I'm guessing a lot of that is also due to the realisation you'll need to collect a lot more wood. Feeding a big fire takes a lot of work and people soon learn to keep it smaller
Reasons to light a fire
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I'm guessing a lot of that is also due to the realisation you'll need to collect a lot more wood. Feeding a big fire takes a lot of work and people soon learn to keep it smaller
Forgive me if I've nicked this from someone on here but this popped into my head:
"White man makes big fire and sits far away; Indian makes small fire and sits close"
It doesn't really contribute to the thread but what is life if you can't wander off-topic now and then...
P.S. That post promoted me to "Tenderfoot"
Woohoo!
"White man makes big fire and sits far away; Indian makes small fire and sits close"
It doesn't really contribute to the thread but what is life if you can't wander off-topic now and then...
P.S. That post promoted me to "Tenderfoot"
Woohoo!
Good obervation and I tend to agree. As I said in another thread I've noted the more experienced campers take less kit and tend not to have all sorts hanging off their belts, they have seen it, done it and don't need to play with their toys, they know what works and just take that.
I like fires
We have an open fire in our livingroom that is the major source of house heating (we do have a couple of rads run from our oilfired cooker but they are feeble) so I am well used to fires, even doing some baking in a dutch oven on the livingroom fire.
As with most of my life, the wood for the fire is mainly foraged for/gifts/recycled.
A fire in the great outdoors just makes it all more like home!
On sites that are so used that they have no firewood in situ then I will bring fire from my home store.
Unlike gas or petrol stoves, wood is carbon neutral and therefor a better "green" option although woodburning can cause local shortages of habitat for some wildlife.
Eco alcohol/ gel stoves seem somewhat green - but the fuel is sourced halfway around the world from here.... big carbon footprint.
Wood is THE eco fuel
We have an open fire in our livingroom that is the major source of house heating (we do have a couple of rads run from our oilfired cooker but they are feeble) so I am well used to fires, even doing some baking in a dutch oven on the livingroom fire.
As with most of my life, the wood for the fire is mainly foraged for/gifts/recycled.
A fire in the great outdoors just makes it all more like home!
On sites that are so used that they have no firewood in situ then I will bring fire from my home store.
Unlike gas or petrol stoves, wood is carbon neutral and therefor a better "green" option although woodburning can cause local shortages of habitat for some wildlife.
Eco alcohol/ gel stoves seem somewhat green - but the fuel is sourced halfway around the world from here.... big carbon footprint.
Wood is THE eco fuel
I meant to say, because I use a small woodburner (Bushbuddy) and only for cooking, I can take my own fuel, which means I know it is dry regardless of weather, and I've got it down so that I have little bags of pre-sized wood that contain enough fuel for two rolling boils. No gathering, no smoke, no excess.
Taking wood into the woods? Although I do hear that newcastle is importing coal these days
Not necessarily into woods. There are one or two other habitats you can camp in you know. But yes, sometimes, for the reasons given above.
None taken. Sorry if that came over a bit snide. The whole point of the thread is to see what other people think, not for me to tell them they are wrong.
I like fires
We have an open fire in our livingroom that is the major source of house heating (we do have a couple of rads run from our oilfired cooker but they are feeble) so I am well used to fires, even doing some baking in a dutch oven on the livingroom fire.
As with most of my life, the wood for the fire is mainly foraged for/gifts/recycled.
A fire in the great outdoors just makes it all more like home!
On sites that are so used that they have no firewood in situ then I will bring fire from my home store.
Unlike gas or petrol stoves, wood is carbon neutral and therefor a better "green" option although woodburning can cause local shortages of habitat for some wildlife.
Eco alcohol/ gel stoves seem somewhat green - but the fuel is sourced halfway around the world from here.... big carbon footprint.
Wood is THE eco fuel
I like fires too, they are great out in the woods, its just that I find myself more and more regarding them as a tool. So, if I'm out on my own, I'll make a small fire to cook on and keep it going so that it has burned down or thereabouts when I hit the hay. And like the guy said a few posts back, I'll sit close to keep warm.
I like fires
We have an open fire in our livingroom that is the major source of house heating (we do have a couple of rads run from our oilfired cooker but they are feeble) so I am well used to fires, even doing some baking in a dutch oven on the livingroom fire.
As with most of my life, the wood for the fire is mainly foraged for/gifts/recycled.
A fire in the great outdoors just makes it all more like home!
On sites that are so used that they have no firewood in situ then I will bring fire from my home store.
Unlike gas or petrol stoves, wood is carbon neutral and therefor a better "green" option although woodburning can cause local shortages of habitat for some wildlife.
Eco alcohol/ gel stoves seem somewhat green - but the fuel is sourced halfway around the world from here.... big carbon footprint.
Wood is THE eco fuel
I'd worry about the carbon footprint of the big van or 4x4 that took you to your campsite more than a litre of naptha or paraffin John. We should also look at how we cook food, use efficient pots, haybox/thermos cooking etc. Open fires are just about the most in-efficient way of cooking in terms of lost energy.
Are you saying that it takes my van more energy to drive 50 miles than a cargo ship to travel from South Africa to Britain, then a delivery van to haul the (green alchohol feul gel) fuel from the port to the shop, then my van to haul the fuel from shop to home?
I agree that hay box cooking is more efficient than direct heat cooking but woodfires (open or contained) are cheaper than gas/gel/spirit/petrol, need no infrastructure/packaging/international transportation and use a fuel that could otherwise be wasted (farmers burning off hedge trimmings in an open field for instance - a recent source of much of my home fuel was obtained by raiding hedge trimming piles before the farmer torched them) - and are carbon neutral in that the carbon in the fuel has not been locked up in the earth for centuries but only for a few years....
i light fires to worship the fire gods. they can be seen if you look closely
Crackin pic but obviously photoshopped..
The memory still makes me chuckle! Will have to chat soon about doing another one.
We're blokes - we just dig fire! It seems to hold a fascination for most men. Which is why I'm willing to bet that we've all got way more stoves scattered around our houses than are strictly necessary to brew up, or cook on, when out camping.
As far as camp-fires are concerned, I love 'em. Sure, you need to be sensitive to the surroundings, but lets not get paranoid about eco-issues, otherwise no-one would "waste" petrol/diesel/veggie oil driving to meets, or out into the country-side (or pretty much anything that actually makes lifeworth living!)
As far as camp-fires are concerned, I love 'em. Sure, you need to be sensitive to the surroundings, but lets not get paranoid about eco-issues, otherwise no-one would "waste" petrol/diesel/veggie oil driving to meets, or out into the country-side (or pretty much anything that actually makes lifeworth living!)
Fire is a tool and all the other things already suggested in this thread, but I'd happily sit at a fire and watch flames create shapes anytime!
Al
Al
