Fire Pit Alternatives

[Hattie]

Outdoors we love the ambiance of a real wood fire in a pit, but ... in the California State Campgrounds the pits all now have sides at least 2' high and so if you start a fire in the bottom, you can't see it when sitting in a chair! Whether it is a combination of safety concerns OR our drought, there seems to be more and more campgrounds eliminating fire pits. For the ambiance, the solution and trend seems to be towards the portable wood-free propane pits. Experiences? Recommendations? What are the attributes you look for if purchasing one? Thanks for the input; pictures or links to examples are appreciated.

[Paintinfool3]

I have ambiance fireplace inside camper ... I like a real fire outside lol

[wags999]

In many states local laws will mandate what you may use for a fire pit.. Stupid campers that feel it is necessary to have a fire as tall as themselves (I've seen many of these) will wind up having fires prohibited.. When I worked in California...we allowed fires, in a ring (stone in our case) but only knee high...and it has to be attended 100% of the time...no going inside to pee or walking to the bath house..I can't tell you the number of fires I extinguished because no one was there.. it is also why we had fire permits when most campgrounds around us didn't...we had a zero tolerance for non attended fires.


I purchased my propane pit from Costco 3 or 4 years ago. Works well, great ambiance, immediate on and off and does give out heat .


Their are many zealots in our country that would love to outlaw fires...ATV's...and camping in general. Unless we as a community act responsibly we will have no one to blame but ourselves.. only have fires in designated fire pits...attend it 100% of the time and always keep it under control. And enjoy the outdoors !

[Edd505]

Camped with a buddy last year that has the propane pit. We had it under an open awning and it gave enough heat to stay comfy and the fire place flicker and light, only thing missing was trying to stay out of the smoke as the wind changed.

[fielro]

Well said waggs999. I agree

[Sw7000]

I purchased a camp chef portable propane fire pit before I did my 3 week trip to California in June. We used it about half the time, mostly in Sequoia and Half Moon Bay. Worked great, even cooked hot dogs and marshmallows on it with the kids.

[clubhouse]

Originally Posted by Hattie

Outdoors we love the ambiance of a real wood fire in a pit, but ... in the California State Campgrounds the pits all now have sides at least 2' high and so if you start a fire in the bottom, you can't see it when sitting in a chair! Whether it is a combination of safety concerns OR our drought, there seems to be more and more campgrounds eliminating fire pits. For the ambiance, the solution and trend seems to be towards the portable wood-free propane pits. Experiences? Recommendations? What are the attributes you look for if purchasing one? Thanks for the input; pictures or links to examples are appreciated.

Search Craig's list for "washer drum fire pit".

We started use these for our required "on sand " beach pits in Pismo, but now we have figured out how to easily add legs of verying height using pipe and pipe flanges for exactly the reason you state.

On CL you can get an unimproved drum for $15-$25, if you get one that someone has built a stand or added legs they climb up to $50-$75.

Probably not going to find one in SF Bay Area, but sounds like you roam enough that you could get one one next time you are in the valley. I have personally seen them on CL in Modesto, Fresno, Tulare and the central coast. In fact Lopez Lake in SLO county sells them at the marina.

[BCx213]

I have the Outland propane fire pit that I bought from Costco. This work great and I have used it under my awning on rainy days. It puts out enough heat and ambience. It is our back up during campfire bans.