I have taken to mostly using the Emberlit and alcohol stoves due to our frequent fire bans. This post reminded me of some of the horrific fire pits I've recently seen in some of the more heavily used areas
Article: Building a small cooking fire
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We poured about 3L of water over it, made a sort of mud pie with the ashes, and covered it with the leaf mould we had removed to get to bare soil in the first place. It's a site we use often so there is a bit of a permanent scar forming, so we are a bit limited in how much trace we can leave.
J
J
Very good indeed Q - visiting a Forestry Commission campsite (with lesser mortals) I found open fires were banned, but stoves permitted, so I knocked up a rocket stove out of a metal toolbox and central heating boiler-pipe. This worked well, so I've now made a portable mini-stove from a broken skip-found gobblingtea'smade, which of course can be used for hot-tents/warm shelters in winter. It hardly uses any wood at all...
And set high it doesn't leave any traces.
And set high it doesn't leave any traces.
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Good article but we need to promote the use of 'mound fires' so people get the benefit of fires without leaving a trace. I learnt this whilst becoming a Leave No Trace Trainer last year. A quick read of https://lnt.org/learn/principle-5
Good article that julia, nicely written and illustrated
do us a favour though, stop putting up pics of that wee grill.
far too tempting
do us a favour though, stop putting up pics of that wee grill.
far too temptingdo us a favour though, stop putting up pics of that wee grill.
You know you want one.
If I could do pics there would be a few more.
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Yes but your missing the point. I'm advocating no fire scars by using mound fires. Not talking about rocket stoves.
Here's a question folks. I follow leave no trace print piles whenever I camp and part of that is removing other people's rubbish.
Last night I had a cheeky overnighter and had a small fire but clearly the area had been used before. There were some massive logs that were partially charred.
What's the best way to get rid of these? I guess axe them into small pieces and then burn them but all I had was a bahco laplander.
Last night I had a cheeky overnighter and had a small fire but clearly the area had been used before. There were some massive logs that were partially charred.
What's the best way to get rid of these? I guess axe them into small pieces and then burn them but all I had was a bahco laplander.
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
You know you want one.
If I could do pics there would be a few more.
Ah you know how it is. As sure as "pics or it didn't happen" when a fella makes a post like mine theres normally about a week max before he's bought one
I just got back from a trip to Guizhou province in China. I'll be writing up a trip report, but one of the interesting things I noticed there is that the local people, who still make almost everything from wood, and rely on open fires to keep warm, make tiny little fires. They used their heavy belt knives to flake off bits of dry wood thin enough to light with a cigarette lighter, then piled on random bits of sticks and leaf litter that smoked like crazy. My conclusions are that making a great big fire with logs is probably a modern development that depends on a) Not taking the wood from a forest near your home that has deeper significance to you. b) Not needing to carry it home by hand so you don't conserve it to save effort c) Not needing the wood for anything else, including selling it to raise money d) Being able to buy more wood fairly cheaply from elsehwere e) Relying on fire to keep warm only for isolated nights outside, so the quantity of wood burnt is overall quite low and it doesn't seem important to conserve it. I think little fires like this would be the norm in less developed economies/ further back in time.
Just a thought which came to me when reading that Philaw
In the developed world the idea that fire is an all important primal thing so when people not used to being outside and having fire go out and have a fire the immediate thought is "It's important so it's got to be big. It's for warmth - I want to be warm, so it's got to be big. It's for cooking, so it's got to be hot therefore it's got to be big" and perhaps a thought of "If it's small then I've failed to make a satisfactory fire therefore I'll make it big [then no-one will call my fire making skills / manhood into question]"
I've walked and camped a fair bit but seldom had a fire, the idea of having to collect and process the wood always seems like too much hassle [for me I only need it to cook * - I have plenty of insulation to keep warm] so a meths stove was / primarily is the answer for me. I've recently go a wood stove to play with and it gives a secondary source of fuel, I think I'd rather use that than an open fire.
Good article anyway Q.
I'm off to read about that mound fire thing...
EDIT///
* well I say 'cook' - more just heating some stuff up, I'd probably get away with just pitching everything into a pot stiring it then eating as is, but it's amazing how heating something up makes it more palatable.
In the developed world the idea that fire is an all important primal thing so when people not used to being outside and having fire go out and have a fire the immediate thought is "It's important so it's got to be big. It's for warmth - I want to be warm, so it's got to be big. It's for cooking, so it's got to be hot therefore it's got to be big" and perhaps a thought of "If it's small then I've failed to make a satisfactory fire therefore I'll make it big [then no-one will call my fire making skills / manhood into question]"
I've walked and camped a fair bit but seldom had a fire, the idea of having to collect and process the wood always seems like too much hassle [for me I only need it to cook * - I have plenty of insulation to keep warm] so a meths stove was / primarily is the answer for me. I've recently go a wood stove to play with and it gives a secondary source of fuel, I think I'd rather use that than an open fire.
Good article anyway Q.
I'm off to read about that mound fire thing...
EDIT///
* well I say 'cook' - more just heating some stuff up, I'd probably get away with just pitching everything into a pot stiring it then eating as is, but it's amazing how heating something up makes it more palatable.
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Hiya,
Just joined the site today and have found an enormous amount of interesting articles and threads - not getting much work done today!
I enjoyed your article as quite often people build fires far larger than their need. As you clearly demonstrate, you can have a brew or two, cook food etc. with surprisingly little material.
