‘We need to talk’ is possibly the most dreadful foreshadowing of badness one human can throw upon another, but what about the less traumatising yet equally ominous ‘low battery’ shootout from your technological devices? I could argue that the latter is miles worse just because a fully functioning phone (gps, light and what have you) could mean life… or death. Lucky for us that problem can be addressed with some technical ingenuity- so without further adieu, let me introduce you to BioLite.

The five designers of BioLite have mated together a portable stove the size of a bottle with a gadget charger that utilises the excess heat from a fire. You can burn anything from sticks, twigs, pine cones and other renewable resources you have available; these fuels are a much better alternative to petroleum gas, and brings water to a steaming boil in practically no time at all.

The additional containment of the fire helps capture wasted potential energy and lessens the toxic smog an open wood fire creates due to incomplete combustion. The carefully designed stoves that implement fans to blow air into the fire can significantly improve combustion, but unfortunately such stoves require small amounts of electricity to power the fans, which sucks if your out in woods. BioLite however, resolves the problem by converting a fraction of the fire’s thermal energy into electrical energy, powering the fans and the devices you attach. Costing only $130 it practically sells itself but if you’re still not convinced watch the video below for more information. If you are interested in buying the product click on this word.