Trekking lovers, survivalists, campers, adventurers: here's a little innovation that can come in damn useful.
The Young Marmots would have been slaughtered for something like that. A Japanese startup, The Brand Lab, he pulled this out Alpha Bonfire: basically a pocket barbecue.
How pocket size? Much.
The possibility of cooking outdoors using wood is miniaturized and optimized until it reaches, when closed, the size of a smartphone to put in your pocket.
When open, the slim kit transforms into a mini barbecue with grill to use anywhere, complete with utensils and cutlery for cooking and eating. A barbecue at the Bento box, to stay in Japan.
It is not the first, but it is the smallest
From tripod-supported mesh baskets, to collapsible barbecue boxes, the market has welcomed plenty of braziers / grills portable enough to carry by car or motorcycle. None, until now, were small enough to fit in a pocket.
The Alpha Bonfire packs everything you need to keep a campfire and cook on it in an enclosed kit that measures just 147" x 69" x 5" (147 x 69 x 5mm). When I said "like a smartphone" I wasn't bluffing.
How the Alpha Bonfire pocket barbecue is made
The kit includes five 1mm thick stainless steel panels that stack on top of each other during travel and when opened interlock to form a V-shaped barbecue with a height-adjustable top grate.
The design and assembly, as mentioned, is a miniaturized version of foldable camping bonfires.
The nerdiest part of Alpha Bonfire's design? The top side of the grill houses a series of “interlocking” utensils. Being a Japanese design, in addition to the knife and fork there are also a pair of chopsticks, also useful for simple actions such as stirring the chilli or flipping the steak.
How to use?
Once you set up the grill, use is as simple as starting a fire with wooden sticks gathered around. The resulting “bonfire” will not warm a group, but it will be useful for cooking, even in places where building an open fire is not permitted.
The mini barbecue grill can be used to cook food directly or to house a pan or pot of food as a stove.
By the way: such small dimensions allow Alpha Bonfire to be used "alone", but it saves so much space that, if desired, instead of looking for wood you can also use a camp stove for maximum convenience.
Also great for daytime use during activities such as fishing and hiking.
Spartan, minimal idea, which is very "Swiss Army Knife": and therefore I like it. I hope The Brand Labo gets what it needs (there is an ongoing crowdfunding campaign on the platform Indiegogo) to bring the mini barbecue to the market, at prices around ¥ 8.840 (around € 75). After launch, the price will be around € 90.
