Last Updated on 31/01/2024
In this guide to the best bushcraft grills, you will learn which steel and titanium grills are the best for bushcraft cooking on campfires. We share the lightest, most compact, largest, and most durable bushcraft grills available today and what makes them so good for campfire cooking.
A bushcraft grill is a lightweight, portable grill that is used for cooking over an open fire while camping or practicing bushcraft skills in the wilderness. It’s typically made from stainless steel or titanium and designed to be compact for ease of transportation. You can also get heavy-duty camping grills made from cast iron that will last for decades but are not made to be portable.
A bushcraft grill allows you to boil water and cook food over an open fire, providing a stable, heat-resistant platform for your cookware or food to balance. Avoid the taste of ash on your food by using a bushcraft grill instead of cooking directly on the hot coals. Check out the best options out there below, or read our guide further down.
8 Best Bushcraft Grills for Survival and Campfire Cooking
Woodsman Titanium Grill
- SIZE: 10 x 6.5 in / 25.5 x 16.5 cm
- WEIGHT: 3 oz / 85 g
- MATERIAL: Titanium
The Woodsman Titanium Grill is the best bushcraft grill for everyday use and is the one I will be using from now onwards. It beats out other bushcraft grills because it doesn’t rust, it’s a perfect size, and there are no moving pieces to break. All the joints are hand welded, and because it is made from titanium, you don’t get any rust, corrosion, toxic chemicals, or metal taste.
You simply set up two logs on either side of some embers and place the bushcraft grill over the top for a cooking grill or level platform to place pots. It can withstand temperatures of up to 3000 degrees, so you’ll have no issue putting directly onto a blazing fire. It’s big enough for four burgers, 12 hot dogs, a large steak, and most large fish, or you can fit two medium-sized pots side by side if boiling water.
VERDICT: The Woodsman Titanium Grill is perfect for bushcraft and makes cooking on a campfire so much easier. Better than steel but more expensive. I think it’s worth every penny.
Expedition Research Original Bushcraft Grill
- SIZE: 5 x 9.5 in / 12.7 x 24 cm
- WEIGHT: 4 oz / 115 g
- MATERIAL: Stainless Steel
The Expedition Research Original Bushcraft Grill is slightly smaller and slightly heavier than the Woodsman Titanium Grill above but performs just as well. It is big enough to fit two small bushcraft pots side by side or cook up your favorite meat directly onto the flames of a campfire. Because it is only 0.01 inches thick, it easily packs into any bushcraft backpack and comes with a carry case, so you don’t get black soot on any gear inside your bag.
VERDICT: The Original Bushcraft Grill from Expedition Research was the best bushcraft grill around until the Woodsman came along with the exact same design but with a stronger, lighter, and overall better material. If you aren’t bothered about saving an ounce of weight, then a good reason to buy this survival grill is that it is handmade in WA, USA, and built to last.
Light My Fire Camping GrandPa´s Fire Grill
- SIZE: 6.3 x 5.9 x 1 in / 16 x 15 x 2.5 cm
- WEIGHT: 4.6 oz / 130 g
- MATERIAL: Stainless Steel
The Light My Fire Camping Grill is by far the best bushcraft grill for cooking on campfires with a stick. It can be used two ways, open flat for larger pieces of meat or when cooking for two. Or it can be closed up and stuck on the end of a stick so that you can hold and rotate it above a campfire for the perfect glaze or make a stand for the no-fuss method.
The patented design of the grill is perfect for bushcraft and survival when all your cooking is done on a campfire. By making it work with a stick, you can stay far enough away from the embers, never to get burnt, and you also never have to worry about a sausage rolling off the grill into the ashes.
VERDICT: The Camping Grill from Light My Fire is probably my favorite way to grill when practicing bushcraft because it is so involved, gives me total control of where the heat is aimed, and is a much safer way to cook meat that could easily roll into the fire if the grill isn’t balanced level. The downside of this design is that it isn’t that good for cooking for more than one person at a time. I highly recommend this bushcraft cooking grill, even if you already have a different type.
Bitty Big Q 316 Stainless Steel Ultra Compact Portable Lightweight Camping Grill
- SIZE: 3.4 x 6.7 x 3.4 in (packed), 16 X 10 in (open)
- WEIGHT: 27 oz / 765 g
- MATERIAL: 316 Stainless Steel
The Bitty Big Q Ultra Compact Portable Lightweight Camping Grill is a fold-out bushcraft grill that is very practical to store inside a mess tin and very easy to unfold and use. The reason this is one of the best grills for bushcraft is that from such a small pack size, it provides one of the largest cooking platforms for full-on barbeques and extra-large fish. Because it is so long, it has the benefit of reaching over wider fires instead of having the place the legs into the embers.
