WE exist to keep the forest and the campfire alive.
Campfires are a real good thing. But lots of wildfires start with out-of-control campfires.
The second largest fire in Colorado history, called 'The East Troublesome,' started that way in 2020. Ash rained on our homes in Denver for weeks, and when the fire was finally contained, lives and homes were lost, and a few places that were once truly unique in all the world had been changed forever.
That sowed the seeds for what would eventually become HOWL.
With 'The East Troublesome' fresh in our minds, we set out to camp in the Utah desert with our friends from Go Fast Campers. There was a Stage 2 Burn Ban in effect. The forecast looked wintry, so we bought the warmest-looking propane firepit available on the Internet.
That first night, we shivered around it for as long as we could stand, until finally we gave up and retreated to our sleeping bags for warmth. The next night, though, things played out differently...
As we sat all toasty and warm around our wood fire, we realized something. Yes, we care deeply about the forest and our public lands. Yes. we spend a lot of time out there. Yes, we even volunteer and donate to a number of conservation organizations.
But if folks like us weren't willing to use the alternatives to a wood fire, how could we expect anybody else to?
We sat there, knowingly breaking the law, intentionally compromising our values, and it felt wrong. Spending time in the woods no longer felt like freedom. Instead, we felt railroaded into a binary choice between two bad options: being miserable, or putting the forest at risk. And that got us thinking. What if it didn’t have to be this way?
That would restore the freedom of the forest. People could finally have a real campfire experience, regardless of burn bans. And that seemed like a big deal. But then we thought, What if we could make the thing so good that people actually preferred it to a wood fire? If that were the case, land managers wouldn't have to guilt people or force them into using it.
If campers lit fewer wood fires, there’d be fewer wildfires, and that would save forests, homes, and lives. We’d spend fewer tax dollars fighting fires. We’d keep more habitats and recreation areas intact.
Even if we prevented just one wildfire, that would be huge.
Of course, we had no idea if any of that was possible. No one had ever made a propane fire that felt like a wood fire before. But we had to try.
It took nearly three years
We invented a completely new technology to replicate wood heat, called BarCoal®. Then we developed dozens of prototypes, camped with them in rugged places, and figured out how to make them work in the wildest conditions we could find.
After seeing how well the HOWL could perform, we did whatever it took to stay on the path. We dropped clients, shut down other businesses, lived more simply, and sold off our stuff.
We spent an entire year navigating the labyrinth of international safety standards. We worked with third-party testing labs to make sure the HOWL would be fully certified for safety.
And finally, we figured out how to do our manufacturing right here in Colorado. That was really important to us, because everybody who helps build this fire should have the time, pay, and access they need to get out and enjoy it.
Now people don't change unless you give them something better. But the future is what you make it. And that's what we're here to do.
It took nearly three years
We invented a completely new technology to replicate wood heat, called BarCoal®. Then we developed dozens of prototypes, camped with them in rugged places, and figured out how to make them work in the wildest conditions we could find.
After seeing how well the HOWL could perform, we did whatever it took to stay on the path. We dropped clients, shut down other businesses, lived more simply, and sold off our stuff.
We spent an entire year navigating the labyrinth of international safety standards. We worked with third-party testing labs to make sure the HOWL would be fully certified for safety.
And finally, we figured out how to do our manufacturing right here in Colorado. That was really important to us, because everybody who helps build this fire should have the time, pay, and access they need to get out and enjoy it.
Now people don't change unless you give them something better. But the future is what you make it. And that's what we're here to do.
