Why we have the Garden Treasures propane fire pit.

From the time I was a kid camping with the folks, a camp fire has been part of the daily routine. Gathering the wood, cutting it to size, preparing the pit and building the fire is part of what keeps me busy while camping. There are times when a fire ban is in effect, times that the wind is too high to safely have a fire and times that we just don't feel like being out there long enough to make it worth while to have a fire. For these times we have the Garden treasures propane fire pit.

Garden Treasures propane fire pit

We decided that this one was the best balance of size, flame height and convenience. At $99 it is on the low end for cost. It is big enough to look realistic and has enough flame to feel that way too. The lava rocks start glowing red like coals after a while and the lid makes storage a breeze. Drop it down in to a stone fire pit and from a few feet you can't tell it from a real fire.

These picture were taken with the pit on medium setting. We found that on high propane pits produce hissing that all but goes away on low. We also found out that on low the heat stays at the sitting level, on high it goes right over us.

It does take some getting use too. With a real fire we tend to stay out of the down wind side due to the smoke. With a propane pit we sit down wind because that's where the heat is.

With a real pit you are stuck with where it is. With the propane pit we would move it around depending if we wanted to watch the sun set, be closer to the trailer so the dogs could see us or be in a area where the wind was blocked. Don't like the spot you have it in, in a few moments you can be in a different one.

Now there isn't any smoke with a propane pit, that's nice but it means there is no camp fire smell either. I keep the sweatshirt that I wear out by the fire real or not in a bag between times. It always has that campfire smell even when using the propane pit.

The easiest thing about getting use to a propane pit is the ease of set up and take down. Pull it out of storage, hook up the hose and you are done. No chopping cutting, hauling of wood. At the end of the night it is as simple to put it out with a twist of the knob. No waiting for it to burn down, dousing the flames or worrying that a stray ember will get you on the news as the starter of the latest wild fire. As I said the rocks do get red hot after a while a it's nice to sit there a few minutes after we shut it down as if we were watching a real fire burn down to coals. Like coals the rocks still put out a considerable amount of heat, enough to use the pie irons on.

The biggest reason we have one was the fire bans we had for a few years in a row. At 9000-10,000 ft of altitude the temperatures drop quickly as the sun does even in the summer. Without a fire you are just sitting outside in the cold and dark. There is no TV reception and you can only rent so many movies for two weeks, so it gets boring inside where it's warm and toasty too. We have used our IR grill like a propane fire pit, it looks funny but puts out a lot of heat fast. More than enough to enjoy the sunset on a cool evening.

That's when I decided to get a proper propane pit. The two most popular were the campfire in a can at somewhere around $300 and the Lil red campfire around the same price as the Garden treasures at Lowes. The Campfire in a can is king of the heap for it's ability to be turned up to bon fire size. It does burn a lot of gas doing it too. The Lil red campfire is little. Seeing one in person makes you think it has a large ashtray for a burner plate. Both have lids like upside down pots that cover everything top to bottom. There is also now  big red campfire in the $150 range as well as others.

This last trip we used it not because of the weather or bans but because the firepit was trashed out and full to the brim with half burnt coals. Picking up the trash was one thing but digging out and rebuilding the stone pit was more than I wanted to do for the few nights we were there. Some trips it's a real fire one night and the propane the next, the trip before we never took it out at all. Ya just never know.