This is a review for the Outland 863 Cypress portable outdoor firebowl.

I bought this for RV camping, to give up on the mess and hassle of firewood. There is so much more to gain than just the tradeoff in weight and bulk of bringing (taboo) firewood. The social gathering and meal around the evening fire is just such a tradition and pinnacle important aspect of camping. Burning gas seemed at first like such sacrilege! I will admit I was stubborn at first, with a heavy bias for the tradition of burning wood fires for so long. But with age comes wisdom. I am now a believer.

PRO's:
This model is a very low profile design. It looks great and plenty of heat.
There is no smoke.
Way more convenient than wood fires.
Takes up less space than with wood.
Portability- not a "fixed" fire pit.
No axe, shovel, paper, kindling, or fire-starters needed.
Less mess- nothing to sweep, clean up, or ashes to empty.
Instant gratification- Light it, and the fire is ready
Enjoy a fire even when it rains -underneath the side awning of the RV, or a pop-up or whatever.
Safer. Less risk of starting a forest fire. (Smokey is dancing the jig!)
Turn it off and go to bed- no more worries about leaving a fire burning overnight, or when you leave campsite.
More environmentally friendly than burning wood (less carbon).
"¦and if you still want to burn a wood fire also, Hey! There's nothing stopping you from still doing that too! The Cypress 21 Firebowl won't get jealous!

Cons: (Not really cons- but rather my additional comments)
"¢ Propane costs money. I have a nearly unlimited supply of firewood available to me. (Not the firebowls fault.)
"¢ I wish the hose was little longer. I use an extension hose with quick couplers. (Optional- see below)
"¢ As-built, the firebowl hose with regulator is only designed to connect to an independent propane tank. For my use, I put together another hose kit with quick couplers for the option to run off my RV propane supply line (for a bbq) as well. (optional- See below)
"¢ It's not a fire that is meant/rated to cook over -although nothing is stopping you from roasting marshmallows or whatever. It would seem this could be rated, designed and meet the additional criteria as a cooking appliance as well with minimal agency approval (CSA/AM Z21.58). I think the manufacture has opportunities for additional accessories: cooking grates, griddles, roasting skewers, rotisseries, etc. (recommendation)

I am the one that asked the question (in the question section above) what the PSI of the regulator is. I wanted to run off the gas line on my RV. I received the answer directly from customer service FMI Brands Inc.:

The hose inlet connection is the standard QCC-POL type connection for 20#LP cylinders and the LP gas regulator is low-pressure 2.74kPA (11"WC). Our LP gas hose has a 5/8-18UNF threaded female outlet coupling (connection to Firebowl gas valve). The Outland Living Firebowls are CSA Approved to be used with the hose and regulator provided with our units as we have tested and certified this product using the low-pressure regulator. The regulator cannot be disconnected from the hose as it is one piece, however, the hose with the regulator can be removed from the Firebowl unit. To do so, remove the black shrink surrounding the coupling of the Firebowl gas valve connected to the hose and then proceed to untighten this connection. We do not have a quick-connect option at this time, however, if you are interested in this modification, we highly recommend reaching out to a professional gas fitter or propane technician to ensure the safety standards are met for this modification.

For any RV'er that would like to add the ability to put their firebowl on their PRE-REGULATED gas supply line on their RV you will need the following parts to switch freely between a propane tank or your quick connect for your BBQ:

1 Brass Coupling, 1/4" x 1/4" Female Pipe
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PNIL48/
1 Brass Half-union 3/8" Flare X ¼ Male Pipe
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RW4IWE/
1 Brass Propane/Natural Gass ¼" quick connect kit- Shutoff Valve & Full Flow Plug
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y3HTK8W/
1 Brass 3/8" Female Flare X ¼" Male Pipe
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E5CUEM/
1 12 feet Low Pressure Propane Quick-Connect Hose- ¼ Safety Shutoff Valve & Male Full Flow plug for RV's
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XK43NL3/
Pipe thread sealant or tape(used only on NPT connections)
https://www.amazon.com/44094-Slic-Tite-Thread-Premium-Length/dp/B01FXXV048/

Remove the hose from the Outland Firebowl at the gas valve (covered in black shrink tubing). The first 2 parts in this list will be used to attach the male part of the quick coupler on the firebowl itself. Use the 3/8" Female Flare X ¼" Male Pipe fitting to attach the female part of the quick coupler to the supplied Outland Firebowl hose. Use the thread sealant or tape only on the pipe threads- not on the flare fittings! Tighten and check for leaks. You will likely need to use the 12' extension hose between the firebowl and an RV depending on the how long your RV gas hose is. It will even come in handy if running off a propane cylinder as well.

I hope this review helps others. Not only with additional information, but confidence this is the right fire bowl for you.

Love the fire. Purchased due to so many burn bans the last few years.
This is the next best thing to a wood campfire. And in many ways better. No smoke filled sites, no ash on shelters and tents...
You can cook a hotdog or marshmallow and one it is cooked you can stow it away.
Downsides. It is big, and you need to bring a twenty pound propane tank. So you need to consider how much space it will take up.
I am very pleased with my purchase. We got it in sale mid Aug for very reasonable price.

I grew up with wood heat in our house and have always burned wood when camping or having a bonfire on the beach but those days are over. I've always had the "post fire regret" of everyone smelling like campfire and having to wash clothes multiple times to get the smoke smell out of them.

After seeing lots of folks have different versions of this product I decided to give a propane fire a try to avoid the smell and all the work it takes to gather and chop firewood. I was also excited to avoid how expensive it is to buy a bundle of firewood these days. I had been seeing a lot of restrictions on bringing firewood from home or out of the area to State & Federal parks, frequently these type of recreation areas are now requiring you to buy your wood locally to reduce the spread of invasive bugs / pests and disease.

After researching lots of different options and configurations I decided to roll the dice on this unit and was very pleased with it when it arrived via Amazon next day shipping. It feels fairly durable and after several uses I think with proper care and maintenance it will last for several seasons. The variable flame control gives you the ability to have a very wide range of flame and heat output. On the high setting, this thing will put out a lot of heat and warm a large group of people sitting around it. Important to note though, on the highest output setting it does consume a lot of fuel so I'd recommend making sure you have plenty of gas for your other needs especially if your RV uses gas for multiple purposes like mine.

The one drawback I found with this unit was the storage and portability. It comes with a great topper that securely attaches to the top keeping the rocks / heating stones in place and also has a handy carry handle built into the top / center of the strap. What that doesn't do though is keep the small particles and dust from dropping through the bottom. I had to store and transport this unit under the table in my RV and had a bunch of stuff to clean up after driving several hundred miles. While I solved this by wrapping it in a beach towel the next trip, I would prefer to have a bag to store it in to keep this from making any messes.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the quality and performance of this product. I don't see myself having many wood fires in the future and my family all loved having this to sit around and stay warm on cold nights when we stayed close to the ocean. I'd highly recommend you give this a try if you haven't used something like this before or are looking to replace one.

Depending on what you intend to use this for, it really provides a strong heat, def it's big enough and gets hot enough that I don't see this used in any tent situation, regardless of how big the tent is.
We used it to roast hot dogs and worked great while keeping warm around it, and it was only set on small flame.
It seems light enough and it will take a bit of planning to be pack just right but it can def be a portable one. Comes with the long propane hose.

Buy it is all I got to say. It's just like a real fire the coals turn red perfect for s'mores.