On a crisp fall evening there’s not much better than tuning into the big game, cracking open a cold one and lighting up a fire. Not all fire pits are created equal and most are too bulky to take on the road, or over to a friends house. Have no fear I found the Pop Up Fire Pit from Fireside Outdoor that can collapse and go into a shoulder bag to take the fire pit fun anywhere!

I’ve seen this pop up fire pit before, but never had the chance to use one until recently. I worked with the team at Fireside Outdoor to get my own and then review my overall user experience to see if this can earn the Tailgating Challenge seal of approval.

The sample unit arrived and I opened the box to find the entire fire pit in a small cinch sack that you can throw over your shoulder. This was already different than the numerous other fire pits I’ve tested out. With most being big and clunky, that while they worked well weren’t the first choice if you were trying to take the fire pit to the tailgate, friends house or campsite. I video recorded my first time using and setting up the pop up fire pit to give you a true look at someone using this for the first time and what you could experience. Sure I could have used it numerous times, but sometimes a real unboxing and working through things that you may go through helps with the overall user experience.

After unloading the contents of the sack I quickly got to work setting up the fire pit. First you open up the frame which is simple. Then add the 4 edges to the poles to get the border. Once completed add the mesh surface that will form the bottom of the grill. Finally (here is where I messed up the first time) proper installation of the heat shield. The heat shield should go under the frame and attach to the Velcro on the outside legs. I added it right below the mesh bottom in the video. It will still work this way and still shields the heat, but doing it this way will wear the heat shield out faster vs. using the proper way.

Once I had the pit set up it’s all grilling and chilling from there. Yes, I stated grilling, as there is a grill grate that you can add to the top of this fire pit too. In my tests I’m all about the fire pit and not as much the grilling option, but that is a feature that some will value. I put an Envirolog onto the Pop Up Fire Pit and lit it up to get the fire going. I later added some more logs to keep the fire going all through the evening. I was wondering how much wood the fire pit could hold and saw the guide states 125 pounds. The next day I decided to test this out further. I went over to the fire wood stand and loaded it up with well more logs than you would ever put on a pit this size and it held the weight. This Pop Up Pit is durable.

Another great feature of the Pop Up Fire Pit is the heat shield. As noted earlier, I didn’t quite install it correctly, but regardless it still worked great. We made s’mores and I normally place the chocolate bar on the ground near the fire pit to soften it up a bit. Problem! The heat shield blocked so much of the heat that the chocolate was still hard, even though it was directly under the fire pit. I call that an effective heat shield. You can also note in the my video I was touching the bottom of the heat shield that was touching the fire. While it was warm it was not scalding hot as one would expect.   *Disclaimer DO NOT touch hot fire pits. I’m a professional don’t try this at home:)

The part we all hate cleaning up! The great thing about the clean up is you simply slide the mesh off and dump it into the trash bag, or wherever you place you ashes. You can then break the pit down and slide it back into the bag to prepare for your next adventure.

The Pop Up Fire Pit features that I love:

-Holds a TON of firewood. Well technically 125 pounds and I’ve confirmed it will hold about as much wood as you can stack on it. 

-Portability. The collapsible frame allows this fire pit to fit in a shoulder bag

-Heat Shield. Even though I didn’t use correctly the first time it still shielded the heat from the ground

Overall, the portability and durability of the Pop Up Fire Pit does earn the Tailgating Challenge seal of approval. This fire pit should be considered if you love having a fire in places beside your back porch. Your fire pit can now be your traveling companion thanks to Fireside Outdoor and their Pop Up Fire Pit.

You can learn more by visiting their website: https://firesideoutdoor.com/

*This was a NON paid review. We don’t believe that reviews can be bought. The Fireside Outdoor team only supplied a sample to get our thoughts on their product. Want to see more of our non-biased product reviews? Check out more of our product reviews