You never want to look back and say to yourself, “Man, I wish I had a Campfire Defender.” When that moment comes, it’s too late. Something terrible and irreversible has already happened. The Campfire Defender is great insurance for any serious camper or lover of backyard bonfires.
What It Is
Okay, let’s rewind, and describe what a Campfire Defender is. Then you’ll understand.
Campfire Defender is a heavy-duty 68”x60” blanket lined with military-grade woven glass fabric. It will withstand temperatures of up to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. (You’re average campfire burns at around 1500 F.) It has an adjustable metal vent just off of the center, and holes for stakes in the corners. The top of the Campfire Defender is a high temperature silicone that is weather resistant to wind, rain, and snow.
So you’ve probably figured out it’s built to cover your campfire. Ding, ding, ding! You’re right!
Why We Like It
We found there are multiple situations where covering a campfire makes great sense. First and foremost, we all want to prevent a smoldering fire from catching anything else nearby on fire. When you crawl into your tent or trailer for the night, or retire from the backyard fire pit, quenching the fire completely is a pain. It takes time, lots and lots of water, and a bunch of testing to make sure it’s really out.
Our experience showed Campfire Defender makes securing the fire for the night so much easier. We just pushed the adjustable stake into the center of the fire pit (actually we did that before we lit the fire for the night), positioned the blanket over the stake, and securely staked down the corners and weighted the sides (just for extra security.) If you want to smother the fire, you’d make sure the vent closed and starve the fire for air. We wanted the embers to light quickly in the morning, so we positioned the vent to allow just enough air to keep the coals just glowing through the night.
We also encountered rain during our test trip, and we learned that the Campfire Defender coincidentally makes a great cover under which to store your firewood and keep it dry. With today’s requirements for buying your firewood on location and what they charge for it, you definitely want to take care of it.
We really like the Campfire Defender because of the added level of safety it brings to any campsite. Of course it reduces the possibility of starting a forest fire. And with the fire covered, you don’t have to worry about a child – or a maybe a friend who imbibed a bit too much the night before – stepping into the fire during a 3 a.m. bathroom run.
And waking up the next morning to start the coffee, it sure is nice to simply add some kindling to the glowing coals instead of going through setting a whole new fire from scratch.
Oh, one more thing — the whole kit folds down and packs into an easy to carry, easy to stow carrying bag. Sweet!
