BBQ Dragon Charcoal Fan - Cordless Grill Fan for Camping, Fireplace, and Smokers - Heavy Duty BBQ Air Blower with Adjustable Clamp - Portable Fire Blower for Fireplace and Campfire

I've never used lighter fluid because it tastes awful. I've always used charcoal because it tastes amazing! This is a great tool, I just wish the chimney was more durably designed to use with this (rust after 1 use) and you can only use it for 3 minutes per chimney instructions. I got the XL (chimney) to light lots of charcoal, but can't get a great ember for the whole chimney, (it does say to not over load it). Perhaps I just need to go back to more time and my paraffin and sawdust starters. I will try again at some point and will update if there's improvement or a different system proves more successful.

I have NEVER in my life had a more agreeable customer service experience. I'll gush about the product in a moment but I had to begin this review by sharing what happened. My BBQ Dragon melted. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think it was a mixture of my unearned confidence and a perfect storm of swirling wind and super hot coals. Regardless, a word of warning. Don't leave it unattended. The thing works so ridiculously fast that there is NO reason to walk away. Learn from my failure, future BBQ Dragoneers! Anyway, it melted and I was heartbroken. Picture a 38 year old man, holding this thing in his hands like a suddenly deceased and much loved family pet. His nine year old son patting him on the back, fully aware of how sad his father is. I swear to you I am not making this up. He literally said "I'm sorry dad, I know how much you loved it."So, with little hope, I reached out to the company to see if there was any kind of warranty. THEY SENT ME A NEW ONE! Can you believe that? No thousand questions. No making me feel like I was trying to scam them or get something from them for nothing. Stephanie just basically said, "Oh wow that stinks. We are gonna send you a replacement." I'm smiling while typing this. Just blew me away.Oh, and the Dragon itself is amazing. Does exactly what it says it does. I souse vide my steaks, get the chimney of insanity (who names these things? I love it!) ripping hot, and sear each side for about 30 seconds. From cold grill to nicely browned steaks I want to say about seven minutes. If you have EVER found yourself trying to blow some air on your coals, or waving a fan of some kind at them to wake them up, just buy this thing right now. I promise you, you will not regret it.

Essentially, it's a battery powered turbine-style fan. I suspect the folks who own the company don't allow feedback on their website because of potentially negative comments. Likewise, their Infomercial-style YouTube Video also does not allow comments. Perhaps for the same reason? While the product is probably okay, I really don't like using lighter fluid on my briquettes. Unfortunately, you really need an accelerant to use this product. I've used a chimney-starter ever since I got one... and I believe that's still the way to go if you want to light briquettes without the lighter fluid flavor on your food. This is direct rebuttal to the Informercial-style YouTube Video entitled "BBQ Dragon Vs. Lighter Fluid Vs. Charcoal Chimney" where the representative states "...now I don't actually use a charcoal chimney, a lot of people like this because you can use newspaper instead of lighter fluid. I don't buy into that argument, lighter fluid is fine..." Well, sorry, but lighter fluid is not fine... because you can taste it on your food. So, I'm sorry... but I don't buy into your argument. So let's agree to disagree.I really wanted to like this product, which is the reason I bought it on Amazon. If I could have bought it at Costco, I would have (for easier returns). The build quality is not bad, but it chews batteries pretty quick... just like another reviewer here on Amazon had mentioned. Another reviewer mentioned theirs melted (I guess it was left unattended). In either case, there are quite a few drawbacks with this device.Going back to the YouTube video, I'd have to disagree with the results. Not the ones with the lighter fluid, but the chimney starter results. Perhaps the chimney used wasn't that great. I did my own version of the experiment (I should have recorded it), using my Weber Chimney Starter. In my version after 9 minutes, the coals are plenty burned through and flames are visibly shooting out the top (similar results to YouTube Videos posted by others with the Weber) [I don't own stock in Weber, by the way... nor am I an employee]. Perhaps you didn't put enough newspapers on the bottom? Or used some wet charcoal? In either case, my results didn't quite match the YouTube Video... but the representative did use a different brand of Chimney. On the BBQ Dragon YouTube video, the coals were still just "smoking" after 9 minutes. So, again, quoting the BBQ Dragon Rep "...I don't buy into that argument..."So, while it is probably a good tool... for $50-60, it's a bit pricey. For the money I would buy the chimney starter. If you really want something similar, you can probably get a blow dryer and do the same job (of course, you'll need an extension cord for that). In any case, I did give it a shot... but I don't recommend this product.

I've used this product for just about 10 time for 1 month. First off, this device is not amazing. It is not awesome nor superlative. It's just a fan attached to a flexible neck anchored to a clamp. But what it does is amazing and any superlative you can imagine. It so very drastically accelerates the burning of partially lit coals until they are raging hot. Additionally, the blowing air off the hot coals rapidly cause other coals to ignite and burn. This is such a HUGE time saver and, as childish as it may seem, its entertaining to watch the fire just glow and spread incredibly fast. Like watching a forest fire.Now the con: This is important in reviewing any product. It uses batteries. That's fine as I have rechargeables in mine. But the designers thought it would be clever to include a charging port on the device. Sounds great at first but It uses a USB port. Really? I'm gonna hook this up to my laptop to charge? Or my PC to charge it? No wait, I have to buy an adaptor to plug in the USB cord so I can then plug it into a wall. (no USB cord included) so I can then charge it. STUPID! I just charge the rechargeable batteries in their own charger as I am sure ALL users would do.Would I recommend this? Oh heck yes. I absolutely love this device. Very easy to use, the clamp is very powerful and holds the device secure and the flexible neck is rigid to stay where you aim the fan. This device is a must for any person who needs to accelerate partially lit coals in a big big hurry. Swell product and a big hats off to the developers. I'm impressed.