Hot New Product of the Week: Fireside Outdoor Pop-Up Fire Pit

A portable fire pit that's light enough to bring into the backcountry

Hot New Products are written by the company and edited for space and clarity. They do not express the opinions of SNEWS or its editors.

Pitched by Fireside Outdoor:

You won't miss your heavy firepan or bulky charcoal grill once you discover Fireside Outdoor's Pop-Up Fire Pit. We're talking 8 pounds versus more than 25 pounds. The folded frame fits over your shoulder like a camping chair. Aside from the weight, the biggest difference from firepans and grills comes from the open-air design. Thanks to a proprietary stainless steel mesh—discovered by Fireside Outdoor Founder Mark Wolf during his time as an automotive engineer—the Pop-Up Pit is cool to the touch only 90 seconds after removing the ashes, compared to the usual hour for traditional firepans and grills. It also produces nearly 80-percent less smoke and a “heat shield” on its underbelly keeps it from burning any surface, even snow.

The Pop-Up Pit is ideal for camping trips, where the Bureau of Land Management and the National Forest Service are now requiring backpackers to pack fire management tools because of the recent, out-of-control burns. But hell, they're also ideal for a San Francisco rooftop balcony or a truck tailgate, where space is limited.