Best portable firepit

[hillbilly]

Recommendations please - I was looking at the Oxbox on hz's site yellowfieldscamping.co.uk/2013/01/22/portable-fire-pits/ which looks good. Needs to be as flat pack as poss as my kit is getting worryingly big!

They do look brilliant but I wondered when I saw them whether you would get enough heat radiating from them as there are no holes in the sides - would the heat just go straight upwards?

We are debating getting something like this, but I don't know if it would be flat enough for you?: www.amazon.co.uk/Steel-Portable-Fire-Firepit-Folding/dp/B007CNBBQ0

ASDA do one for £25 but I am not sure if it comes with a carry bag.

I have the brazier from Soulpad which is big but really quite flat, it holds a proper size campfire BUT in burns/kills the grass beneath it, I would have bought it had I realised that!

Yes MPFT, I see what you mean, in fact we hired a high sided firepit at Town Farm recently and definitely found that the heat did not radiate outwards so much. Hopefully HZ might be around later as I think she has used the Oxbox.

Hillbilly I have just taken oxbox off as I think it is pricey for what it is, the price has increased since I first found it. I have added this one instead, a reader recommended it to me, it includes a bbq grill as well so really good value. yellowfieldscamping.co.uk/shop/

I mean this!!

Ah that's interesting hz. Thanks.

Ours is from Asda and has done us for 3 years now. I can't open the links at work, so I don't know which ones you're looking at, but this is a fire bowl one. The legs fold underneath and the lid sits upside down inside, so overall it's not huge. I think it was £25.

BUT it burns/kills the grass beneath it

Ours does this too, so we just put some foil underneath and it protects the grass.

chic didn't realise you could protect the grass with foil?! Does it stop all the burn marks? I've feared taking it camping and only used it in garden as I didn't want to get told off for using something that wasn't off the ground enough!

Yes it does protect the grass entirely - no scorch marks at all. You usually need a few sheets to cover the area (unless you have the foil for wrapping a turkey) and will need something heavy to stop it blowing away underneath where the sheets overlap as otherwise it'll only be held down by the legs on the four corners. Some stones do the trick.

Oh chicaguapa. Does your asda come with a carry bag as it sounds a lot like the one we were looking at and also like the gardeco one hz and I linked to (which definitely does)

The one at yellowfieldscamping looks better, as the Asda one doesn't have a carry bag or the grill. I got a bag from a camping show and the grill from Homebase. So I think the one you've linked to is better value overall.

We have the glamcamping company. You can unscrew legs and its very shallow so doesn't take up too much space

Thanks chicaguapa - that is interesting. Quite tempted now.

That's a nice firepit that one. Nice site too.

Hettie - does it burn the grass?

mmme well it is quite low (as you can see from the pics). I think last time it did rather brown it.... but I will try the tinfoil trick (thanks!). Problem is if you have one that is high up enough not to burn the grass they tend to be fold flat with sides (less heat out to you) or big raised things that take up loads of space in the car..... ([too much firepit research )

There's no such thing as too much research when it comes to camping

Thanks I might go for it.

Just in case anyone is still looking, we got this: www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/round-metal-fire-pit-238516?query=firepit&msg=MSG_SEARCH_ONE_MATCHING_PRODUCT&ddkey=http:Search#powerReviewDetail at the weekend from Dunelm Mill. Seems to be pretty much the same as the Gardeco one but only £24.99 and it comes with a carry bag and grill. It doesn't look as flat as the Glam Camping one - that is the only problem if you are space-saving.

Thanks Mummypig, .yes I'm concerned about the depth. I might have to just make do with our notebook bbq. TBH we will be in France and although we are allowed fires I doubt we will have one every night and only cook on it occasionally.

We have the notebook BBQ too and it's better for cooking than the firepit as the grill is higher and further away from the coals. HTH.

I'm just getting really concerned about space! We have just bought a storage/table thingy and we'll also need to take more towels to France. Hopefully we can save space on blankets though! Actually thinking of getting a trailer now

We use the notebook BBQ for campifires unless we've hired a big trailer and slung the Gardeco in with the rest of the ginormous mountain of stuff. It works fine even though it has buckled over time, still folds and unfolds.

It always seems a bit pointless to have a BBQ then move the BBQ away to set up the firepit, easier to shove a few logs on top of the embers of the BBQ and away you go.

Minimalist can I ask was it the bon-fire brazier you got from soulpad? I know they do 2, one has quite short legs but the other I think is an adjustable height one.

Can I ask which one you bought?

Sorry to be dense, but when campsites advertise 'fires allowed' does this usually mean that you have to bring your own firepit?