We purchased the Outland Living 870 portable propane fire pit about a year now. And we haven’t really given a full review of how we feel about it. So we decided that this would the perfect time to do it.
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We originally bought it because we were camping at a campground that had a burn ban. It was wildfire season. And so we weren’t allowed to have a wood fire. They did allow us to have a propane fire so we decided to pick up a propane fire pit. Since then we now bring it on every trip.
Why We Bring a Propane Fire Pit Camping
We use it for so many more reasons than just a burn ban. I’m going to go over a few of the reasons why we really like having a propane fire pit with us while we’re camping.
Burn Bans
Okay, first was because of the burn ban. It’s important to have another fire pit option if you want to camp during wildfire season.
Fast Daytime Fire
Second, is because it allows us to have a fast fire. If you want to have a fire during breakfast time or in the middle of the day, when you don’t really want to just be at camp for the rest of the day, it allows you to have a fire. And then when you’re done, you just turn it off.
Even if you want to put the pit completely away before you leave, it only takes about a half hour for it to cool down. So you can use it and when you’re done turn it off, get ready to go, and by the time you’re ready to actually leave camp it should be good to put it away safely.
There’s no waiting for the fire to burn down before you can go.
Re-Center Camp Around the Fire
The next reason why we like it is because it allows us to re-center our camp.
So normally the campsite is centered around the fire pit. You put your chairs around there. It’s where everybody hangs out. That’s the main focal point.
But depending on what your site looks like, sometimes you get a small site and depending on where you have to park the trailer and where they have the fire pit located. Sometimes it really just doesn’t work out to use the fire pit. Either it’s too close to the trailer to safely have a fire in there, or it’s in a position that just wouldn’t let you put chairs all the way around it.
When that happens, we could re-center our campsite. Instead of using the wood fire, we just use the propane fire pit and we put it wherever the natural center is and work around that.
So of course, we always try to be able to have the wood fire pit available, but sometimes it just isn’t an option. And when that’s the case, we have a backup plan.
Campfire During the Rain
And then the last reason why we love having the propane fire pit is because it allows us to enjoy a campfire even when it’s raining.
Because the propane pit has basically no smoke you can put it underneath the awning safely. And also even though the fire pit does get hot, the ground underneath it doesn’t. So it’s safe for us to have it on our outdoor rug.
So we can set the fire pit up under our awning on our rug, sit under the awning, completely covered from the rain, enjoy the campfire, and watch the rain come down.
Of course this doesn’t work out when it’s windy because you can’t have the awning out if there’s too much wind. But often, this setup allows us to sit outside and enjoy the outdoors a little bit more than we’d normally be able to.
Dealing with S’mores with a Propane Fire Pit
Now of course we do still like wood fires and we do still have wood fires when that’s an option. That’s also normally how we cook s’mores. Even though you can technically roast marshmallows over the propane fire pit, we choose not to. We don’t want it to get sticky and get too messy when we’re cleaning it up.
So when we have the propane fire pit out, if the kids want some we’ve started cooking s’mores on the Blackstone.
What Was Included with the Outland Firebowl 870
Overall, we’re extremely happy with this fire pit. And it is now an essential item for us.
It comes with the lid and straps so it’s really easy to carry around and take with us. It also came with a stand for the propane. It’s just a simple little ring that you put the tank on, and then it just helps it from tipping over.
Using the Outland Living 870 Fire Pit
Now, we have learned a few things since we’ve been using this for the last year.
The first is when you turn on the propane, you have to turn the propane tank on very slowly. If you turn it on too fast, then the flame will be minimal. It will be really short and you won’t be able to adjust it to go higher. This is apparently a safety feature. So to avoid that, just turn the propane tank on slowly.
Once the propane tank is on, you can then use the dial on the fire pit to ignite it and then adjust the flame. And then when you’re done, turn the propane tank off and wait for the fire to burn out. It only takes a few seconds. Then after that is when you’ll want to use the dial and turn it back to off on the fire pit.
Conclusion
We get a lot of use out of this propane fire pit, much more than we had expected. It’s just a great option to have around. And we love having a backup for when a wood fire is not ideal.
