I just ordered a portable propane fire pit for car camping during fire bans. There are lots of slick new designs out there that are easy to pack and carry.
Has anyone taken one on a multi-day river trip instead of wood and a pop-up pit?
If so, how did it work?

I've taken my EZ campfire down many trips, so nice to have, no clean up at all. I only use my pop up pit for cooking these days, if I don't have to cook on it, out comes the propane.

 

You said instead of so that got me thinking, does a propane fire pit replace the fire pan requirement? Guess I was thinking you still had to carry the fire pan. Just like even when there's a fire ban in case your stove dies or someone gets hypothermia, etc.

I'm gathering the parts for an ammo can Lavabox type one based on what this guy did

Small Project: DIY Ammo Can propane fire pit.

Small Project: DIY Ammo Can propane fire pit.

grassrootsmotorsports.com

just waiting for the regulator to come from amazon. would have been nice on Deso last week after some crazy rains.

 

As far as the regulations go, it is not a fire pan so therefore it cannot replace a fire pan if one is required, but I use a pop-up pit so it's not really a hassle to take one along.

 

Oh, and good luck on your build. Would love to see photos of the finished product

 

Yep, I've enjoyed our Lavabox for multi-days. I've even used it some trips where there wasn't a fire ban in place but I didn't want to deal with wood/ash/etc. It doesn't replace a fire pan if one is required, but usually you can get away with a lightweight fire pan if it's clear it's only for emergencies - I've seen rangers approve aluminum turkey pans.

 

Yep, and trash can lids, anything that basically has 1.5" lip and 144 sq inches

 

thanks for the clarification, that's what I thought. yep, pop up pit the last few years here too. used to use an oil pan back in the day, then the NRS style, and now the pop up pit.

 

I always just use the difuser on my woodland power stove for fake fire.

 

We've been using them for years during fire ban season (which gets longer every year). We had an old beater Camp Chef which died. A friend brought an Outland fire pit he got off Amazon on a Hell's trip last year and it was a huge improvement, so we picked up one for '21. Love the no hassle fire and the ambiance is good, but they do suck down the propane, so plan accordingly.

 

I use the "beater" Camp Chef LOL. I love it for shoulder season trip (rafting and otherwise). I use a metal oil drain pan under it - required or not, it's just insurance. I've always been able to convince the Rangers that the legs on the Camp Chef are equal to the required fire pan legs and I do bring a fire blanket just because the regs are gray about these things. The newer one are probably a big improvement but the old one works fine so haven't replaced it. As far as propane, there is 91,000 Btu in a gallon. The burner on a Camp Chef can put out about 50,000 Btu/hr so a full 5 gallon tank will last about 10 hrs on high flame. Obviously not much, so it's really important to throttle the flame down. If you are careful you can get about 30 hours of a reasonable flame out of a standard 5 gal tank. We rejected this on our last Grand trip because the amount of propane to have a fire every night was just too much. Shorter trips it's great.

 

got her done....and didn't blow myself up yet!! pretty much just like the guy on that website. bent some expanded steel about an inch off the bottom. Did a crappy job of bending some copper. drilled a few holes and made the connections and topped off with some lava rock. low setting is about you need, but the 20psi regulator I bought off amazon is kind of crappy.

 

Thanks, sorry didn't see the link above!

I got a few more pics now, but I pretty much followed the recipe in the link I put above. it is getting pretty sooty inside now that I've used it a few times, so I'm wondering if I should add an air mixer to the line. I read burning pure propane makes the soot, but also gives it that nice yellow natural flame. If I add a mixer, it'll help that but make it more blue, I think. tradeoffs No idea on run times yet, flame will get way higher than needed so I keep it pretty low. or maybe I just drilled too many holes idk

 

Good job! That right there is a first rate firebox!

 

Any photos of the process? Looks great!

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I got a few more pics now, but I pretty much followed the recipe in the link I put above. it is getting pretty sooty inside now that I've used it a few times, so I'm wondering if I should add an air mixer to the line. I read burning pure propane makes the soot, but also gives it that nice yellow natural flame. If I add a mixer, it'll help that but make it more blue, I think. tradeoffs No idea on run times yet, flame will get way higher than needed so I keep it pretty low. or maybe I just drilled too many holes idk

 

I made a couple of these (different deign) and had the same issue with soot. The soot also makes it unpleasant to hang around for an evening. The air injector solved the problem but the air injection uses a venturi fitting to suck up combustion air. This makes it impossible to pressurize the burner tube very much or the propane just goes out the air intake - not good. This will radically change the pressure in the tube so it might not have the same output and you might have to enlarge the holes. I would definitely recommend going with the air injecting fitting and CAREFULLY experiment with the number and size of holes

 

Here are a few I made.

 

 

 

Here is the small one

 

I also put air mixers on them, solved the soot issue

 

 

Those look great Bob! I haven't noticed it bothering me when just sitting around it, but I did repurpose a small bag to put the parts in since I was storing them inside, just so my hands didn't get so dirty putting it together. Might not even be an issue if you don't want to store the parts inside the box.

After seeing Bob's post I got really curious on how the inside of the Lavabox (volcanno) was put together and if they used a mixer on the "commercial" version. It doesn't appear they do, I found this on FB where he shows the inside. scoot up to about 4 and half minutes, he uses the pipe too and I don't see a mixer, nothing too special.



His regulator looks like the amazon versions too.

 

Yes, I had pictures of the volcano, and I just added the.mixer to get a little cleaner flame. You don’t need it.

 

Stupid question, why not just pack the burner tube and set it in your NRS or Pop up conventional fire pit?

You would want the ceramic/lava rocks if you want ambient heat...but if you just want ambient flame/light??

 

no such thing as a stupid question. That’s a good idea actually. However with the lava rocks,which I have added more, it really throws the Heat out once you get it hot. Which in my experience, allows for a smaller flame and less propane consumption.

 

yeah, a buddy of mine made a "portable firepit" with a chickie pail and a burner. Great flames, but ZERO heat. You absolutely need the lava rock/ceramics for heat.

I want one with a ceramic firepit skull.