No matter how large your camping vehicle is, a big, solid drum of a fire pit simply isn't all that convenient to pack and doesn't play nicely with a full trunk. Baird Built integrates smokeless design into a more portable steel fire pit platform that breaks down into a series of panels for near-flat transport and still burns full-size firewood at camp. The 6 Series fire pit also comes in two sizes, boasts Made in the USA steel construction, and offers a series of cooking accessories for serious campfire grilling and searing.
Too many wood fire pits on the market size in either too large, heavy and awkward to conveniently pack up for car camping or too small to create a warm fire with regular firewood found readily at the store. Those that do offer proper campfire size and convenient portability usually lack the smokeless design that some users have come to demand as a way of minimizing lung-burning, cough-inducing gusts of smoke.
Campground fire pits and rings can negate the need to carry a fire pit in the first place, but if you're camping outside of a campground in dispersed areas, a portable fire pit is still a good way of enjoying a fire at night while leaving little to no trace of it by the following morning – certainly better than leaving behind a freshly built fire ring filled with half-burned wood and coals blowing in the wind. Plus, you can forget about smokeless performance with a basic rock circle.
A metal fabrication and art shop based in Tuscola, Illinois, Baird Built presents what looks to be a nice, functional solution for car campers who want a fire that's full-size and smokeless. Named, we assume, for its hexagonal design, the 6 Series fire pits come in both compact and extra-large sizes. At 24 x 24 x 12.8 in (61 x 61 x 33 cm) when assembled, the compact version is still quite sizable and ready to accommodate standard-length firewood that measures in at 16 inches (41 cm) long. The XL version ups the stage to 30 x 30 x 14.5 in (76 x 76 x 37 cm).
By collapsing down to a package that measures less than 4 in (10 cm) thick, the 6 Series becomes much easier to transport than the average fixed-size smokeless fire pit. It's still 24 x 24 in, length x width, so it definitely won't squeeze into a loaded backpack, but it's compact enough to consider packing in a small, light or crowded vehicle in which you wouldn't even dare try stuffing something wider or rounder.
Upon arrival, the 6 Series sets up in a matter of seconds by simply sliding the wall panels together atop the base via the precut slots. The design lifts the fire pit floor off the ground and creates what Baird describes as a two-stage combustion process. The first stage sees oxygen enter through the holes in the base, feeding the flames through the floor. The second stage sees oxygen enter though the lower sidewall holes and upper openings to burn up any smoke that would otherwise escape out the top.
While there are other portable smokeless fire pits and accessories out there, such as the BioLite FirePit and Snow Peak Takibi add-on combustion chamber, the market is still small. Baird Built sets itself apart with its large and larger sizing and an ecosystem of accessories ready to go. Available add-ons includes both a stainless steel grill top and a 1/4-in steel griddle-style sear top, a combination optimized to deliver perfectly smokey, flavorful, crusted steaks.
After previously developing simpler portable fire pits, Baird Built recently launched the smokeless 6 Series and showed it at the 2023 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market last month. The fire pits aren't exactly cheap, pricing in at $499 for the Compact and $599 for the XL, but they're made in the US and backed by a lifetime warranty, meaning buyers will have the proverbial first buy cry but won't have to worry about a second.
Source: Baird Built
