You see them on screen but almost never in the real world. Campfire tripods are fantastic but rare like supercars, and we want to bring them to your attention before undertaking your next camping or campervanning trip.
The case for campfire tripods
The standard camping kitchen is the gas-powered cooker, either installed into your motorhome or as portable barbeque. There’s no disparaging these appliances because they work very well, and it’s a similar story for portable charcoal barbeques.
You might think that a campfire tripod is outdated and time-consuming to set up. But they are in fact very versatile, simple, and very cheap to run. Unlike the other mobile cookers mentioned above, you don’t necessarily need to buy fuel for a campfire tripod. It can run off the timber you find nearby if you’re in such a place.
Furthermore, a campfire tripod allows you to produce a slow-cooked meal, which people don’t tend to do on camping gas cookers because it’s consuming and costly. However, with a hanging grill plate, you can easily barbeque food too.
Temperature control for campfire tripods is somewhat less sophisticated than on a modern cooker, but it is simple. All you do is adjust the height of the chain.
The best campfire tripods
Editor’s pick
The chain is included and everything at the top of the tripod is ready to go, so all you need to do, is set it up and attach your heavy cooking pot to the hook.
There is one niggle. You have to be able to transport the poles, which are over a metre long. But other than that, it’s a brilliant and cost-effective camping kitchen.
The best campfire tripods
Best versatile campfire tripod
The hook and chain included are also adjustable, and you can fit other attachments to it, such as a grill plate. But there’s something else. You can drive two legs into the ground and use the third as a crossbar, allowing you to hang more than one thing.
Like the Andes tripod, you just have to remember each leg is 120cm long and thus needs transportation that can accommodate it.
Best compact campfire tripod
This tripod is made from aluminium rather than steel. On the plus side, it means this tripod weighs less than one kilogram; on the downside, its weight limit is significantly less than the steel tripods. But 15kg is still enough for a lightweight camping pot and its contents.
Best lightweight campfire tripod
Consisting of a brace and adjustable chain, this little holder weighs under 300 grams and packs into a carry bag the size of your palm. Yet, the 28mm holes in the brace cater for string, sturdy branches to construct the tripod.
It is a little bit more of a faff to set up and you are at the mercy of whatever branches happen to be around. Thus, it could be great or a disaster, that’s the knife-edged drawback here.
The best pots for campfire tripods
Having the correct crockery to use with a campfire tripod is important. With them, you can use larger, heavier pots than you could on a smaller camping cooker (with the exception of the aluminium Robens tripod).
The classic pot to use with a campfire tripod is the Dutch oven. It’s a cast iron pot with a handle that allows you hang it over a fire, suspended by the tripod chain. Lighter aluminium versions have come along but stick with the cast iron ones if you can. They’re better for cooking stews and like, plus they’re much more durable.
However, it is heavy. Lighter alternatives are the stainless steel pots. You’d be forgiven for thinking these are all the same, but stainless steel, and therefore the products they’re made from, vary considerably in quality.
Our stainless steel champions here come from Primus, the name that is likely stencilled on your flask.
At under one kilogram, this is considerably lighter than the cast iron Dutch ovens.
Another useful item is the campfire kettle. Like pots, these can be cast iron or stainless steel. We suggest sticking with stainless steel because it’s still very durable but also much lighter than a cast iron option.
Chris Williams is a Senior Product Writer for CAR, also working for Live For The Outdoors. An expert in camping and muscle cars, he spends most of his time up a mountain or laying rubber.
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