Solo firepit Q's

[ang79]

I keep looking at these. We have discussed getting a firepit before but DH wants wood burning and I'd prefer gas for quick lighting and no smoke smell. This seems like a good compromise, but DH isn't sure for the cost of it that we will use it enough to get our money's worth. We have a large stone patio outback. I know the girls would enjoy cooking marshmallows and possibly hotdogs over a fire, especially on weekend evenings (can you cook hotdogs over it?). Or having a friend or two over to do the same. We live in PA and its starting to get chilly, does the Solo give off enough heat to help keep you warm if you sit around it? There are only 4 of us, but if we invited others over I'm guessing the bonfire would be better than the ranger? If we are using it on the patio, do we need the stand? I don't think we would use it in the yard much, as our yard is sloped. Any other pros/cons to help sway me?

[twowhat?]

Following! DH also wants a firepit for the same reasons above! We would also need one that's portable so we can move it around...our patio isn't that large but we have a good sized pool deck so depending on number of people sitting outside, it would either be on the patio or pool deck. That Solo pit of course keeps popping up on my FB.

And it would be nice to have a grill cover for simple grilling - marshmallows, hot dogs. Maybe kebabs.

This is the Wirecutter recommended one: https://www.wayfair.com/outdoor/pdp/...fe014b0a1c0e0b

[ssjarrett]

I can't speak to the actual usage yet, but we just got the Breeo smokeless firepit instead of Solo (X19 model). https://breeo.co/ It's made in Lancaster, PA as well, so you might be able to buy it locally somewhere in PA. You might want to give it a look too. Price is similar and we thought it looked easier to get the ashes out and also has a version with a sear plate for cooking, plus an attachment for grilling as well.

[Philly Mom]

I have one. Also in PA. I really like it. It’s easy to use and makes a good fire once it gets going. I think the base is good to have. I would get no smaller than the bonfire. It does require you to consistently feed the fire.


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[ncat]

We got the ranger a few months ago. It is really easy to get a fire going and we can go from start to finish - with marshmallows - in an hour. We have a fair bit of fallen wood in our yard and it works well with that - we'd need to chop up standard logs further. We got the ring with it free and do use it on our patio but probably don't need it. It is a bit tricky to empty the ashes.
DH was skeptical about spending so much, but was so impressed with it that he bought a campstove.

[o_mom]

We have the Solo Bonfire. Definitely do not go smaller. We have trouble with some of the firewood not fitting in the Bonfire, but the next one up was really heavy.

One thing we notice (not necessarily unique to the Solo) is that while the fire puts out a lot of heat, it is all "above the rim", so the sides, while hot enough to burn if you touch them, don't radiate heat. We had a raging fire going last night, but I used a blanket to keep my legs warm.

It does burn down really well, so minimal ashes. It also goes out fairly quickly once you stop feeding it, so we are not staying up to wait for it to go out (you can't put water on it). We also bought a metal trash can lid to cover it at night so that we can leave it out to cool and make sure it is out, but not get wet if it rains.

Prior to this we had the generic wood fire pit from Lowes that would last 18-24 months before rusting out at the bottom. This is an improvement for sure.

[marinkitty]

We have the bonfire and it puts out a ton of heat for how small it is. If we sit four around it, we are all plenty warm. A bigger group that has to space further might start to get chilly. I wouldn't get the ranger because you have to cut down the wood. We use the base because we have ours on a Trex deck and it also elevates it a bit more which is nice because it is small. We love it! We have a built-in fire bowl with a gas line down on a patio in the yard and this puts out way more heat, so once winter really hits I think we will turn to this more and more (the gas bowl is much bigger so with a group way better but it just doesn't crank out the same heat).

[ang79]

I can't speak to the actual usage yet, but we just got the Breeo smokeless firepit instead of Solo (X19 model). https://breeo.co/ It's made in Lancaster, PA as well, so you might be able to buy it locally somewhere in PA. You might want to give it a look too. Price is similar and we thought it looked easier to get the ashes out and also has a version with a sear plate for cooking, plus an attachment for grilling as well.

I have looked at the Breo but with the sale Solo currently has its hard to justify the more expensive Breo.

For those with the Solo Bonfire, do you recommend accessories like the shield, outdoor cover, etc.? I have seen the recommendation of the metal trash can lid to put on top instead of buying the actual Solo lid.

[o_mom]

I have looked at the Breo but with the sale Solo currently has its hard to justify the more expensive Breo.

For those with the Solo Bonfire, do you recommend accessories like the shield, outdoor cover, etc.? I have seen the recommendation of the metal trash can lid to put on top instead of buying the actual Solo lid.

We have the base ring and the outdoor cover (shelter). We mainly use it on a concrete patio, but also on grass, so I wanted to have the ring. The shelter is very nice and I think worth it if you do not have a covered area to store it. The included bag is not waterproof and would not work as well.

They did not have the metal lid ($60) when we got ours, so I got this one for $7.50 shipped to store: https://www.acehardware.com/departme...g-bins/7205818 Just make sure you get one big enough. That is the larger lid of that brand and it fits perfectly.

If we were somewhere with fire issues I would probably get the screen.

[LD92599]

We have the Bonfire and love it! Used to have a traditional metal fire pit from Lowes. Used it twice and hated it. We use the Bonfire on our wooden deck (w/ the ring) but just had a concrete pad replace where we had an Intex pool...so using it there. I've added the shelter and the roasting sticks - w/ the referral credits. I'd post the referral code but I know that's not permitted here! PM if you want it - it's changing soon but it should give you 10% of. Once I got the hang of using super dry kindling, I can start a fire pretty much instantly. The smoke is much much much less of a issue than the traditional pits; I bought a $20 pizza pan from Amazon and just put it on top when we're ready to go in for the evening.

It was definitely a quarantine purchase to encourage us to use our outdoor space more and it worked! Warning though it burns through wood like crazy so take that into account/budget.