Reusable Fire Logs

[santacruzer]

Here's an interesting product that just showed up on the FGRV forum

Repose Fire Logs

[dbailey]

An interesting idea... I'd guess they'd burn pretty quickly since the pellets have such a high surface area. Still, a neighbor has a pellet stove... might be worth while "borrowing" some pellets and seeing how this would work...

[amirie]

we have a different use for those pellets....they make great cat litter--the urine turns them into sawdust and you sift it each day--taking out the solid items--all flushable. We been using it for years.
A 4o lb bag is around $7

[cpaharley2008]

You flush wood down your sewerage? new one for me…isn't this stuff made from wood and doesn't it expand when wet?

[amirie]

it turns into sawdust when the cat pees on it--and it says on the bag that it is flushable...Garbage people refused to take our garbage years ago with cat litter in it--so probably 10 years ago went to this stuff (labelled as horse bedding or pellets for stoves) and have had no issues--an extra flush I usually do just to make sure it doesn't clog--so far so good... (we aren't on septic)

[Brian B-P]

I would encourage people to check with sanitation authorities before flushing sawdust. I'm on a septic system and would not flush it, but municipal systems might be fine with the wood fibre in their biosolids stream. In my municipality solid waste is split into recyclables, organics, and other garbage; cat litter is specifically directed to the organics bin, even if mineral litter is used.

[gbaglo]

Isn't there an app for that?
Re-inventing the campfire. Love it.
Does it come with a Kevlar storage bag?
Lithium batteries?
Bluetooth?
Are we there yet?

[BCnomad]

Saw this on fgrv as it was bumped.

I like the concept, in principal. Especially if crossing the border with pellets is OK (no potential ride alongs like with raw wood).

Anybody seen this or similar products in stores?

[rbryan4]

The pellets were originally intended for pellet fed BBQs and grilles. They do a fair job with barbecue, and a great job with grilling, so I guess one advantage would be you could use the same fuel for the campfire and the grill. Interesting.

[tractors1]

A campfire with no crackly noise? What fun is that? I'd rather buy some wood locally............

[gbaglo]

BBQ and grill posts moved to own thread.

[Jim Bennett]

We have probably 50 campfires a year, and maybe it is sentimentality, but I MUCH prefer a real wood fire, it has a character of its own, and its warmth extends beyond that from the heat put out. I have sat around propane fire, fire log fires, even one where tightly rolled newspapers were burned as logs, and don't dislike them, but they just ain't the same.

[rbryan4]

Agreed. I think it's somehow ingrained in man's DNA -- gathering around the warmth of a real fire. After all, it's been done since man began.

[gbaglo]

I recall sitting around a campfire a long time ago and musing aloud about the allure of the flames. You just had to look at them.
And my buddy said, "Well, there's nothing else to see. It's dark out"

[Greggo]

I wonder if I can singe my moustache lighting a reuseable firelog. Sort of takes the sport out of starting a campfire! Besides that, toasting marshmallows over the cat litter box might give the smores a funny aftertaste!

[Fox hunt]

I don't seem to have the fire starter gene can't seem to get one started bought one of those canned camp fires.

[padlin]

The idea sounded good to me when I read about them last year. I tried making a set to see if it would work before spending the $ on the heavy duty ones they sell. Made 3 of them out of left over hardware cloth, 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4, 12-18" long.

Observations from the fireplace:

Takes 2 or 3 fire starters to light them.
Burn pretty good but don't last all that long, somewhere around an hour.
One was not enough, needed 3 going at once to satisfy my needs for flames. Ever try a single Duraflame log?, one was less then that.
What do you with em when the flame is out if you want a longer fire?. You have to take them out of the fireplace and reload them, but they are full of half burned and burning embers. Lifting them out and carrying them through the house to get outside is on the dangerous side, so unless you live in a cave, you can't.
They also sell a version that has no top, that way you can just pour in more as they burn. So I cut the top off of the fakes I had made and gave that a shot. When the flames burned down I added more pellets, if I added too much it snuffed out the ones that were burning. I couldn't get the ones I added t burn well at all. Don't know if there was no airflow once they are sitting on nothing but ashes, but I had very poor results. Tried adding fewer, adding more, adding them later, or even earlier. I gave up.

May have been better for outside fires, then you could pull off one of the burned up logs (that are still burning inside), and dump it for reloading while the other logs are still burning. You would have to shuffle them around to get the one you want out, which would probably be on the bottom of the fire.

To me, cord wood is better. Keep in mind these were not the real deals, they were home made ones. Making them sounded easier then it really was.

[escape artist]

Hi: padlin...You sound like me... Not much of an "Arsonist". Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[iamunique127]

Originally Posted by padlin

The idea sounded good to me when I read about them last year. I tried making a set to see if it would work before spending the $ on the heavy duty ones they sell. Made 3 of them out of left over hardware cloth, 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4, 12-18" long.

Thank you for performing the experiment and posting your observations.

You confirmed what I had expected: they are fine for a one hour fire. What I didn't expect was why it's only one hour.

[C&G in FL]

My comments, but not even worth two cents!

Originally Posted by tractors1

A campfire with no crackly noise? What fun is that? I'd rather buy some wood locally............

Could always play an audio recording of a crackling fire.....

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

We have probably 50 campfires a year, and maybe it is sentimentality, but I MUCH prefer a real wood fire, it has a character of its own, and its warmth extends beyond that from the heat put out. I have sat around propane fire, fire log fires, even one where tightly rolled newspapers were burned as logs, and don't dislike them, but they just ain't the same.

And in the absence of real wood, you cannot go to bed without smelling smoky all night long, and having the smoke smell permeate the trailer......

Originally Posted by Fox hunt

I don't seem to have the fire starter gene can't seem to get one started bought one of those canned camp fires.

One advantage is that many places allow their use when burn bans are in effect because propane fires do not produce flying embers......

As I said, comments not worth much. Just the ramblings of someone who cannot go camping and enjoy a campfire of any sort (pellet, real wood log, paper log, or propane) because I am waiting, interminably it sometimes seems, for my build to start!