This Portable Campfire Was the Best Part of My Vacation
This little metal tin packs recycled soy wax and paper to create a self-contained fire perfect for roasting marshmallows, even with no wood in sight.
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Have you ever found that product that seemed too good to be true and then it turned out better than you had hoped? That was me with this portable fire pit. I had seen it on Instagram and Tik Tok and was skeptical that it would even work, but let me tell you, dear reader, it’s pretty great.
What immediately drew me to the Radiate Portable Campfire was, well, the fact that it was portable. Encased in a tin that’s reminiscent of the ubiquitous butter cookie tin everyone’s mom/grandma kept buttons lives a mixture of recycled pulp briquettes made from paper that’s surrounded by recycled soy wax. All you do is light the pulp and allow the flame to spread across the wax.
Radiate Portable Campfire
Now, compared to a real fire, there were some differences (obviously). As for roasting marshmallows, it’s a little hit or miss. If you get a pocket that burns hot, you’ll get a flaming ball of sugar that rivals even the best bonfires, but other sections just smudged the bright white exterior with soot. Functioning as a source of heat, this surprisingly punches above its minute stature. It’s maybe not as cozy as a crackling fire, but the time saved from finding kindling, keeping things burning, and then dealing with smoke is worth the smaller flame.
You can get 3+ hours of burn time, which is the perfect amount of time to be spent hanging around a fire, but if you want to cut it short, all you do is place the lid back on to snuff it out. I gathered around the fire with my soon-to-be inlaws and nephews, perched on beach chairs in the driveway of our beach house (it recommends placing the container on a burn-proof surface). It was a simple, end-of-vacation activity that felt nostalgic and new at the same time, plus the kids loved it, and the cleanup couldn’t have been easier.
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