Portable Propane Fire Pit

[aggie79]

Good day all,

It's finally getting cool enough to camp here in Texas. Unfortunately, we have had another year without much rain (in many areas of the state) and most state parks have fire bans. Campfires have always been a highlight of our outings so, with the burn bans, we are wondering if portable propane fire pits give a semblance of an actual fire? Are they worth the expense and hassle?

Thank you for your thoughts.

Take care,
Tom

[John61CT]

Usually also banned during such times, really should be any open flame.

An LED cluster, 12V fan and red/orange cloth strips can be very relaxing. . .

[aggie79]

I know it sounds crazy but, for Texas State Parks, you can use "containerized fuel" (propane) or charcoal "camp fires" during most burn bans.

[John61CT]

'murica , freedaaahm!

[Socal Tom]

I have the little red campfire. It’s easy, clean, no risk of carrying harmful pests with fire wood and takes up less space than a typical supply of wood. Making s’mores is more challenging because you don’t get coals, and it can go through propane if you run it on high. But it’s been a good thing for me.

[twisted lines]

Dang it, now my rocket stove is propane too,
How else do they light them

[Ottsville]

I built a portable propane fire pit out of a backyard pit I picked up cheap

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/thre ... st-2491721

I've never been anywhere that has given me an issue about it even with burn bans. And yeah, it's not a wood fire, but also all you have to do is throw a switch and you have fire, no hunting for wood, no fire starters, no banking or dowsing at the end of the night. Want to just sit around a fire for half hour or with your coffee in the morning? Poof, done. Also, my favorite part is not smelling like smoke every night.

[dogcatcher]

Start here, https://www.firepitsdirect.com/ideas-an ... e-pit.html

We had one that was built using gas logs from a fireplace. I had the natural gas orifice changed to a propane orifice. All mounted on a truck tire rim that was free, probably bigger than you want, but with the ceramic gas logs, it looked like a real fire. Finding used parts is hard to do to make one like that, but a used burner from a gas grill mounted on a tire rim with lava rock, should also work.

[TimC]

On a recent trip to the BWCA we couldn't scrounge up any dry firewood while in the wilderness so we took out our three candle lanterns and set them on the fire grate. It was actually pretty cool. Not sure that meets the fire ban regs, but...

[gudmund]

the one that our teardrop group has found that uses so little fuel when using is the "Flame Dancer" - it is about 12/13inches in diameter and fits "all" inside of a 14inch dutch-oven storage bag when packed for travel. Also being it does 'not' use lava rocks like most of them do, it is very light in weight when carrying. (it uses a 'non-asbestos' vermiculite instead) E-trailer carry's them on their web-site for sale. When using, we have also found there is no heat ever being radiated at it's base - it has always been cool to the touch and has never left any heat mark where it had been sitting.

And: 'PS' the 12x12 'fully enclosed' ez-up (w-side covers), one of our member's put's up "heats up" too the 'just right' temp inside, on them cold nites when we all sit around the fire = this Flame Dancer works great!!!.......... = complete with her "chandelier" overhead

PSS - the total weigh of my 'whole' fire pit "package" including the 14inch CampChef dutch-oven bag it is being carried inside of weighs right at - 12 lbs -

[aggie79]

I built a portable propane fire pit out of a backyard pit I picked up cheap

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/thre ... st-2491721

I've never been anywhere that has given me an issue about it even with burn bans. And yeah, it's not a wood fire, but also all you have to do is throw a switch and you have fire, no hunting for wood, no fire starters, no banking or dowsing at the end of the night. Want to just sit around a fire for half hour or with your coffee in the morning? Poof, done. Also, my favorite part is not smelling like smoke every night.

Very nice!

[bdosborn]

We have a Camp Chef fire ring that I bought for cheap out of season:

Amazon Linky



It's never better than the real thing but it's certainly better than nothing. I think its worth toting around and it's been acceptable for use when there are fire bans. We did have a guy go ape sh$t crazy last month and start screaming at the camp host about it. The camp host told us we were fine.

Bruce

[featherliteCT1]

'murica , freedaaahm!

Maybe not for long

[Socal Tom]

'murica , freedaaahm!

Maybe not for long

Where I camp ( primarily the desert) ground fires aren't allowed. It leaves large black spots, often full of nails and since its generally open camping they can pop up anywhere. If you camp in a forest area, transporting wood from outside the area risks destroying the trees if you bring bark beetles etc with the wood. So if "murica, Freedaaahm" means having the right to destroy everything so the next generation can't enjoy it, then I strongly disagree. What was no big deal 20 or 40 years ago is a big deal now. There are way more people in the US, and many more doing outdoor activities. That means that we have to be more careful about how we do things. One person digging a trench to poop in is no big deal, but when that becomes 100 or 500 , suddenly its a problem. If you were old enough to enjoy the areas before they got crowded, great, you were lucky, that doesn't mean that its the right thing to do now.
Tom

[twisted lines]

I have talked about it enough times; I found a picture of the one I have picked, I have a lot of patterns That gifted people like Tony have shared.
I want to make this pretty bad and hope to pre spring.
little tabs for tater's or corn with a stainless griddle, oh yea propane now too.
I need to go back to work