Portable firepit

[Guest]

Hello, 

How many of you all use a portable fire pit? Carrie and I are considering the 30 gallon propane tank upgrade and possibly getting one of the Heininger fire pits. If you have used one, are you satisfied with the heat output and is the propane use at 58,000 BTUs too significant?

Thanks! 

Kirk

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

The propane firepits lack the charm and warmth of a traditional wood fire but they are an option as campfire bans become the norm in our dry, Western forests.  We set ours up for use either by direct hookup to a tank or by tying a longer hose into the Oliver's external hookups.  This requires the purchase of an additional longer hose and adapters to allow for the use of the original short hose supplied for direct tank hookup as well as the second, longer hose.  We set up ours to allow for the use of quick disconnect fittings on both hoses.

Heat output is not up to the standards of a real campfire, nor is the fire as fun.  You don't get the snap and crackle of a real wood fire and there is no point in jabbing the propane flames with a stick ... always a source of amusement with a real fire.  On the plus side, smoke is a non-issue and it does provide a focus point for friends to gather around.  We were able to increase heat output by adding a bunch of small, pourous lava stones, courtesy of a local volcano.  These stones are heavier than the fake rocks that come with the propane firepits and soak up (& radiate) far more heat.  Make sure to use appropriate, completely dry stones to avoid the small, nasty explosions that can occur when heating water soaked stones.

Speaking of things campfire, we recently purchased a small electric chainsaw for use gathering wood.  Boy, what a time and labor saver!  I should add we get 5 - 6 long nightime sessions (2 - 3 hours each) out of a 20# cylinder if we don't crank it up too high.

[Guest]

I totally agree with you on the benefits and disadvantages of wood vs propane. I grew up in Arkansas and we entirely heated our house with wood. Here in Idaho, we recently moved from the country to town and now we have a gas fireplace. While it is convenient in many way, there is nothing like a wood fire. Your suggestion for local lava stone is great, thanks. We have plenty of lava flows around us. 

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

Kirk,

A good excuse to visit Craters of the Moon.  One of our favorite spots.

[Mountainman198]

We have the outdoor package with lp outlets and 30 gal tanks. Also have the typical lp firepit. It is ok but not a wood fire. 
 

For a bit of a change we also travel with a very small lp firepit I made out of a surplus .50 cal ammo can. It shoots a nice flame and the lava rocks and hose are latched under the lid securely for transport. It is also easy to transport along with a 5 lb lp tank if you want to bring the fire to someone else’s campsite

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies. There are some good ideas, appreciate it!

[VBistro]

We recently bought an overland firepit and successfully used it with our external quick-connects when we picked up the Ollie last month.  Worked like a charm.

I love the ambience of a wood fire, but I really don't like the smoke anymore.  And, as mentioned here, there are lots of places in the west where you simply can't have a wood fire anymore.

mb

[tallmandan]

Agree with all the comments here -- there's nothing like a real wood-buring fire.  However, fire restrictions in the West are growing every year and I expect to continue.  The hassle of hauling the wood and the cost (must purchase firewood in the campgroud to avoid possible transport of invasive species or pine beetles) caused me to try a propane fire pit.  This is the one we have:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KY4S388/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works well and we did enjoy it on several chilly nights.  It's not the same as a wood fire for sure and it does feel kinda "fake." However, it creates nice, soft "dancing light" and some heat.  We have 2 30gal propane tanks so I don't worry about how much propane we use -- but it doesn't seem to use very much for an hour or so in the evenings.  Super easy to use and no smoke is a plus for sure. 

 

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

As a data point for folks wondering about fuel consumption, we have run half a dozen 20# tanks through our fireplace over the last year and seem to be consuming about a gallon per evenings use ... 4 - 5 nights at 2 - 3 hours per session.  You can turn the flame up or down which changes the consumption rate.  Our fire pit is one of the smaller ones ... maybe 18" across.

[Guest]

Thanks again everyone, and thanks tallmandan for the link. That looks like a good one to buy! I am going to get one of those and try it out this winter. 

[Time2Go!]

15 hours ago, tallmandan said:

Agree with all the comments here -- there's nothing like a real wood-buring fire.  However, fire restrictions in the West are growing every year and I expect to continue.  The hassle of hauling the wood and the cost (must purchase firewood in the campgroud to avoid possible transport of invasive species or pine beetles) caused me to try a propane fire pit.  This is the one we have:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KY4S388/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works well and we did enjoy it on several chilly nights.  It's not the same as a wood fire for sure and it does feel kinda "fake." However, it creates nice, soft "dancing light" and some heat.  We have 2 30gal propane tanks so I don't worry about how much propane we use -- but it doesn't seem to use very much for an hour or so in the evenings.  Super easy to use and no smoke is a plus for sure. 

