Space inside an overland vehicle disappears quickly.
Recovery gear. Tools. Water. Camera equipment. Clothing. Camping gear. By the time everything essential has been packed, luxuries really have to earn their spot. And yet, some things are difficult to leave behind. A proper fire is one of them.
Not just for cooking, but for the long hours after dark when temperatures fall, chairs edge closer to the flames, and the evening slows into conversation.
The problem is that most fire pits demand compromise. Compact systems often feel flimsy or underwhelming, while the genuinely capable ones take up more space than you’d like to admit.
For the best part of a decade, I’ve travelled with a Petromax Atago. It has earned its place honestly. Reliable, versatile, and capable of producing serious heat, whether cooking dinner or keeping the cold at bay. But there’s no escaping the fact that the Atago occupies a considerable amount of real estate inside a Zarges box.
Tristan’s Relleumdesign fire pit takes the opposite approach. Fold-flat, compact, and easy to stow, it always seemed the more elegant solution from a packing perspective. I’ll admit there were moments I envied that simplicity while wrestling with the bulkier Atago.
That is precisely why the BOXIO FIRE bundle caught my attention.
BOXIO, the German company behind the increasingly familiar TOILET, WASH, and COOK systems, has built a reputation around practical products that balance usability, decent build quality and realistic pricing surprisingly well. Their FIRE bundle promises much the same: a collapsible fire pit and barbecue system that packs neatly into a half-height Eurobox.
On paper, at least, it sounded almost too good to work properly.
Was I sceptical when the BOXIO FIRE first came up in conversation? Yes. A collapsible fire pit that packs into a Eurobox measuring 30 x 40 x 12 cm (with plenty of room to spare, I might add), can easily “serve four” in its guise as a barbecue and fulfil its role heating the night as a log fire. Made from stainless steel and priced at a mere €125 including the tripod: a light but sturdy accessory that can easily suspend a kettle or pot over the coals or flames.
