What kind of portable gas fire pit to buy? - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-23-2011, 10:09 PM   #1
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What kind of portable gas fire pit to buy?

I want to buy a portable propane fire pit but not sure what brand to buy. wondered if those who own one might like to share the pros and cons of each.

I understand that a number of people really like the Fire Dancer:
Hillydidit - Fire Dancer and Products

Is there another one brand that really stands out that I should be looking for? I would like it to be on the light side and close up secure.
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Old 01-23-2011, 10:17 PM   #2
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I have read good things about this one. But I don't own one.

Camco Mfg Inc - Little Red Portable Campfire - Campfire - Camping World
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Old 01-23-2011, 10:24 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale AZ View Post
I have read good things about this one. But I don't own one.

Camco Mfg Inc - Little Red Portable Campfire - Campfire - Camping World
We have one of these and really like it. But the logs are fragile so be careful with them. I think the price has dropped a bit recently. It's great for marshmallows and it does a great job heating a Firstup canopy.

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Old 01-23-2011, 10:49 PM   #4
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Little Red Campfire. Works great!!!!!
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Old 01-25-2011, 06:42 AM   #5
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Hi There:
I have had a Fire dancer for about 3 years now, and it has always worked great. Also several of my camping friends also bought one, and are very happy, as they are small and easy to transport and store.
They come with Vermiculite (spelled right?) which works fine, but I went and bought tempered Glass beads, and replaced the above.
Seems to distribute the heat better, and the flame looks great, especially with multi colored beads.
Paid $99 for it, (E-bay out of Nebraska) and it continues to work great.
Just found this online.

Good luck in your search.
Sale Only $94.95 for the Fire Dancer Gas Campfire and/or Patio Fireplace



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Originally Posted by Paul Schmid View Post
Little Red Campfire. Works great!!!!!
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Old 01-25-2011, 10:13 AM   #6
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Thanks everyone for the input!

Jake where can you buy the temperted glass beads? been looking around on line but havent stumbled on them yet.
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Old 01-25-2011, 10:49 AM   #7
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You can get tempered glass (fire glass) at places that sell fireplace installations. But... the glass is heavy and expensive.

I also have a fire dancer and love it. I recommend that you get the fake logs from the website. They hold heat and make the fire dancer much warmer. It's not a big fire - but just right for 2 - 4 people also very easy. I love having a fire in the morning but rarely used to because of the hassle factor - now I just turn on the fire dancer.

The nice thing about the fire dancer is that the hose coils around the center for storage and the lid actually screws down for transport - it's practically perfect!

When I first got one I thought it was very expensive, but it gets used over and over and over. It was a great investment.
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Old 01-25-2011, 03:10 PM   #8
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Hello Carol:
I actually got the Tempered Glass Beads at a Dollar Store, although they were $ 2 a bag, and I got 10 little bags of them.
I double checked the tag to ensure they were Tempered, and have been using them for 2 years now, and they are great.
When used a lot, I wait till they are totally cold, wash them in soapy
dishwater, allow them to completely dry, and off they go again.
They really work great.


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Originally Posted by Janet H View Post
You can get tempered glass (fire glass) at places that sell fireplace installations. But... the glass is heavy and expensive.

I also have a fire dancer and love it. I recommend that you get the fake logs from the website. They hold heat and make the fire dancer much warmer. It's not a big fire - but just right for 2 - 4 people also very easy. I love having a fire in the morning but rarely used to because of the hassle factor - now I just turn on the fire dancer.

The nice thing about the fire dancer is that the hose coils around the center for storage and the lid actually screws down for transport - it's practically perfect!

When I first got one I thought it was very expensive, but it gets used over and over and over. It was a great investment.
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Old 01-25-2011, 04:43 PM   #9
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Carol, we have, well HAD 3 pits. One large one medium and one small size.

The large one is ZERO clearance underneathand almost 36inches in diameter. We can and have used it repetedly for long periods right on a carpeted patio with absolutely NO marks left underneath it.

We sold the mid sized one (which is made in B.C. and rented out by places like The Fort Campground) as it was just SCARY to run. EASILY capable of 6ft high flames (without modifing the regulator). Its width was about 18/20inches in diameter. This one WAS my favorite but I was over ruled by the TRAILER GODDESS, and we sold it to other Egg owners.

The small one (which is the one you've seen us use where/when there is a fire ban on) is the Little Red Portable Firepit every one talks about in above posts. It is wonderful but IS NOT zero clearance and will leave a char mark underneath. For this reason, when we use it, it is usually placed on a scrap piece of non combustable material (but most often, just a chunk of scrap 2X8, 2X10 wood).

The accompaning 'logs' that come with these pits are all fragile and become moreso as they age and through use. Should always be treated with 'kid' gloves....

We do NOT recommend using any of these 'pits' for cooking OR heating/reheating anything, especially hot dogs or s'mellows which could ooze/drip material as its heated!! The reason for this is that some of the material being heated (grease from the hot dogs) can fall from its holder and drip, seep, ooze down into the fire chamber (venturi's) UNDER the pit. Buildup of material under here could cause a clog of gas vapors which 'could' lead to an undesireable condition....
Just a though on safety!!!
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Old 01-25-2011, 09:41 PM   #10
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Thanks every one for all the good tips and suggestions.

Doug whats the make of the zero clearance one? would be intreasted in one of those for my deck and the one that the Trailer Goddes rejected so I know it if I stumble on it.
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Old 01-26-2011, 07:14 AM   #11
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Hello again Carol:
That is one nice thing about the Fire Dancer, I have used it on my wooden deck, on a Table top, and even under the table on low, which send the heat to all around the table.
Never had Scorch or burn marks at any time.
It has a good solid base, that does not seem to transfer the heat to the bottom.

