Propane Fire Pit
Wood Burning Copper Fire Pit Alternative: Camp Chef FP29LG Propane Fire Pit
I initially owned a more traditional copper fire pit that burned wood, and it worked quite well, but my wife and I grew rather tired of having to gather and/or purchase logs, and load them onto the fire, not to mention cleaning out the ashes afterwards. It would always be a task we would have lingering over our shoulders like a dark rain cloud, the morning after we had a party at our house, who was going to empty the copper fire pit and scrape out the ashes.
On the Monday after the weekend of a quasi family reunion, I was lamenting to one of my colleagues at the insurance brokerage where I work, about the dreaded task of cleaning out the fire pit, and although I loved it, I was just desperate for an alternative. Then, he replied, simply, “Why don’t you get a propane fire pit (amazon link) instead?”
Do you ever have moments where things which are so obvious, for some reason elude your mind, and when you do finally find out, you can’t help wondering if you are turning prematurely senile? Well, this is surely one of them. I guess, I had always assumed that a propane fire pit (amazon link) would somehow require a tube to run from your home gas supply, out through the door, into the garden and to the firepit, not unlike the bunsen burners have those orange plastic tubes at highschool (or at least, when I was in school). But apparently not, said my colleague: “They are completely portable.” Apparently, all I needed was a gas tank. I was set.
The propane firepit that I finally chose to buy was a Camp Chef FP29LG Propane Fire Pit (amazon link), mainly because of its popularity and the strength of the reviews customers had already given it. If I don’t know about something I always tend to look for other unbiased customers’ opinions to help me make my decision. You could say I am a bit of a ‘sheep’ in that regard, but to be quite honest, this buying technique has served me rather well so far.
Indeed, I am quite pleased with my purchase of the Camp Chef FP29LG Propane Fire Pit – it was a bit more expensive than my original wood burning copper fire pit, at $333.99, but from the reviews it looked like it was worth it. I wasn’t wrong. These days, it just feels so ‘clean’ to have a lovely gathering of family and friends, with a beautifully ambient fire burning for hours on end, and not having to scrape out ashes the next morning! I have to confess, the first morning after I used the Camp Chef Propane Fire Pit (amazon link) I went out into the garden, looking to scrape ashes out of habit, but then what a refreshing feeling that there was nothing to clean, no mess whatsoever, well, apart from the dishes! But my dishwasher does those! (Thank heavens for modern technology!)
The Camp Chef FP29LG gives all the warmth of a traditional wood fire, and this is something that I was concerned about before buying. Would this propane powered blaze be nothing more than a ‘fake’ fire? The answer is, thankfully, no. It’s completely real, but considerably cleaner. Now, neither
I, nor my family, nor my guests, have to go home and take a shower after each gathering – there is no stinking smoke or fumes and this is just one of the many advantages of a gas firepit over the wood burning firepit. There is a certain ‘elegance’ about the Camp Chef FP29LG (amazon link), maybe its designed coupled with the cleanliness aspect, I’m not sure, but it just gives me a good feeling. I like knowing that I can have a beautiful, clean fire with next to no effort on my part.
One thing I would note is that this gas fire bowl comes with lava rocks, not ceramic logs as some people might expect. Personally, I prefer the lava rocks and have had no problems with them so far. It’s definitely comparable to the more traditional wood burning copper fire pit in terms of heat emitted, but of course with a wood burning fire bowl you do have the choice of adding more wood. Gas is a lot less flexible but far safer and cleaner. Also, for the average party lasting about 4-8 hours, you can use a whole tank of propane which costs about 10 to 15 bucks, so it’s not that bad, and overall, I’m very pleased. A propane fire pit might not be the best choice if you are very partial to wood e.g. the smells and smoke it creates, but otherwise, a gas centric copper fire pit is a great, clean alternative.