The folding mechanism feels strong and durable, and because the legs are so short, there isn’t as much chance of bending them. Two downsides for me were that it is very hard to clean (good job there’s a carry bag) and the screws holding the legs on came loose more than once, which could be an issue if you lose one and can’t find a replacement in the woods (I have tried using fire-gardened wooden dowels without success).
VERDICT: The Ultra Compact Portable Lightweight Camping Grill from Bitty Big Q folds down to about half the size of a standard house brick but only weighs 27 ounces. It has a massive cooking platform and 3 adjustable cooking levels of 3, 5.5, and 8 inches which makes it easy to control the cooking temperature. The verdict is that this is a super compact bushcraft grill for campfire cooking I wasn’t expecting to like so much.
DZRZVD The Bushcraft Foldable Backpacker’s Grill Grate
- SIZE: 4.7 x 9.4 in (open) 4.7 x 4.7 in (folded)
- WEIGHT: 6.3 oz / 180 g
- MATERIAL: Stainless Steel
The DZRZVD Bushcraft Foldable Grill Grate, like the Woodsman, has built off the back of the Original Bushcraft Grill’s success and created a foldable version. The main benefit of this is that it becomes even easier to pack, but it also means you can use it like a toastie maker to flip whatever you are cooking for an even roast.
Some downsides to this foldable bushcraft grill are that it is heavy and small in comparison to others, and you can only use the grill on one side because of the way it folds. You can get it in a slightly larger size, but this weighs even more and doesn’t offer much extra value for a solo bushcrafter.
VERDICT: The DZRZVD Bushcraft Foldable Grill Grate is ideal for packing into small spaces and is big enough for most solo campfire cooking. If size and weight are more important than how small it packs, then I would check out the Woodsman Titanium Campfire Grill above. Two last points are that it is very strong/built to last, and it is ideal for sitting on top of small wood burner stoves.
Boundless Voyage Titanium Folding Campfire Grill
- SIZE: 13 x 9.6 x 0.07 in / 33 x 24.5 x 0.2 cm
- WEIGHT: 26 oz / 740 g
- MATERIAL: Titanium
The Boundless Voyage Titanium Folding Campfire Grill is one of the best foldable bushcraft grills because the legs are made from just three pieces of metal and don’t feel as flimsy as the others. One defining feature of this bushcraft grill is that half of the top is a grate and the other half is a solid plate which gives you plenty of options for how you want to cook your food. I like the plate side because it means you can leave the frying pan at home and still cook things like pancakes or kebabs that are prone to falling to pieces.
It is made from titanium and so has all the benefits of not rusting, having no bitter taste, being easy to clean, etc… Even though it is one of the most lightweight bushcraft grills with legs, it is much heavier than the simpler designs that don’t have legs (several times over). One downside is that this design doesn’t have an adjustable height, so you have to cook at 18 cm high no matter what.
VERDICT: The Boundless Voyage Titanium Folding Campfire Grill is incredibly useful for cooking all different types of food, from breakfast fry-ups to evening steaks. I like how lightweight it is, and the style of the grill, but the non-adjustable height might be an issue if using a small multi-fuel camping stove. If you are a fan of titanium cookware, then check out the other options in their store.
Wolf and Grizzly Grill Edition Kit Camping Grill
- SIZE: 11 x 11 in / 28 x 28 cm
- WEIGHT: 35 oz / 990 g
- MATERIAL: 304 Stainless Steel
The Wolf and Grizzly Grill Edition Kit Camping Grill is the best adjustable height bushcraft grill for campfire cooking. The legs allow you to set up over hot embers or flames at a height of six or eight inches as well as being usable locked flat too. This means you can cook over blazing fires or red-hot embers and never get too close to burning your food.
The setup is much tricker than with other bushcraft grills as the legs and grill come apart to pack away. Also, the legs don’t feel too strong, and it made me nervous about balancing large pots and pans on. The whole thing packs down into a narrow bag which is good for stuffing into the corner of your backpack or keeping in an external backpack pocket after heavy use.
