Fire pans.

[Paddlinhal]

Who here doesn't like to sit around the campfire after a day of paddling? A recent trip down the Penobscot River Paddle Trail got me thinking about how more and more campsites are restricting campfires. In this shoulder season, sunny days are often warm and pleasant, but when the rain moves in, the wind can pick up and the temp usually drops too. So I started looking into firepans. A year ago we bought a small stainless steel folding charcoal grill, which unfortunately I never had a chance to use, so I can't say how a charcoal grill works as a fire pan. But today I have been looking again and see a few options. The smallest is a Wolf & Grizzly Fire Safe, 11" square and weighing 2 lb. You can add a 3lb. contraption that adds a grill to it. Next is a Fireside Outdoors Trailblazer, 12" square complete with a (nonadjustable) grill weighing 3.2 lb. And finally I looked at another Fireside Outdoors Firepit, 24" square, at 8 lb. without a grill.

Let's start with the Wolf and Grizzly. An 11" log is rather petite, really a stick. But on reflection, we usually cut our logs pretty short to make splitting easier. And cooking with small splits produces a good flame. Unfortunately, I ain't buying 3lb. grate. Also, you can forget about reflector oven cooking. But this one sits the lowest and could make a good warming fire. Not a bonfire, but something to stare at and keep warm on those cold rainy evenings.

Next, the 24" square Fireside Outdoors. These have the scissored stand like a roll-a-table, ell-shaped 3" high sides, and a roll-up SS mat that supports the fire. Also an insulated ash-catcher mat. They also meet the requirements for a fire pan in the Grand Canyon and many other places. These will take a standard campground-firewood-bundle length of 16" I wouldn't bother with the accessory grill grate, instead I would find a way to use my fire irons. Also, I think my 16" wide Svante Freden Swedish reflector oven could be propped in the corner and once the cooking is done, you could have a nice fire with larger logs that burn longer and a few folks could gather around. It packs the size of a roll-a-table and weighs about the same. I would call this the Papa Bear.

And then the 12" Fireside Outdoors. Pretty much the same price as the 24", but it comes with the grill. Just a scaled down version of the 24, you could almost fit a 16" log corner to corner. This one I would modify so the reflector oven could replace one of the 3" high sides and become an integral part of the riggin'. Keeping in mind or course that the Swedish reflector oven requires that the pan be turned now and again for even cooking, so this requires a little more thought. The oven could be left in place for a windbreak after the cooking is done. Is this the just-right Mama Bear? I'm still not sure. I wish there was a 16" version.

 

[Canotrouge]

One that is really popular up here is the lid of a metal trash can, about 20” across nice rim around it, light weight! Make sure you don’t sit to close on the first burn since they are galvanized!!

 

[Paddlinhal]

Too funny! Perhaps I've been overthinking a bit. I wonder if my neighbors will suspect where their lids got off to...

 

[ppine]

Steel oil drain pan is legal on wild and scenic rivers.

 

[scratchypants]

I'm subscribed to this guy's Youtube channel: James Carey . He has a few videos where he uses his "cash box" stove, which is just that - an old cash box.

 

[Guest]

I use a large stainless steel animal watering/feed bowl from a farm supply store. 14” wide x 5” deep. It is kinda thin SS, so now a bit dented, but it weighs just under 1lb.

I like it because I can slip it over the bottom of my barrel for in-canoe storage, putting the sooty fire pan into an old stuff bag first so the barrel isn’t begrunged.

With a small stick fire/coals I can put the Trench Grill on top if I want to grill.

 

[lowangle al]

I have used a cheap, small, light weight charcoal grill that you can usually find in a supermarket. It is about 3 inches deep and about 16 inches in diameter and has a very thin gauge wire grill for cooking.

 

[Odyssey]

On our most recent trip we relied entirely on our twig stove with mixed results. The challenging conditions demoralized me at times leading me to remark "I am done with twig stoves from now on. F this. I'm going full on full time canister stoves from here on out. Thread in a fuel canister, open a valve and push a piezo button. Cookin' with gas."
And now I discover a thing called a fire pan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU

 

[PeteStaehling]

Yeah I tinkered with twig stoves and generally found them to be a lot of trouble to deal with and I have sworn off of them. Most of my canoe camping has either been in places where a pan wasn't required or it just didn't occur to me to take one, but I can see the attraction. A fire is a really nice thing in camp where appropriate. I may consider taking a pan if I do a trip somewhere that I am not going light for portaging.

BTW, how much of a problem is galvanized at the temperatures a fire pan reaches? The 3 gallon 16" pans like the Behrens one Tractor supply sells looks nice if galvanized is okay. I know that welding galvanized and breathing the fumes can be bad news.