Cheers, Jake.


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Thanks every one for all the good tips and suggestions.

Doug whats the make of the zero clearance one? would be intreasted in one of those for my deck and the one that the Trailer Goddes rejected so I know it if I stumble on it.
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Old 01-26-2011, 09:33 AM   #12
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Thanks Jake for that. Thats what I was looking for. I have heard a lot of positive things about the Fire Dancer and its seems to be cheaper price wise than the Little Red which makes it even more inteasting.
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Old 01-26-2011, 11:58 AM   #13
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Would the Little Red work with a small propane bottle rather than the big cylinder? It would be much lighter to carry than heavy cylinder.
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Old 01-26-2011, 02:33 PM   #14
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Carol, here's what I've been able to find out so far this morning. The internet provides much access to different sites and with the firepit issue there seems to be a ton of different options.
The pit we have now (the zero clearance one) is/was made by Heat n Glo. A check of their site does not show our item any more (ours was bought in early 90's) in their list. Its BTU rating (from found paperwork) is 53,000btu. I could not find a rating for the firedancer model but the site did say that shipping to Canada was going to be a cost raising factor due to having to be 'refit' (as they call it) to comply with Canadian standards. The base price also does nto include ANY of the available options, logs, screens etc.

The paperwork on our larger pit also does warn NOT TO BE USED FOR COOKING. The Firedancer site shows many items designed just for THAT purpose. It does also show zero clearance operation, looks like its shown alit on a hardwood floor of some sort.

I cannot find any of our old paperwork on our 'rip roaring' firepit. (I'll think of its name/maker sooner or later) It does look REMARKABLY alike the Canadain 'Yukon' built in the Okanagan. Could be this company bought up the rights to the pit we had and are marketing it under their name?? Ours did have a much higher advertised btu rating (and thus I'd guess the higher flames?) then the Yukon, which was one of the reasons for us buying it.

BTU ratings are like fuel consumption ratings except they come in two different verions, btu's in and btu's out. All companys rate their rating differently. So in that regard, I'd say its buyer beware.

I do know from past experience that the size of the fuel bottle greatly affects performance. I've run our larger pit on a smaller disposable cylinder and only had about half an hour burn time and much lower flame as opposed to the 'advertised' 20/24hr burn time with a 20lb tank. I believe that has to do also with the tanks pressure.

Some Egg buddys we know of, saw our 'high flame' pit, went out and bought a similar one. They found the height of the flame was much less than ours so he proceeded to 'adjust' the regulator valve. This is a safety issue that I'd NOT recommend doing. A thought comes to mind also about 'adjusting' things like regulators. IMHO, if you choose to do this, you are breaking/violating CSA standards and IF that pit causes any damage, the 'insurance' you thought you HAD probably will be null and void, (because you have violated CSA standards) meaning you pay total damages....
BUT, ....thats my opinion!
Sorry for being so long winded....

Bottom line, 'Be Safe' at ALL costs....
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Old 01-26-2011, 04:20 PM   #15
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I just priced the Red one out here in Yuma. $149.00 USD. I might get one.
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Old 01-26-2011, 06:58 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by CarolMarie View Post
Would the Little Red work with a small propane bottle rather than the big cylinder? It would be much lighter to carry than heavy cylinder.
Not sure about the Littlered - but can tell you from first hand experience that the Firedancer burns about 1 lb ever 1 hour running on high with a 20 gal tank in cold weather. I think that a disposable would just not be enough to bother with.

While the propane seems expensive, it beats the heck out of buying firewood at campground prices. We have even run ours under an EaZy Up style canopy safely in torrential downpours.

Here's the link to Fire Dancers corp site with more data and some better pics. The link in post seems to be a reseller. http://www.thefiredancer.net/
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Old 01-28-2011, 06:54 PM   #17
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Brand names

Carol. I got the "Ban Buster" from Canadian Tire last year. It's the same one Leah has. I love mine and have used it for cooking on but with a pan, not roasting over the open flame. It was 149.00 and I had to go back twice b/c they couldn't keep them in stock. I'm bringing mine to Deception in April if you want to see it.
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Old 01-29-2011, 06:32 PM   #18
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Thanks Marina I recall that one but I thought she said it weighed a lot - specs say 25lbs?? gezzz I might need to find a helper for that. lol one way or another I will have something by the time we get to Deception.
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Old 01-30-2011, 05:09 AM   #19
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I know that Carol H. started this thread, and I, CarolMarie, have asked a few questions and I don't want to confuse people! I checked out the Firedancer on the website Carol H. listed in the first thread Hillydidit - Fire Dancer and Products
There are a lot of "accessories" that are listed and I am not sure if I would need them. I want to attach it to a regular propane tank (new not old) and not a city gas line. Do I need any of those attachments to do it? Propane has always intimidated me... Thanks.
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Old 01-30-2011, 10:52 AM   #20
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BEWARE: City gas is NATURAL GAS
'tanked' gas is usually PROPANE
Different gases and they need use different 'guts' to make them work.
IF you order a pit from a manufacturer you can ususlly specify which gas you are going to use. A converion for these things is out there but can be costly to buy and not the kind of thing you'd want to swap back n forth with.

BBQ's can also be purchased Natural Gas or Propane fired!!

Most new gas appliance fittings come made to accept the new style and old style fittings so thats not usually an issue!! IF it doesn't there are also conversion adaptors you can buy and install yourself....
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