I tend to use a meths stove or make a mini mound fire, using a small fireblanket I modded. It's basically two squares (approx. 12") sewn together - weighs very little and is used as a seat when not otherwise deployed.
I did an overnighter off the Thames path near Pangbourne on the weekend, testing gear. A beautiful spot I'd seen frequently from my boat as I passed, but it was utterly scarred by many huge fire pits and a large amount of discarded tins, beer cans and other debris lying around. The state of the trees and undergrowth was pretty poor, with large areas of bare, mineral soil.
People come to the places like that because they're idyllic and end up trashing them, thus depriving themselves of future chances to enjoy them.
Utterly crazy.
/rant
Just joined the site today and have found an enormous amount of interesting articles and threads - not getting much work done today!
I enjoyed your article as quite often people build fires far larger than their need. As you clearly demonstrate, you can have a brew or two, cook food etc. with surprisingly little material.
I tend to use a meths stove or make a mini mound fire, using a small fireblanket I modded. It's basically two squares (approx. 12") sewn together - weighs very little and is used as a seat when not otherwise deployed.
I did an overnighter off the Thames path near Pangbourne on the weekend, testing gear. A beautiful spot I'd seen frequently from my boat as I passed, but it was utterly scarred by many huge fire pits and a large amount of discarded tins, beer cans and other debris lying around. The state of the trees and undergrowth was pretty poor, with large areas of bare, mineral soil.
People come to the places like that because they're idyllic and end up trashing them, thus depriving themselves of future chances to enjoy them.
Utterly crazy.
/rant
I'd agree with that. Bigger fires are more macho, and also you could probably say that people who aren't used to building fires should be expected to lack finesse in doing it. I've also not had open fires all that often, and have been around fires before where it's too big and hot for me to put my cup/pot over it, and I need to mess around. That part is just experience. Again, good article. People will make use of it.
In a debate it's not WHO is right but WHAT is right, charles...
Then there's personal preference which is fine so long as it doesn't interfere with/inconvenience others, or worse.
There are many places where NO fires allowed, on mounds, underground, whatever.
You are coming across as wanting to tell people why you're right & why they're wrong.
Mound fires are interesting but not the answer to everything.
Then there's personal preference which is fine so long as it doesn't interfere with/inconvenience others, or worse.
There are many places where NO fires allowed, on mounds, underground, whatever.
You are coming across as wanting to tell people why you're right & why they're wrong.
Mound fires are interesting but not the answer to everything.
Without knowing exactly how big the charred logs are it's hard to be specific, but if it was me, I would use them as the base of my fire, to burn through them as much as I can, this saves chopping down more trees. Then when the fire is out and it's time to move on, I would just throw the charred lumps off into the undergrowth. The woods will reclaim them quickly and you'll never know they were there.
I don't carry an axe with me, so would have to limit myself to the laplander (if I've remembered it, I often just carry my ]thread=126429]Darlac saw[/thread]). Thus using the fire to reduce their size can be a labour saver.
It's worth noting that not all wood is the same. I doubt I'd be able to do a fire this small in the far north where the wood isn't as
energy dense. People have commented on here that when [post=1707032]Mors Kochanski came to the moot[/post] he found that using our wood the same way he did at home, he got 15' tall flames. Not all wood is equal, not all fires are the same.
I would also be inclined to suggest that Holywood and TV has had an impact on peoples view of fires. A big roaring fire with logs looks a lot better than my tiny fire. As we lose touch with fires, as they become a novelty, something special, we lose the tendency for small efficient fires. Without that basic knowledge, you are influenced by what you see elsewhere, such as the silver screen. And of course many of those fires on film fires are going to be from the north of America, bringing us back to the energy density of their wood previously mentioned...
Down here in Kent, most of the firewood for use in home wood burners comes from chestnut coppice. It's pre split and delivered in bulk bags, or a tipper truck. It's not the greatest firewood out there, but when you just want to heat the living room up, chucking a couple of quarter logs in the wood burner kinda works, and hey, you've still got the rest of the 1 ton that landed on the drive.
It's easier to build and keep a big fire going. Simple as that.
Walking and fire collecting can be a pain. When you've spent the day on the trail you get to camp and you just want to roll out the bivvi bag and sleep. I know I've skipped the odd evening meal as I was just too tired, and just want my bed, and that's when I'm using a meths stove...
What I've taken to doing now is on the final ½-1mile of the walk to camp, I start picking up fire wood, usually dead standing pencil thins, and thumb thick stuff. I'm thinking of getting a dump pocket for my belt to make it easier to grab the odd branch as I walk.
Also easier to start and maintain. And of course the discussion above regarding locality.
Welcome.
I haven't experimented with a mound fire, but I find myself pondering the idea for my next trip... I wonder if I have a fire blanket I can cut up...
I have a selection of different stoves, each has things it does better than others. I mostly use either a Zelph Starlyte stove or Primus Omnilite Ti. Tho if I'm on a trip where I just want hot drinks I have a prototype jetboil style stove from Alpkit that I'm testing, it boils ½L of water in 2 minutes, on 6g of gas. It's hard to beat for performance. Unfortunately all it does is boil water.
But we digress, stoves is a subject for another article...
Welcome to the tragedy of the commons. People asked about the firescar from the fire in this article. Because the site has been used a good half dozen times, we've always used the same square foot of ground, and even with best practice, a small scar starts to form. But unless you are going to brush away all the leaf litter, you won't notice it.
J
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