 

[Odyssey]

Okay, after perusing the fire pan idea I've gone cold on the idea. (ha ) But I do appreciate the requirements in some backcountry environments for a scorch-free earth policy. Makes sense. Not all twig stoves are designed with ash pans etc. I was looking at hiker forums for alternatives to the big almighty hefty designs and came up with http://keithtitanium.com/product/CUTLERY/117.html and other products. I camp near and on granite so fire pans are less an issue but I am still attracted to the idea. (Just when I thought I was out...)
Funny thing is I only recently scored a thrift store find, 2 cake pans to use as deep dish camp bowls/plates. Simple. Cheap. Unbreakable. But being nonstick means they cannot endure the fire pan use. But they never were intended for that experiment. Just today I embedded a double layer of small precast concrete slabs into the earth in the backyard to be the base for my twig stove. Surrounded by big slabs of white cedar to serve as fire ring seats we may have our very own campfires. Or not. But root fires are not something to underestimate. Eliminating the heat transfer downwards through forest duff (https://forestfloor.soilweb.ca/definitions/humus-forms/) is a considerable goal. Nothing like raising the fire bed up to achieve this. Here's something to build on although it is twig stove size. A scissored V contraption? https://richardoutdoors.com/products/fire-trough-stove
Good luck in your fire pan explorations Pete. Keep us posted. I am most definitely pulled back in again.

 

[DuctTape]

most places which prohibit fires, also prohibit any type of wood burning stove.

 

[Paddlinhal]

Please don't shoot me and dump me in the Hudson, but I am looking at paddling the Maine Island Trail in a "sea canoe". There. I said it. Anyway, the coastal environment is indeed fragile in many areas and so a lot of the islands don't allow fires, some allow them below the high tide line and in some there is a great big old fire ring. Now some will argue that a campfire is still dangerous, but I believe the prohibition is due to the damage to the soil. Camp stoves can also start a forest fire. So I went and bought the 12" Fireside Outdoors Trailblazer, which folds up and fits in a 14' long by 5" diameter sack. I got it at the kickstarter price, and it will fit through the hatch. I'm pretty sure that with very little modification I can use it with my reflector oven. We'll see, I get it next week and will be forced to test it out.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Please don't shoot me and dump me in the Hudson, but I am looking at paddling the Maine Island Trail in a "sea canoe". There. I said it. Anyway, the coastal environment is indeed fragile in many areas and so a lot of the islands don't allow fires, some allow them below the high tide line and in some there is a great big old fire ring. Now some will argue that a campfire is still dangerous, but I believe the prohibition is due to the damage to the soil. Camp stoves can also start a forest fire. So I went and bought the 12" Fireside Outdoors Trailblazer, which folds up and fits in a 14' long by 5" diameter sack. I got it at the kickstarter price, and it will fit through the hatch. I'm pretty sure that with very little modification I can use it with my reflector oven. We'll see, I get it next week and will be forced to test it out.

Then you must be familiar with the escapades of Reinhard Zollitsch!
http://zollitschcanoeadventures.com/

I believe the prohibition is because getting resources to fight a fire on a remote island is very difficult. For years I was steward to Beal Island and fire was our biggest fear. A robust island of about 400 acres, and not far from shore firefighting would be tricky.
Kind of an aside but when the Natives and first settlers used the islands they did controlled burns. They used islands for pastures for livestock. No fencing needed; sheep and cattle are not likely to try to escape by swimming . Now the tangle of dead and down spruce essentially leaves islands tinderboxes.

Very good on the sea canoe. I find mine( Mad River Monarch) way more comfortable than a kayak. And yes do plan on bringing a single blade. Preferably Zaveral.

It is interesting to light a campfire at high tide and then just kind of drowse off to warmth and camaraderie then realize after a while your feet are wet. The tide came in.

I do very much like the Trailblazer. Paddlinhal don't forget to do a review. One of my gripes was that we had to carry a firepan on the Green and what we rented took way too much space.

 

[Patrick Corry]

I'm subscribed to this guy's Youtube channel: James Carey . He has a few videos where he uses his "cash box" stove, which is just that - an old cash box.

Thanks for the link to the ‘cash box’ stove! I had been looking for the YouTube video, but couldn’t find it because I thought he called it a ‘toolbox’ stove. It sure seems practical, though bulky. I’ve been looking at the 180 stove; http://www.180tack.com/shop/180-stove. It appears to be stable, afford a reasonable cooking surface, and is easy to feed fuel.