'Fake' fire ;-)

[2bits]

The one I have uses lava rocks, and one of the first thing i did was get some more rocks. The lava rocks glow red, and at least in my head, i'm thinking they help radiate more heat. I don't know if this is true or not though.

Mine came with a bag for transport, so yes it is considered portable. The lava rocks cool down very quickly also.

Good idea! More rocks to heat up = more warmth! that's a big reason I like camp fires, plus I love big camp fires, and I also like thinking outside the box for my own convenience. There's nothing like burning old pine fence boards, but there is alot to say about being able to turn off the fire and going to bed when you want to as well.

[Wolffarmer]

I have one of those! I don't use it a lot, but it sure is nice if you just want a warm fire while enjoying a beer and cigar, and don't want to go through the hassle of a real fire. I keep saying I want to record the sound of a real fire, to play back while sitting around this.

You play your fake fire sounds near the fire. And I have a CD of fake thunder storms that can be played a bit over younder. Heck, this would make a whole new sport of Garage Camping. Fake fire, fake weather and fake camping spot. Turn a TV on for some fake camping buds.



Randy

[campmaster-k]

I have one of those! I don't use it a lot, but it sure is nice if you just want a warm fire while enjoying a beer and cigar, and don't want to go through the hassle of a real fire. I keep saying I want to record the sound of a real fire, to play back while sitting around this.

You play your fake fire sounds near the fire. And I have a CD of fake thunder storms that can be played a bit over younder. Heck, this would make a whole new sport of Garage Camping. Fake fire, fake weather and fake camping spot. Turn a TV on for some fake camping buds.



Randy

Randy WE are your fake camping buds!

[campmaster-k]

folks. I would highly recomend these propane campfires. they are cutting edge tecnogly on camping now days!


heres a little why. I have owned this thing for like 2 years and its tops on my list when I go camping.

when your done with the fire. you just shut it off. in like as little as 15 minutes its cooled down enough the metal on the base to wrap the propane hose all 8 feet around the base then I just snap my red cover on it and set it in the back end of my suv.

theres no foot print of a camp fire left on the ground. I can set it on a picnic table if I want. Heck

I can even set it on my lush green lawn or even in my boat!

its leaves not sign you have had a camp fire when you leave.

if you have a area that makes you pack in your fire wood. this is the cats meow.

you have a thing as small as a pressure cooker or large kettle and it takes up hardly any space compared to a truck load of fire wood.

its un tendable. and thats why I love it. I don't have to montore or keep the fire going.

I just light it up and watch and enjoy and go cooking on my teardrops stove and don't woory about the fire going out!

I have no worrys of did I put the camp fire out when I leave.

I have a instant fire in one second when I light it instead of hunting up a pile of fire wood and trying for a hour to get a flame going!

if I want to have huge great flames and am cold I can turn the fire up.

the hole camp fire is on a regulator so I can if someone is getting nervous crank it down to almost nothing in one second with a turn of a gas nob.

I control the flames and how much I want.

thers no ashes no smoke.

and when I close it up. its as clean and cold metal as when I lit the thing.

the logs are cermaic. they are just there for looks. they don't have any thing on them for ashes or to maintain.

as dirty is a coleman camp stove when you shut the lid on it is as messy as one of these camp fires when you shut the lid on them.

no sparks to jump around and go out of the fire ring and lite up the pine cones or dry grass.

its one reason its recomened for a fire ban.

its far more safer than a normal camp fire.

you can have a camp fire on places you normaly can't!

a frozen lake.

a boat.

a top of a picnic table.

a floor of your grage or shop.

your deck outside your house.

a paved parking lot even.

when it packs up all you got is the nothing left behind like a coleman camp stove.

this thing is a REAL REAL REAL Pleaseure to own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

slowcowboy.

I want everyone to know that the only reason I am going to buy a fake fire pit is because of Slows passion for it. Slow you should be a car salesman.

I am sold.

[Wolffarmer]

I have one of those! I don't use it a lot, but it sure is nice if you just want a warm fire while enjoying a beer and cigar, and don't want to go through the hassle of a real fire. I keep saying I want to record the sound of a real fire, to play back while sitting around this.

