ORIFLAMME FIRE TABLES
28 October 2008
“Cool Fire”
I used to think that living in a big city like San Diego really gave me a leg up on the material side of life, because there really isn’t anything I can’t get here. I say that because I was born and raised in Montana, and there was—in those days at least—quite a few things that were simply unavailable. Forty years ago I came to southern California and was just astounded at the ease with which I could get anything I wanted.
Well, sir!
Welcome to the Internet, because what I find these days makes my previous cornucopia look pretty empty indeed. Not only can I get anything I want on the Internet—up to, and including, my current table saw—I can now get things I never even heard of. Does that make sense? No, what I mean to say is that I can now make use of any number of things I never heard of before. It’s a vast, exciting world, and every day I surf it to see what other nifty thing I can share with my readers. And with that, I believe I have given an adequate introduction to one of the more unusual things I have come across in my surfing adventures.
There are now a number of companies making fire pits, which is a wonderful idea for this time of year when we tend to have hot days, but very cool evenings. It would be nice to barbeque outdoors, but what do you do when the sun goes down? And with that, we have given all the rationale anyone needs to invest in a fire pit. There are, of course, outdoor heaters like those used in outdoor restaurants, but those have a frankly commercial look to them. And, really, when you think about it, what you most want with your backyard paradise—I’m assuming that you have, or would like to have something that would qualify for that description—is something that gives a nice ambience to your yard. Sure, you can hunker under the heat lamp, but think of how much more pleasant it is to gather ’round the fire pit.
So, that, in a nutshell, is why fire pits are becoming increasingly more popular. Another reason for their increased popularity is Oriflamme® Fire Tables. I mean, look at them! What they have done is take the idea of a fire pit and just pretty much go bonkers with it.
We do have a portable fire pit for our backyard paradise (if you’re interested, you can check it out at Thinking About It), but it burns wood, and I have always been reluctant to fire that baby up for fear that it would, in the darkness, fire up my wooden benches. Oh, I know it wouldn’t set them afire, but burning wood in the darkness like that may very well result in cinders landing on the adjacent wooden benches, and in the morning I would wake up to a marred bench, and who the heck wants that. Enter Oriflamme®!
They have come up with an entirely different concept for a fire pit. Using Urban Fire glass, granite, and tiled tabletops, they have come up with a number of sculptured designs for their fire pits, up to and including, the Yin and Yang design at the top of this blog. And what is particularly slick about these motifs is that the fire actually burns in that 
design! There are a number of videos on their website that explain the concept better than my prose does.
The fire itself is adjustable, so you can go from warm to hot and back again. And because it burns propane or natural gas, it means that there’s no ash, no smoke, nothing to haul in or out. Want a fire, turn on the gas and strike a match. Done with the fire, turn off the gas. What could be simpler? And it gets better.
The fire pit itself is adjustable. All I can do with my fire pit is burn logs in it or watch it gather dust. Not so Oriflamme®! If it’s a very warm summer evening, a cold drink has to be preferable to a warm fire. No problem. Just pull out the fire pit innards and replace it with an optional ice bucket! Now, that’s cool, man!
Joseph
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