Build a Backyard Retreat: 18 Scrimps & Splurges

Yellow Leaf Hammocks is an established brand of handwoven hanging sacks o' relaxation. For the Hammock Throne, they've created a 46" diameter steel and curved hardwood base with a 360-degree swivel as a mount for their hammocks. The beauty of the Throne is that you can set it up indoors or out, no trees or posts required, and use only a small footprint of space. Empty it looks like a chair, and you can either sit upright and use it as one, or kick back and extend the hammock out to 7+' for a full lie-down.

According to Noori, "Noori allows a wide range of features through its modularity." According to me, Noori allows a wide range of eating all my favorite food groups. Ribs and burgers! Fat pots of chili! Wood-fired pizza! And on the rare occasions I'm not hungry and in need of a grill, rocket stove, or pizza oven, Noori's lid, grates, and upper chamber pop off to turn the versatile cooker into an outdoor fire pit.

Which I could use to roast some wieners and s'mores when my hunger hits again.

"It looks like a trash can and tastes better than an Egg, so it will be the conversation piece of your next BBQ." So say the creators of the Po' Man, a grill that sets up with a set down on the ground, operates on plain charcoal and rubbing alcohol, and cooks up tasty plates of beef, pork, poultry, and fish in large - very large - quantities.

I guess the saying rings true again: one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Arteflame's 40" Grill goes from a BBQ with visiting family tonight to a bonfire with the lady you didn't want to torture with meeting them when they all leave tomorrow. A slick, contemporary design for your patio or back yard, the combo grill and fire pit burns both wood and charcoal from within a US Corten steel spun bowl, which you can use with or without the included 1/2" carbon steel cooktop.

Compact and portable, the Fryin' Saucer and could prove be kingdom come for anyone whose first true love in the food preparation world is that which is battered, dunked, and sizzled crisp.

The folding Fryin' Saucer weighs just 18 pounds and assembles in 2 minutes or less for heating and oil-ambushing anything from french fries in the backyard to fishes down by the river. A 1 lb propane cylinder will provide enough fuel for up to 3 hours of frying, and the economical 1-gallon capacity oil basket will feed 8 to 10 bellies in as little as 30 minutes.

An Allwood Escape Cabin Kit may be no more than a glorified playhouse to some, but given that I haven't found a place to put (or the money to buy) my Honomobo Container Home yet...it's time to glorify me a playhouse, baby!

And really, an Allwood Escape Cabin isn't a bad option for a DIY weekend getaway or backyard small house (or backyard dog house, depending on what you did to piss her off that night.)

Robomow. Just another example of robots taking human jobs. Husbands and sons of the world, I hear your protests. I feel your outrage. I...wait. Actually, I don't hear or feel anything from the husbands and sons of the world but a sigh of relief that they don't have to get off the lounger or turn off the Atari Flashback to mow the lawn anymore.

If it looks like grass and grows like...uh...feels like...uh, well. These interlocking mats pretty much stop at looking like grass, but if your concrete jungle needs a lawn like mine does, they're realistic enough, plus one of the easier options you've got when it comes to adding some summertime flooring to your balcony, deck, patio, or that little square of space in front of your apartment's only set of windows.

The Flying Saucer Hanging Hammock Chair's official name is Flower House FHFSSVR Flying Saucer Hanging Hammock Chair with Bird & Bug Net. FHFSSVR? Gesundheit. Or should I say, Covfefe.

I stumbled across the FHFSSVR (Fun Hammock: Flying Saucer-Shaped, Very Round?) when I was researching cures for the winter blues. It only made me bluer, and more covetous of summer days. But then I circled back to the hammock (and not just because it's Flying Saucer-Shaped, Very Round) thinking maybe I could make myself feel better during my cold, cooped-up winter months by buying a crapton of new stuff I can use in the summer.

So meet my new backyard tree swing!

A Cowboy Cauldron brings together folks from all walks of life. Wranglers can cook out with witches. Dudes from the ranch can grill with dads from McMansions. Fantasy fans can warm their hands across the fire pit from hipsters. Cowboy Cauldrons know no boundaries. Even better, the Salt Lake City-based company says no matter who you are, "a Cauldron will literally change your life. In fact, it will almost surely change the lives of grandchildren and great-grandchildren who aren't even born yet."

Whoa. Now that's a sell as hard as the solid, seamless, high-tensile plate steel Cowboy Cauldrons are made from.

The Rootless Portable Outdoor Fire Pit weighs just 2.25 pounds and collapses down to 25.6" x 2.5" x 2.5". You can choose either a Large or Medium netting, sized at 22" or 16.5" square respectively. Both stand 12.6" tall when assembled.

Rootless netting is made of anti-heating, environmentally-friendly stainless steel fabric, woven to limit ash and debris from slipping through it. The pouch should be able to hold enough wood for any level of greatness you're looking to achieve with your fire.