No fire ring campfires

TexasShadow wrote:
I don't understand. What's wrong with building a fire on the ground?

I find it a lot easier to use a fire pan than to dig out all the ashes and take them with me (even when that is allowed). I'm sure you aren't advocating just leaving the remnants of a campfire?

What I would prefer to have along for sitting around outside enjoying the evening would be one of these:

http://www.mrheater.com/product.aspx?catid=42&id=119

Legal to use anywhere, anytime - fire season or not. It has a large adjustable heat range depending how many are sitting in a semicircle around the front of it and how chilly it is. Simple and flexible to use and transport packed away with the burner section detached from the fuel bottle.

Here's the fire pit you need. But it would be a PiTA to move around as it weighs over 100lbs and is big. my in laws had it at their lake house and gave it to me when they sold the house.

If you saw the clearings we use for boondocking, you would appreciate a off the ground fire pit more. There are so many scares from all of the fire pits that it's just sad to see. This year I noticed all of the smaller pits are gone in favor of large pits in the middle of the larger clearings but the scares remain.

I think we will be going with a propane pit for both the ease and for when the bans are on.

Campfire bans occur here in the Southwest under "RED FLAG" warning conditins (low humidity and high winds). Their "no burn" rules include PROPANE FIRES and charcoal fires, so propane fireplaces are out. They only permit a Coleman-stove open flame under those conditions. When in the BLM desert areas that allow campfires but no mark on the dirt, use a metal trashcan lid-type object as it's small, has no moving parts, and can be wrapped to minimize the mess. The washer tubs and folding firepits are nice, but they're big, dirty and may become difficult handle over time.

What about a 50 gallon drum with holes in the bottom to get air to the fire? Crude, but one can have a fairly large blaze in it, perhaps even screen it.

Where I dry camp, they have a rule about no in-ground fires, so I've used various fireplaces in the past. I might go with the notebook one until I come across a 50 gallon drum.

Any place that has a no campfire rule is not any place I care to camp. And any campground that doesn't clean out the fire pits is off the list too!

I liked that notebook grill idea and especially when I saw the price. But when I looked the dimensions, that thing is little.

Thanks for your ideas.
I never used to see this restriction but like all regulations one place after another adopts it. Lots of work to clean out other folks campfire pits and this doesn't leave a sign that you had a fire.
On the other hand, I'll use a firepit if there is one, but I've been to a few campgrounds now that did not outlaw fires, just had to BYO on the firepit.
I like the idea of the fire being up off the ground, and small is good for warmer nights. We usually don't bring more than a few sticks of firewood as the grandkids only last for a short campfire time. Then they want to go in and watch a DVD.
The post about whether you can live without a campfire made me think of this option and I wondered what else was out there.

Not allowed in some places.