Portable Campfires to Gather Around at Your RV

Everyone loves a nice campfire. They inspire great conversations, good music, community, and an overall relaxing atmosphere in the evening. But not every campsite is equipped with a fire pit or a fire ring. That’s where portable campfires come in handy!

Today we’re taking a look at portable campfires – what they are, why they’re cool (even though they’re hot!), and five of the best on the market today. So, grab your graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate, or your wieners & buns – and let’s get to it!

What’s a Portable Campfire?

A portable campfire is just what it sounds like – a campfire you can take with you on the go so that you can have a fire anywhere it’s legal to do so.

There are different types of portable campfires – from very small tabletop units to propane-fueled units, to portable fire pits that use logs (traditional wood or commercial logs made from sawdust).

What are the Advantages of using a Portable Campfire?

There are a number of advantages of using a portable campfire even if a fire pit or fire ring is available at your campsite. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you might enjoy a portable campfire.

No Smoke Smell

As much as we love campfires, we don’t love our clothing and hair taking on the smell of smoke. It’s so hard to get rid of, especially in an RV. You may toss your smoky t-shirt and pants in the hamper, but eventually, the entire rig can smell like smoke.

With portable campfires that don’t use wood, there’s no smokey odor to deal with once the campfire is out.

No Concerns About Buying or Transporting Wood

Many campgrounds won’t allow you to bring your own wood onto the property, and with good reason. Many types of pests that haven’t yet been an issue in a particular location can quickly become a devastating issue when brought into a new area on someone’s wood.

It’s entirely possible that unbeknownst to the camper, the wood they’re carrying is infested with pests or their larvae. Rules about traveling with wood have resulted from these issues which, in many cases, have caused serious environmental issues.

If you’ve got a portable fire pit that doesn’t use traditional wood, you also don’t need to worry about buying wood at your campsite or whether they even have any available for you to buy.

May Be an Exception to Campfire Bans

Sometimes in areas where campfires are banned, non-wood-burning portable campfires may be allowed.

May Have an Adjustable Heat Output

Some portable campfires have an adjustable heat output which makes them more comfortable than traditional campfires, especially on warm summer evenings. And certainly more controllable, for obvious reasons.

Allow You to Roast a Marshmallow Almost Anywhere!

Some small portable campfires allow you to roast a marshmallow or build the best s’mores ever right on your picnic table in your backyard (as you’ll see in just a minute).

Do All Portable Campfires Use Propane?

No! Not all portable campfires use propane as fuel. Some use hardwoods and sticks, others use bio-logs or logs such as Duraflame produced largely from sawdust.

We’ll even show you one that burns soy wax and 100% biodegradable, eco-friendly, compostable plant-based briquettes…(yes, it’s small)!

5 of the Most Popular Portable Campfires on the Market

Let’s have a look at five of the most popular portable campfires on the market today!

Solo Stove Bonfire Fire Pit

Solo Stoves are very popular and do not use gas or propane but are somehow still “low smoke” fire pits due to 360-degree airflow technology.

This particular version of the Solo Stove is 14 inches tall, 19.5 inches wide, and weighs 20 pounds. Made of stainless steel, fires in Solo Stoves are fueled by firewood logs and “chunk wood”, and the company recommends hardwoods in particular. These would include woods such as apple, cherry, hickory, maple, oak, pecan, peach, and mesquite.

This Solo Stove Bonfire Fire Pit comes with a heavy-duty carrying case and gets great reviews from owners.

Solo Stove Ranger

Another portable campfire from Solo, the Solo Stove Ranger is another wood-burning stove that produces low smoke and comes with a stand and a carry case.

The Ranger is 12.5 inches tall and the stand adds another 2.75 inches. The stove itself is 15 inches wide, and the stand is 13 inches wide.

Made of stainless steel, the Ranger stove weighs 15 pounds and the stand weighs 1.10 pounds for a total of 16.10 pounds.

Recommended fuel is “chunk” wood made of hardwoods.

InnoStage Stainless Fire Pit

The InnoStage Stainless Fire Pit is a patented smoke-free firepit bowl fueled by wood pellets or small wood pieces.

At 12.5 inches high and 15 inches wide, this portable campfire is made of heavy-duty stainless steel metal and includes a durable carrying bag.

Regarding the use of pellets, an Amazon reviewer notes that about 2 inches of pellets provide around 20-30 minutes of flame time. The reviewer further notes that continually loading pellets creates smoke until the flame returns, so they recommend loading around 4 inches of pellets for a 60 to 70-minute fire. The same reviewer has used small Duraflame logs in his InnoStage Stainless Fire Pit and states that it fits nicely into the chamber and burns for 60-90 minutes.

InnoStage also makes a Smokeless Fire Bowl Pit with Barbeque Grill for campers who might enjoy cooking on their portable campfire:

Outland Living Firebowl 870

The Outland Living Firebowl 870 is a very popular portable campfire. This is a propane gas fire bow that weighs 25 pounds and is 19 inches in diameter, with a 58,000 BTU burner with automatic matchless ignition.

With over 3600 Amazon reviews, this fire bowl has 90% 5-star ratings.

With the Outland Firebowl there’s no need for firewood, no smoke, no flying embers, and no ash when the campfire’s over.

We connect our barbeque grill to our large onboard propane tank, and you can surely do the same with a portable propane fire pit like this one.

For information on how we created our BBQ grill connection, check out our post and our YouTube video on the topic:

Pop-Up Fire Pit

This pop-up portable campfire is very lightweight at 7 pounds is 24 inches long, and is a wood-burning fire pit. It has a fire mesh that holds up to 125 pounds of weight in firewood and doesn’t allow ash to fall through to the ground.

This option is great for those who travel in small campers & vans or enjoy tent camping as it’s so lightweight and compact. It folds up and packs into a small bag (included) in the same way a camping chair collapses.

BONUS: City Bonfires

As a bonus, we’re throwing in this cool innovation from two dads who are neighbors. Both lost their jobs when the pandemic first hit and they got together to create this cool little personal portable campfire.

These are so compact and lightweight (14.4 ounces!) that they can sit on a tabletop and are certainly easy to carry around.

Each kit allows for 3-5 hours of burn time, no embers accumulate, and no wood or other fuel is required. City Bonfires are made in Maryland, USA with 100% non-toxic FDA food-grade soy wax and 100% biodegradable, eco-friendly, compostable plant-based briquettes. The containers are made from alloy steel and metal.

City Bonfires are safe to cook on and create no embers in the air, no ashes, and no smoke! And they’re reasonably priced and easy for any camper to carry. What’s not to love about this bonus portable campfire?!!

Have You Used a Portable Campfire?

So, tell us – have you used a portable campfire? What’d you use? How’d you like it? We’d love to know! Drop us a comment!

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