VERDICT: The Grill Edition Kit Camping Grill from Wolf and Grizzly is a neat design that lets you adjust your cooking height to suit the cooking temperature and heat source. It takes a little bit of practice to set up and maybe even a little bit of time to fully trust its strength, but it packs down into a pencil case-sized bag that makes it nice and portable.
REDCAMP Swivel Campfire Grill Heavy-Duty Steel Grate
- SIZE: 16.9 x 12.2 in / 43 x 31 cm (grill surface)
- WEIGHT: 97 oz / 2750 g (with pole)
- MATERIAL: Alloy Steel, Stainless Steel Grill
The REDCAMP Swivel Campfire Grill Heavy Duty Steel Grate is the best bushcraft grill rack with an adjustable height pole design. The idea is that you drive the stake into the ground next to a campfire and then move the bushcraft grill up and down to adjust the temperature. It is perfect for campfire cooking, where the heat can change from minute to minute, and it is much less likely to be knocked by logs as they burn and fall.
The included pole is designed to be used at a height of 8.7 in / 73 cm; however, what I do is leave the pole at home and craft my own stake from a straight piece of wood once I am out there. I am not sure how much weight this saves, but I would guess it is more than half. One tip on this is that you need to always make sure your stick or pole is driven deep into the ground to avoid any wobble or imbalance because once it gets hot, it is hard to readjust.
VERDICT: The Swivel Campfire Grill from REDCAMP is different from all the others in that it uses a pole driven into the ground instead of multiple legs. This allows you to use your bushcraft skills to make a stake while out in the wild and is perfect for cooking on larger campfires. The downsides are it is heavy as a set, and it relies on the ground being soft enough to accept your stake. Still, a popular choice among bushcraft and survival practitioners.
Guide to The Best Bushcraft Grills
If you are not sure what type of grill to use for bushcraft, then here are some of the features I would think about:
Size
The size of the grilling space is hugely important if you are cooking for more than one person, but if you are a solo bushcrafter, then all the grills listed above will work just fine. Imagine the different food you will be grilling or pans you will be using and then compare that to the size of the grill, and you will know if it’s big enough. Two grills with large cooking areas are the REDCAMP and Bitty Big Q, while the foldable DZRZVD is quite small unless fully unfolded.
Weight
Weight might not be an issue for the more long-term survivalists and bushcrafters that are happy to carry more weight for a more reliable and durable grill. But if weight is an issue for you, then you should avoid the larger bushcraft grills with legs and get a simple one-piece grill you can place over a campfire using two stones or logs as the stand.
Materials
There are only two types of metal suitable for bushcraft grills and they are stainless steel and titanium. Both are incredibly strong, durable, and temperature resistant, and neither releases any nasty chemicals when cooking on a fire. The differences are that titanium is more lightweight and won’t rust, whereas stainless steel is cheaper.
Durability
Bushcraft gear needs to be strong and durable to withstand heavy use for long periods of time out in the wilderness. Both steel and titanium are incredibly strong when used correctly, so be wary of flimsy designs that will bend for dent too easily. Bushcraft grills with stands are more vulnerable to damage because if just one joint on one of the legs gets damaged, the whole thing can become unlevel and very annoying to try and use.
Packability
If you are moving from campsite to campsite, harvesting local resources in moderation, then you need to be able to pack and move all your gear in one trip, ideally. You don’t need a big heavy grill for bushcraft. Instead, a thin wire grate will do just fine and can be easily packed down one of the sides of your backpack.
The folding designs do pack down nice and small but, in my opinion, aren’t much easier to pack than a thing bushcraft grill. Still, if you want a compact design that packs down small, then check out the Bitty Big Q or the Light My Fire Camping Grill.
Ease of Use
I have used all kinds of bushcraft cooking equipment over the years, and I have found that the gear you have to assemble sounds good but never becomes a staple piece of gear. While it might not seem like a big deal to have to assemble a grill every time you use it, it becomes tiresome very quickly. Look for grills with as few moving parts as possible to avoid any kind of malfunction and to have the easiest time using and cleaning them after.
Can You Use an Oven Grill on a Campfire?
Yes, you can use an oven grill or even a bbq shelf on a campfire for cooking, but because they are only designed for temperatures of up to 300 degrees, you may find that they can’t cope with the extreme heat of a fire the same way a bushcraft grill does. One difference is the welds on an oven grill are done by machine and, after a couple of uses, may all come loose at once.
I would not advise using an oven grill on a campfire for bushcraft if you care about it getting destroyed.
We hope you have found this guide to the best bushcraft grills informative and helpful. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
