Smoke gets in your eyes.

[rivermom]

Hi, guys.
You have a lot of good information on here about starting fires. But once you get the fire started, you need to know how to have it do what you want it to do. So I invite you to share your tips on maintaining and using a campfire.

Perhaps I could start the ball rolling with some thoughts on the kipper effect. You know the way there are some people who always attract the smoke from the camp fire. No matter where they move to, that is where the smoke will go. I always try to sit opposite those guys, but I used to wonder why this happened again and again to the same people.

Then Lostboy gave me the best explanation I have heard to date. It has to do with their posture. People who hunch their bodies towards the fire are the most likely to be visited by the smoke. Perhaps their posture is inhibiting the natural convection currents, creating tiny wind eddies which draw the smoke.

Over to you guys.

 

[Steve M]

We too had a problem with smoke this weekend, it was terrible. We had to reduce th fire to a glowing mass to make it stop.

 

[Bongo Matt]

Somebody said if you lick your first and second finger on your right hand and form an inverted L shape with your thumb and point it towards the smoke it makes it go away, has worked for me, when the wind was behind me........

 

[Chinkapin]

I'm only passing on what I have heard, this is not the gospel, but it makes some sense. A person sitting or standing still is warming the air around their body. Warm air rises. If you are sitting or standing near a campfire, the column of rising air will pull some of the smoke over toward you and it will rise up along your body, and face.

Or, alternatively, "smoke follows beauty. lol

 

[stuart f]

Hi folks,when burning soft woods like Spruce etc which tend to smoke a bit,i found that if you remove the bark before burning,it tends to smoke less.

Works for me

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Barney]

For a smokey fire with bad wood I always de-bark it, working on the assumption that bark is there to protect the tree from a forest fire.. Then I always baton the wood down to half the thickness I normally would with decent wood, this serves two purposes firstly it increases the surface area and helps to drive out any moisture that bit quicker and secondly lets the fire burn that bit hotter and gives the volatile gasses more chance of ignition. Finally do not crowd the fire with wood which is not actually alight, this is one of the prime causes of a smoky fire I find. The hotter you can get the fire to burn, generally the less smoke there is.

 

[Gailainne]

....... You know the way there are some people who always attract the smoke from the camp fire. No matter where they move to, that is where the smoke will go. I always try to sit opposite those guys, but I used to wonder why this happened again and again to the same people..

We call them smoke magnets, and from our recent outings, it looks like we take turns ..only fair.

Fires, maintaining one is dependant on what you are using it for, heat, light, cooking, securing it for the night, as know doubt most on here well know; its quite an art form.

I've never met 2 people who tend a fire the same way, and I've seen some irritation grow because of it (me included, hiya Andy ), Preben on our first Vildmark course, sorted us out by telling us, someone is designated fire master, you can collect wood, cut wood but only he tends the fire.

It does work, plus you have someone to blame when the fire gets smoky

Cheers

Stephen

 

[stevee]

Hi and great forum!

I found a smokey fire is either due to wet/green wood or lack of air, so make sure the wood is dry by leaving it next to the fire to dry out and don't pile to much on it.

Most of the time my camp fires don't give any smoke off and so anyone walk near wouldn't even know I have one going!

Stevee

 

[Cobweb]

Liking this thread, good topic ... I'm usually a smoke magnet, and I sit hunched. I'll try sitting upright a bit more from now on.

Another thing I have found is that if you stack the damp/drying wood around the fire like a wall it helps to draw the smoke upwards like a chimney effect. Of course this wouldn't work with a communal fire where all the sides tend to be open but for a couple of people, it does work.

Like this:

//llll\\
//xx\\

x = fire
//ll\\ = wood