Mesh firebox on test

This cheap, lightweight device solves a problem that’s common in many camping areas: the need to prevent campfires from scarring grassy areas with black, burnt-out fire residue. Many camping areas prohibit fires that aren’t in fireboxes.

When our OTA team mates, Juana and Tony Ford, turned up at Queensland’s Boondooma Dam, we were ruing the fact that we’d forgotten to pack our heavy-duty slot-together firebox. Without it, we couldn’t have a camp fire close to our camper.

We needn’t have worried, because the Fords came fully prepared. Tony had spotted this bargain-priced lightweight mesh firebox and bought one on-line – for around $30.

When he unpacked it from its tiny container and assembled it, we thought it was way too lightly made to work effectively, but we were wrong. We lit it up, with around 5kg of hardwood logs on its flimsy-looking stainless steel mesh surface and waited for the whole thing to collapse. It didn’t.

We sat around it for hours, noting that we could sit much closer than with a conventional firebox. That meant warmth, without the need to have a huge blaze.

Kezzie even took her shoes off and put her bare feet under it, to show that no embers fell through the mesh and there wasn’t excessive heat radiating downwards. Naturally, when we got back home, we bought one.

The stainless steel tubular legs look spindly, but they handle the weight of wood without any issues. 

The mesh is made from fine, 304 stainless steel and must eventually burn through, we reckon. That’s OK, because you can buy a replacement mesh panel for around $20.

The little firebox is now a permanent part of our camping kit and we’ll let you know how well it lasts, through 2024 and 2025.