We knew it was time to investigate buying a new fire pit when the chore of digging ours out of the car, assembling it and packing it away almost put us off having a campfire. If we were only parked up for a night or two, it almost wasn’t worth the effort. Especially when our fire pit was buried at the bottom of our 4WD, beneath boogie boards, kids’ bike helmets and various camping clutter. Sliding it back under that jumble of gear come pack-up time was even worse.
I stumbled across the ArcPit in my Facebook feed and was intrigued by its unique design. I thought I’d seen every style of portable fire pit on the market – folding, collapsable and flat-packs that slot together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle (like ours). But this was a different design altogether. A pre-assembled, lightweight one-piece pit that stores upside down over a spare tyre when not in use. No assembly, no pack down, no inside storage required. Genius.
The ArcPit is the brainchild of Brisbane couple Michael and Cassandra Kirkland. Like me, they were frustrated with the shortcomings of conventional fire pits. Unlike me, they decided to do something about it. Michael, a builder by trade, is a dab hand on the tools and a creative thinker. He designed the ArcPit from a cardboard prototype, eventually launching the product last year under the ArcMate brand (the couple also sells campfire accessories and a kids’ travel activity book).
The ArcPit is ingenious in its simplicity, comprising a rigid-stainless steel curved pit on sloping solid legs which, when inverted, fits snuggly over a spare tyre up to 305mm wide (a larger size is also available). The space-saving pit is made from food-grade, rust-resistant stainless steel and sits 11cm off the ground on raised legs – no scorched grass here. The unit weighs 11.7kg – comparable to, if not slightly lighter than, many flat-pack pits on the market.
The pit is designed to travel on an external vehicle or caravan/camper spare tyre. There are four eyelet anchor points on the top of the outside legs to secure the pit during transit. For this, ArcMate recommends using two 2.5-metre, S-hook ratchet straps rated to 300kg. They also suggest looping a cable lock over the tyre and ArcPit to deter theft, because this baby is hot property!
It was a very cold winter weekend in the Dandenong Ranges, near Melbourne, when we fired up the ArcPit for a trial run. Ordinarily I would talk in detail about the set-up process but, erm, there wasn’t one. After removing the ratchet straps, it was simply a matter of lifting the pit off the spare tyre on our caravan bumper bar, flipping it over and debating where on our large campsite to plonk it. The ArcPit has four cut-out handles – two on the bottom of the legs for easy lifting off the tyre, and one at either end of the cradle for moving it on and off the ground. Lifting the pit is an easy one-person job, even our teenager could do it. On the ground, the pit is very stable, so long as the legs are on a reasonably even surface.
Once in position, we loaded the pit up with kindling and a couple of firelighters and up she went. We were soon warm and toasty around the fire and the kids were squabbling about who got to toast the first marshmallow. I was concerned the pit might not have enough ventilation to fan the flames, as our old fire pit had cut-out holes deeper in the base. But this was not an issue, as the cut-out ‘ARC PIT’ letters on all four sides allowed for ample airflow. The glow coming through the words also looked really cool at night, and is a smart advertising feature – like a mini neon billboard for the brand.
The ArcPit is slightly longer than our old pit (70cm) and a similar width (31cm), however it has a much larger usable burn space because of the curved base. Our old pit slotted together in a ‘V’, which was awkward for stacking logs and larger pieces of wood. It also had ventilation holes at the base and sides, which dropped ash into a catch tray. This was messy and the tray scorched the grass. As a consequence, there were some caravan parks where we were not permitted to use our fire pit. Others allowed it, so long as the pit was lifted off the ground on bricks or timber blocks. Leg extenders are available for the ArcPit to raise it 30cm off the ground (a requirement in some national parks and caravan parks), but we haven’t yet felt the need to buy any.
The ArcPit also comes in an XL size for 4WD tyres (up to 324mm), and there’s a swag of accessories available, including a barbecue plate, grill, coal grate, rotisserie kit and storage bag. We might look at some of these options down the track, but for now love the simplicity of the single unit.
Much like the set-up, there’s no pack-up to speak of. Once the pit was cool, we simply scooped out the ash and gave it a brush down. The beauty of the handles is we could lift one end, tilt the pit and sweep the debris out. There are no grooves or crevices to catch any stubborn charcoal or twigs. A quick wipe down, flip over, and the ArcPit was back on the tyre ready to saddle up and ride. We have a cargo bag on our spare and I was worried this would be a deal breaker for the ArcPit, but it’s not. There’s enough wiggle room to accommodate the bag, although we might be testing the limits when it’s fully loaded. We can possibly lower the bag so it can be filled to capacity, and to make the opening more accessible, but that’s an experiment for another day.
ArcMate recommends storing the pit in a dry, covered area out of direct sunlight when not in use. This might be the ArcPit’s only downside as, for us, this is counter intuitive to its design. Our caravan is stored off-site in an outdoor facility when we’re not using it. Removing the ArcPit and storing it in our shed at home or inside the caravan is a pain and defeats the purpose of having a space-saving fire pit. For now, I think a trusty tarp over the spare tyre and pit will do the trick.
We love our ArcPit. It’s a clever, innovative design that makes so much sense we can’t believe no one has thought of it before. The pit is easier to use and store than our previous fire pit and burns more efficiently, allowing for larger – but not excessive – campfires. We have three kids, and the high, scooped sides are a good safety feature, as we don’t have to worry about any rollaway logs or rogue firewood falling out. This tyre-to-fire solution is a winner.
