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
do us a favour though, stop putting up pics of that wee grill. far too tempting
Useful stuff Charles - but a rocket stove uses far less fuel...
You know you want one.
If I could do pics there would be a few more.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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