You play your fake fire sounds near the fire. And I have a CD of fake thunder storms that can be played a bit over younder. Heck, this would make a whole new sport of Garage Camping. Fake fire, fake weather and fake camping spot. Turn a TV on for some fake camping buds.



Randy

Randy WE are your fake camping buds!

Of course this will only lead to a "Fake" teardrop campout. People around the world fake camping while on the internet with each other. With the price of gas, other goods and the disappearance of jobs and wages might be the wave of the future.



Randy

[Pete S]

I am all in favor of folks having these, I am asthmatic and camp fires left smoldering and smoking or fires built by those with no idea how, can be very uncomfortable and even deadly.

I've been building campfires for a long time, worked a season in the BWCA... Sometimes campfires don't want to be lit. Up this way we are required to purchase wood at the campgrounds. Well some of that wood just doesn't burn especially well. 4-5 bucks a little bundle it should burn like crazy! The worst last year was in the U.P. at Union Bay Campground on Lake Superior. One of the few times I've had to resort to "alternative methods" of fire starting.

The guy with the brand new RV across the way saw me get mine going in a flash of flame and figured he had it figured out. The next night, when he saw me getting my fire ready he proudly brought out a large can of lighter fluid.

He tried and tried with lighter fluid and his fire just would not light. Me? I used gas from the outboard. I went for the "wait two minutes and throw a match" percussion-start like I had the night before. My fire actually started.

The point? You just can't count on wood that will burn at the campgrounds. Sad but true.

That brings me to why I like the idea of this propane campfire idea.

[Aaron Coffee]

Anybody got any pics of one of these apart or even the inner workings. Not sure what kind of manifolds we use at work for our hot water pressure washers, but it's a thought. I will have to look into making one or buying one.
My campground bought wood story:
Bought some wood at a state park and tried to get it to burn for three days, ended up leaving it unburnt for the next campers.

[parnold]

http://www.campchef.com/gas-fire-ring.html

If you download the manual in pdf format, you can see what the innards look like on the one i have.

I tried to order a spare manifold when I bought mine, they told me they didn't sell parts.

[Pete S]

Found it for $79 (free shipping) at Amazon also.

That was when I realized that it requires a big tank (as opposed to the little camp stove size). Not sure why I thought you could run one on a little tank.

How long will a fire burn on a tank? (Where the hell can I fit a tank into our overstuffed rig???)

[parnold]

Seems to me I got about 20-30 hours out of a 20lb tank. You could always buy an adapter and use 1lb tanks, but it would be very expensive. That would give you a quicker way to figure out how long it will burn on a big tank though.

[Wolffarmer]

If you make one and need some lava rock I can sell you some. How many ship loads do you need?

( walks away mumbling something about farming in the lavas )

Randy

[stumphugger]

I should think it would make camping more boring. There would be no exploding rocks. No musical chair events as the smoke changed directions. No smoky hair and clothes. Does the gas fire repel mosquitoes? You don't have the fun of hunkering close to a bed of coals, then hastily moving back as the pyromaniac of the group throws a cord of wood onto the coals to "get the column going." Are the stories told around a gas fire as good as those around a wood fueled fire?

Where would we burn those knotty chunks that don't fit in our wood stoves? Yes, we wood cutter/burners usually have a campfire wood pile.

I use firewood for wheel chocks. I call them "organic wheel chocks."

[parnold]

Stumphugger.. I've never used mine camping, but I will admit to using wood pellets a couple times. Here in New Jersey you cannot bring your own firewood, so you are at the mercy of whatever the campground has.

It's true, nothing beats a real campfire for most of us, but during fire bans, or for people who may be allergic to smoke, or for those who just want a quick fire, and a quick ending.. these are ideal.

[Wolffarmer]

I bet I can still melt the souls of my new shoes with one.



Randy

[Pete S]

Seems to me I got about 20-30 hours out of a 20lb tank. You could always buy an adapter and use 1lb tanks, but it would be very expensive. That would give you a quicker way to figure out how long it will burn on a big tank though.

Adapter eh? Where can one find those?

See, I have a place to carry a few little bottles. If running it on mid-throttle would get 3-4 hours on a little bottle it would be perfect.

I still have to dream up a place for the outboard/gas on the front of the trailer...