5V, and the tests with the Blitzwolf 20W and Anker 21W panels I have show it can achive outputs of up to 2A. This can reduce the charging time of a 3200mAh lithium battery to around 2-3 hours.
Posted: Mon 12 Mar, 2018 5:10 pm