Campfires: Love them or hate them?

[hedgehopper]

For some, campfires mean bedtime stories, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. For my wife and me, on a recent overnight at Lathrop State Park near Walsenburg CO, campfire smoke meant sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny noses. Never another campfire wouldn't break my heart.

So I'm wondering, how do the rest of you feel about campfires? Do you love them? Hate them? Or don't care one way or the other?

[py8pointer]

gotta have them one at night, and one in the morning with my coffee. that's one of the best reasons to go camping

[3_dog_nights]

Love mine, not yours.
I only have them when we are in a state or national park and there is room between us. Never in a commercial park when the fire ring is under your neighbors slide out. That said what's wrong with a small fire? Why do some feel it's required to burn everything in the area and have flames 15-20 feet in the air? I carry kiln dried framing lumber scraps (not treated) found at local construction sites. It stacks well for travel, has no bugs, and burns clean with very little if any ash. Couple of pieces of 2 x 4 will keep you going for 30-45 minutes. Hand full will last 2 hours +/-. Enjoy!

[lfcjasp]

The evening campfire gathering is the highpoint of our kind of camping; we're reenactors (Civil War) so that campfire is not just for fun: we cook over it, warm ourselves on cold nights and they provide much needed light:) That said, we have been camped in among trees and just take it for granted we must be careful. Killing the fire as we're packing out is a huge priority: water and stirring and more water and some more stirring...it's got to be COLD before we all pull out. Also there's always the discussion about the quality of the wood provided by the folks putting on the reenactment (they supply us water, firewood and straw bales). Smoke is just what it is...a pain, but oh well. BTW, we have had our tent catch fire and a very, very fast young man managed to stomp it out and rescue our "home".

[IdahoRenegade]

The campfire is one of the high points of a trip. I really enjoy sitting around the fire with wife and/or friends, having a cold drink and telling lies.

One of the beauties of camping in N. Idaho is that there is nearly always a standing dead tree not too far away. If there aren't too many people around, the preferred approach is to drop a tree with the chainsaw, drag it back to camp with the ATV and buck it up there. If there are a good number of other campers around, it's always gone in the back of the P/U, after being bucked up where it was dropped. Now that we're picking up a Class B, we'll have to figure something else out.

[mowin]

DW and I love the campfire. BUT, I use well seasoned wood. Way too many times I've seen people trying to get a fire going with wet or green wood. All ya get is smoke.

It also helps to keep the fire pit cleaned out. Fire needs oxygen. The fire rings I've seen at most CG's are solid with no air holes. I have a few fire brick under the ring of mine to keep it off the ground. Gives it a good air flow and a cleaner burn.

Last yr we had a weekender(we are seasonal) a few site from us try for what seemed like a hr to get his fire going with wet wood. The thick smoke happened to be blowing directly at us. I took a handfull of dry wood over to him. Had him toss a piece of his wet wood in once in a while to make the dry last longer.
Thier kids were happy they could finaly make smores.

[IndyCamp]

I hate camping without a campfire. They are great at night, but I especially love them on a cold morning when we are sitting around eating breakfast and everyone has messy hair. That just feels like camping to me.

[skipbee]

Some love 'em, some with allergies can't be near a smoking fire. We who camp on Assateague Island can use a fire to keep the bugs down, a coconut husk smoldering at the edge of a fire keeps mosquito's at bay.
On Assateague a big problem is that there are still people who insist on putting cans and bottles into their fires. There is a rule on the beach about covering fires only after they have burned out, to prevent burned bare feet. It is beautiful to sit beside the seaside by a wood fire under starlight.

[Drbolasky]

dennisgt60 wrote:
Enjoy cooking over an open fire. Usually don't smoke much if the fire is getting enough oxygen and the wood is dry.

Says it all, right there. We do campfires when local and forego them when we are on extended trips.

[Hammerhead]

We're usually tired by the time it gets dark (which is after 9:00 PM in the summer when we do most of our camping) and usually end up inside the trailer with a good book or TV time before lights out.

[DoneItAll]

Half the places we camp allow fires and we bring wood in our front hitch carrier and have the fire. A couple of campgrounds (parking lots) don't and we don't. One place even has a notice not to make a camp fire in the barbeque grill. Must have been an issue for them to feel it necessary to post the sign.

John

[WoodGlue]

Reddog1 wrote:
I ask all that read this Thread to remember what one of the posters stated, the campfire is not a burn barrel.

Wayne
Moderator

This is the kind of "yuppie burn barrel" of which I speak:



I was unaware that they had some other connotation.

This is the kind of fire pit I use in my backyard whenever I can't be around a real campfire out camping, etc.

WoodGlue

[sleepyT]

LOVE EM!!!!:B Especially when we are with a group, great conversation, great people, couldn't be better:)

[Trlrboy]

I'm not much for campfires. They tend to turn the Walmart parking lot into a molten mess of hot asphalt.

[sooty1234]

Reddog1 wrote:

I ask all that read this Thread to remember what one of the posters stated, the campfire is not a burn barrel.

Wayne
Moderator

Wayne, you are right on, and a big problem is at the end of the night with a dying camp fire, on goes the garbage and then it smolders and smokes all night. I have also noticed some parks are now limiting the fire to a community fire ring area. Jim

[rhagfo]

hedgehopper wrote:
For some, campfires mean bedtime stories, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. For my wife and me, on a recent overnight at Lathrop State Park near Walsenburg CO, campfire smoke meant sneezing, itchy eyes, and runny noses. Never another campfire wouldn't break my heart.

So I'm wondering, how do the rest of you feel about campfires? Do you love them? Hate them? Or don't care one way or the other?

Trip is not lost without then, especially in the winter (pouring rain, snow, and strong wind), come spring and summer they become more of a requirement.

Smoke is like a blood hound, you can't hide from it!! Yep watery eyes, and smokey cloths are all part of the experience!