BBQ DragonCharcoal 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 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.

Let's just get this out of the way:YES - This is just an over-glorified blow-dryer merged with a mechanic's flex light arm and a clamp.BUT - By the time you bought a decent hair blow-dryer, a flex light, a clamp, duct tape, sawed off unnecessary parts and put it together... you've spent the $50 or more that this costs, and yours looks like crap.BONUS - This tool works like a dimmer switch for lighting; it's not just "High - Low - Off." It adjusts as you turn the knob, something I didn't realize till getting it.(Minor) Con: It's a little noisy. Again, like a hair blow-dryer. But you only need to use it for a couple of minutes, so not a big deal. I would like to see a quiet version though.That said; this tool is extremely useful for fire-starting and re-starting. Every BBQer (charcoal, not gas where you might as well be cooking inside with the oven and stovetop) has run into the situation where the fire has gotten cold and (s)he wants to get it going again without dumping on more coals and waiting. And waiting. Especially on a kettle... my BGE can build heat quick, but it peaks.What do you do to make a fire hot quicker? You blow on it.Let this blow for you. For the "she" segment, no pun intended.For those of you still (*GAG*) using lighter fluid, PLEASE STOP. Do you sniff the fumes from your gas tank when you go fill up? No? Then why cook your meat on it? Use an electric starter and this instead.I haven't used this on my fireplace (not the right time of year), but I imagine it'll help even better for that.

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 have the small green egg and have always have trouble keeping the grill up to temp. I've used other small battery-operated air blowers and they work. But I think this one has worked the best. What I really like is it clamps on and the adjustable blower speed. I think it's well constructed. A little spendy but worth it because I'm not cussing out the grill all the time!!