The market has welcomed numerous portable fire pit/grills that can fit in a car or on a motorbike, but few are ideal for carrying by foot and fewer small enough to fit in a pocket.
Japanese startup The Brand Labo introduces its collapsible, pocket-size fire grill called the Alpha Bonfire. The flat, compact kit opens up into a mini fire pit and grill that you can use wherever the journey takes you. It also comes with tiny utensils for preparing and eating food.
The Alpha Bonfire measures only 5.8 x 2.7 x 0.2 in (147 x 69 x 5 mm) when compact. The kit comprises five 1-mm-thick stainless-steel, card-like panels that stack atop each other during travel and open up into a V-shaped fire pit with a height-adjustable grill top. The design looks like a miniaturized version of the collapsible car-camping fire pits Blue Ridge Flatpacker and Stahl Camper.
The Alpha Bonfire’s most clever feature is the grill top, which contains utensils that come out of the slots, leaving behind a grate. While the utensils are tiny and not ideal for dining, they’re integrated into the set, which means users will always have something to use. Being a Japanese creation, there’s a pair of chopsticks, along with a fork and knife. Overall, the utensils should prove helpful for simple actions like stirring soup or flipping over a steak or veggie burger.
Once the grill is set up, all you have to do is start a fire with twigs collected from around camp and Voilà! You have a stove ready for cooking. Despite the “Bonfire” name, the small fire will serve for ambiance and cooking rather than warming a group of people. The grill can either be used to cook food directly (for things like shish kabobs and burgers) or to hold a pan/pot of food, similar to a stove burner.
Along with multiple-day or overnight camping, like backpacking, kayak camping, and bikepacking, The Brand Labo envisions the Alpha Bonfire being used during daily activities like fishing and hiking. Since the kit is so small, it could easily complement other portable cooking equipment to create a fuller, more versatile kitchen.
The startup plans to have the Alpha Bonfire units made in Japan via Osaka-based manufacturer Plan Co if all goes well. The Brand Labo is currently running an Indiegogo campaign to raise enough money to get the pocket-sized fire pit to the market, but there are only a few days left. Pledge levels start at ¥8,840 (around US$82), a 15% discount off the planned retail price of ¥10,400 ($96).
Watch how the Alpha Bonfire goes from flat to cooking and preparing a meal in the video below.
