Which propane camping fire

[EricGagne]

This thread convinced me to take the plunge. I ordered the CFIC last week and received it today. I'm happy with my purchase, it looks very well made and I like the quality. So today I ordered two 10 lb composite lp tanks to complete the set ;D

Some people have said they use those LP firepits under their awning. Doesnt it get hot enough to burn it ? I have a ARB Awning with mosquito net, could I use the CFIC under it without burning the top of the mosquito net ?

 

[Honu]

I ended up with a little red campfire
bought it local at sportsmanswarehouse
did a camp trip last week with the burn ban decided to have a campfire so did not have time to order a CFIC which I might have
but now I have the little red I am very happy and saved quite a bit of $$ but really I cant say which one would be better till I see a CFIC in person but am %100 happy with ours ! and dont mind the small size of the red one being a bit smaller than the CFIC model packs away nicely and size is a concern these days
not sure I would set it on the top lid anyway I kinda like it low to the ground and with a dog and kids walking around dont want them tripping on the hose !!!!

their is some noise when full blast and might annoy me ? but the flames are really to big at full blast anyway so half way or less for our setup

but very happy with the flame size and find only 1/4 or so up is plenty for us no clue on gas consumption on it yet ? 3 nights two mornings worth does not seem to have used to much though and the pics you see are about that amount just to a nice height and the noise is barely noticeable !

also the ability to do a quick morning fire then turn it off was very very cool or should I say warm hahahahah

reading this thread helped convinced me so thanks a ton to the contributions of all


EricGagne not sure how close guess you will have to try it
my awning was not a car awning and the height at where the fire was I could reach up and touch so maybe 7 feet ? was not hot by the time it got up that high it was warm but not hot at all and cooler than the day time heat here in AZ
and a few nights and mornings no mark on are awning I could see ? did not look feel it to close just a quick glance as I was curious but nothing
our tarp setup is much more open though ? post back what you try though but I cant see it being a issue as their are no sparks etc.. to fly off and burn holes in anything !!

making smores


checking out the flames also gives a good idea for me with kids and dog this is plenty of flame
also if you look behind my kid you can see the propane tank so plenty of hose length to put it out of the way and you dont even realize the hose on the ground etc..

 

[EricGagne]

Thanks for the pics and comment Honu.

I will do most of my adventures alone this year and on a rainy night it could get boring to sit alone in the dark under the awning, hence the plan of runing the the CFIC at a low flame just to get some fire/light while I play guitar for the bears and wolves

Your comments are encouraging, it looks like I can do this without burning/melting my mosquito net. I'll post more about after I try it.

 

[ab1985]

On a very low setting it would probably be ok, but this is obviously a case by case situation that requires the end user to exercise a combination of caution and good old fashion common sense.

On the CFIC, I unexpectedly had a latch break on mine on Saturday. I still can't figure out how it snapped and have chalked it up to a manufacturer's defect. I emailed CFIC today at 2:00 P.M. EST. I received a call back 2 hours later (not even sure how they got my phone number - must have used my email address to look up my PO?). Leo, the owner, quickly offered me my choice of a complete replacement can or a set of 3 replacement latches (I only need 1) and a free can cover. Wow! I understand ******** happens, and this was obviously a fluke based on the discussion I had with Leo, but he was quick to make sure that I was 100% satisfied and, IMO, went above and beyond to make things right. I love doing business with folks who offer top notch customer service.:ylsmoke:

 

[Honu]

ab 1985 its great to hear stories of such great customer service !!!! and so rare these days ! also why I did try to buy them first but my kids wanted a fire so I caved in and with two days left !!!! had to buy local

 

[STREGA]

ab 1985 its great to hear stories of such great customer service !!!! and so rare these days ! also why I did try to buy them first but my kids wanted a fire so I caved in and with two days left !!!! had to buy local

nice to know that CFIAC has great customer service. Honu the Little Red should work out just fine for you, the main thing is you have a portable campfire that you will be able to use this summer, campfire bans are going to be the norm this year.

I got to share my CFIAC with a few skeptics at the Overland Expo, there was a bit of kidding at first (one guy kept calling it the fake campfire) but since there was a fire ban in effect there were plenty of people willing to sit around it. By the end of the evening there was 2 couples that plan on getting one and the rest all agreed that it was way better than they had envisioned it would be.

 

[Honu]

yeah prepping up for the bans to make sure I can cook just fine without charcoal is easy but the idea of no campfire for the kids !!! loving the propane campfire setup


also a side note walked into sportsmanswarehouse here in PHX and they had about 8 of the campchef ones with the lava rock for $69 ! pretty good buy almost bought one for the house ! and still thinking of that as its such a good deal I think and might be fun to have a little fire at the home sometimes


funny about the fake campfire and people mocking it then realizing they cant have any and my fake is better than nothing hahahahh

 

[Corey]

funny about the fake campfire and people mocking it then realizing they cant have any and my fake is better than nothing hahahahh

Truer words have never been spoken

 

[refried]

I admit I laughed at them when I first saw them but after camping in the rain along the Tieton river during a burn ban I quickly bought one before returning the next weekend.

 

[SteveG]

Great thread. I've looked at these off and on for a couple years now. There's not a lot of commentary on heat output. How do these do on cold nights and mornings? enough to actually feel warm next to the fire or just enough to take the edge off? With a wood fire, the dirt and everything near it warms up after a while. With the CFIAC, does most of the heat go up or do you still get plenty of heat to the sides?

Thanks for all the info!

 

[STREGA]

/\ With the CFIAC you get a good deal of heat from them even in windy conditions. One of the reasons I prefer the CFIAC (the Little Red probably too, although I have no personal experiance using) is the fact that it sits up higher off the ground than some of the others which puts the flame/heat closer to your torso area instead of your ankles/knee area.

 

[SilverBullet]

There is a group buy in the works for "Campfire In A Can" at ucora.org forum. FYI

 

[Honu]

Great thread. I've looked at these off and on for a couple years now. There's not a lot of commentary on heat output. How do these do on cold nights and mornings? enough to actually feel warm next to the fire or just enough to take the edge off? With a wood fire, the dirt and everything near it warms up after a while. With the CFIAC, does most of the heat go up or do you still get plenty of heat to the sides?

Thanks for all the info!

My thoughts its not a wood camp fire with coal beds but that ground warming bednof coals takes a while to get up to of course but the heat output is more than enough to warm ya up a bit the nice thing is the heat output is almost instant meaning I can fire it up be warming my hands by leaning in right away a normal woodfire takes a long time to get going and I usually want to be on with my day
In the evening I did not feel like I neede a regular fire and was nice to set it up where I wanted vs where it would be best and to be able to sit where I want and not do the smoke dance

I can seenwhere the height would be nice with the cfiac but again would not want that withs kids or dogs cause of the hose and tripping

 

[General Automag]

Can any of these portable "camp fire rings" be used for cooking or anything other than providing a simulated campfire at night?

 

[EricGagne]

The CFIAC can be used for cooking. Here's an answer from their FAQ.


Can I cook over The Gas Can™?

Short Answer: The Gas Can™ is not rated as a cooking device, but people cook over them all the time the same way they do with other propane campfires.

Long Answer: The Gas Can™ is not rated as a cooking device, but people cook over them all the time the same way they do with other propane campfires. All propane campfires emit a certain amount of carbon, which will make the bottom of pots and pans black. When cooking using cooking forks keep food away from the flame. Use the radiant heat produced around the campfire to cook.