 

We have this same fire pit except it is a 24". We use it often and enjoy the flame and warmth. We mainly got it so we didn't have to carry/buy firewood or deal with the smoke smell in our hair, clothes or the trailer if the windows are open. We have a 15' or 20' hose so have been able to place it pretty much wherever we want. We also have the dual hook ups on the outside of the trailer. If we need it way far away from the trailer we also have a small 5 gallon tank that we can use instead.

[Mike and Carol]

We also have the Outland fire pit.  It keeps our clam toasty warm in cold weather on low.  Highly recommend!  Mike

[VBistro]

5 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

We also have the Outland fire pit.  It keeps our clam toasty warm in cold weather on low.  Highly recommend!  Mike

Hadn’t thought about using it in the clam on a chilly night. Great idea!

[Mike and Carol]

20 minutes ago, VBistro said:

Hadn’t thought about using it in the clam on a chilly night. Great idea!

Yep, put it in the middle with chairs around and it is quite cozy even in really cold weather!

[Landrover]

Getting older carrying wood among many other things some times isn’t worth it. Some  State Parks you travel to allows your own wood, some don’t  allow wood brought in from other states. While traveling out west I forgot which state we were in. We came upon an inspection station and there only concern was were we carrying wood?   Luckily we had none at the time. With that said the portable fire pit is a good option. It doesn’t replace the wood fire of course. But I’m happy with the portable fire pit I was able to get one from Oliver very nice unit more expensive than online.  This fire pit  was no cost to me fortunately thanks to the referral program Oliver has. I used some of the credit I had available.

[Trainman]

We do both, either take the Little Red Campfire, or take firewood for the campsite fire pit, our decisions are made before we go camping on which system we are going to use.  I do have a 25ft. LP extension hose that we use for the LRC and a 25ft. extension hose for our Blackstone grill, all have quick disconnects and can be plugged together if a longer run is needed.  All being said, you need to do what works for you, I made my system versatile for any LP products I may want to use and at anytime when camping.  One thing to remember is find out in advance on what the open fire rules are at the camping area that you will be going to, as they can change daily to what the burning regulations are at that time. 

trainman

[Overland]

Definitely get a firepit - these days it’s non-negotiable. Pro tip, if you pair the firepit with a good smoky mezcal, it’s mostly the same. 🍸Bueno. 

[John and Debbie]

On 12/14/2021 at 6:04 PM, VBistro said:

Hadn’t thought about using it in the clam on a chilly night. Great idea!

What's a clam? 

[Time2Go!]

3 minutes ago, John Welte said:

What's a clam? 

It's a brand of screen shelter for additional outside living without the bugs or for shade or rain/wind protection.

 

[John and Debbie]

1 minute ago, Time2Go! said:

It's a brand of screen shelter for additional outside living without the bugs or for shade or rain/wind protection.

 

Thanks for the explanation. 

[topgun2]

Obviously it is also an aquatic creature 😁.  But that is not the one being discussed here.

Actually Clam first started making ice fishing shelters and the design was adapted to the screen shelters that many of us enjoy today.  They are very easy to setup and take down and are very stable in the wind - assuming that you stake them down properly.

Bill

[Patriot]

We purchased this one in 2019 and have not really had the need to use it yet. It may come in handy on a western trip.
We bought it during a sale for $80 off Amazon including tax. I looked on Amazon and they are now 150.00. 🥴 It works and throws off a fair amount of heat and sure beats looking at the ground. 😂 
There is nothing like the aroma of a real campfire. 

 

[Overland]

Has anyone replaced the standard lava rock that comes with these fire pits?  The rock that ours came with creates a ton of dust due to being jostled around while traveling, and so the fire pit stays pretty dirty all the time.  I've thought about getting some of the larger, rounded lava rock to see if that creates less dust, or perhaps even switching it out to fire glass, but I have no experience with that.  Any ideas?

[topgun2]

Didn't someone above mention that they had used "real" lava rock in their pit?

[Overland]

Is there fake lava rock, or just different lava rocks?  I guess some could be harder than others, different colors and whatnot.  The lava fields at El Malpais are very much like the lightweight lava rock that came with my fire pit.  Very fun and crunchy to walk on.  

Random trivia - there's a lava rock quarry west of Santa Fe, which is easy to spot on Google maps because it looks like a giant blood red stain.  Even the road leading to it is blood red.