Community Campfires?

[oneolddog]

What do you all think of community camp fires? I think that they are a great way to meet your fellow campers and they keep the smoke down to a minimum. Do you like your own campfire or should there be no fires?

[FunnyCamper]

Two Jayhawks wrote:

Crazy Ray wrote:
I HATE Campfires, but I HATE all fires

X2

X3 I am not a fire person. the smell is ick to me.


but, OP, a community fire is nice when it is for kids to meet and roast marshmellows etc. for camp activities. Meet and greet. Relax etc. Hubby builds a small fire when weather is chilly sometimes when we camp.

Campfires are not a big part of our camping but are enjoyable on a very small level to us. Some put a fire way high on the priority list, we don't.

[Mocoondo]

Not a huge fan of community campfires. I prefer my own. That is not to say that we would not participate in a community fire, but for us, part of camping is having a fire at our site, cooking meals, sitting around the fire enjoying cocktails, smores, etc.

[Campfire_Time]

We love our campfires. The allow open burning where I live so we also have a fire pit in the back yard. Its great for yard parties. Our idea of a "community" fire is our personal community of friends and family. Not that we don't like to get to know others from time to time, but...

Community campfires are akin to eating in the dining car on a train. More often than not you are seated with strangers. Always interesting, sometimes fun, often a bit strange. Not something we specifically look for as part of a vacation.

[AO_hitech]

I have really enjoyed the community campfires I have been to. One did replace individual campfires, but that was not at campground! 😉

[rfryer]

When I’m tent camping I have a campfire every night, not so in the TT. But I have no interest in a community campfire; I live in a city and get more “community” than I ever want there.

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

We do campfires as many nights as possible. We even do it at home in the backyard. To us, it's an atmosphere, a feeling, to sit by the fire and chat. I would have to consider it just "RVing" and not "camping" without the campfire....My wife left my extra shirt hanging by the door unwashed after and evening by the fire at our last camp out just 'cause she said the smoky smell on it is nice reminder of good times.

I did notice for the first time a month or so back in a KOA that they had a campfire rule I had never seen before - it said that the fires had to be out by 10PM. I laughed at that. I can see "no unattended fires" but "out by 10pm" is ridiculous.

The community campfire sounds interesting. I have never been to a CG that did one yet.

[RayChez]

LOL! The truth to this discussion about whether you like bonfires or not is that when we were young, we loved it. As we get older things like smoke bother us more then before. I used to love being around a bonfire when I was young and maybe enjoying a drink or two, laughing with friends. But all that changes as you get older. And really it should not, but it does.

[doxiemom11]

We are currently in a park with a community campfire. First time we have had that. We like it as it's nice to sit around and talk and meet others. We do also like having an occasional fire on our site also as I do like to cook for a fire once in awhile. This park will let you have an individual one, if you bring a fire ring with you. When we first arrived however, there was a couple here that thought they owned the community fire ring and fire, and it did tend to keep others away, and offend many of the weekend campers. They insisted on being the only ones to add to or tend the fire, and were rude about it. That's the possible bad part of a community fire.

[beemerphile1]

oneolddog wrote:

What do you all think of community camp fires....

Unless it is with friends or a club I don't like them. I have been places that have a bonfire and don't allow individual fires, I don't participate.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Me too, I always migrate to whatever environment gives me the most comfort and pleasure.

[richardwise]

Having a fire is one reason to go camping.

[JohnnyT]

Moved from class A forum

[Two_Jayhawks]

Crazy Ray wrote:
I HATE Campfires, but I HATE all fires

X2

[vegasfoodguy]

Daveinet wrote:
Very easy to keep from having a smokey fire. Bring a fan. I always use a fan to start the fire and get a good hot blaze going. Once you get the draft, it will usually burn pretty good.
While I would not mind a community fire, camp fires are the place where the family sits and chats. We are not going to get into any deep conversations with the kids around a public fire. A community fire will never be a substitute for a private fire.

X2 Smoke is part of the camping experience, Life is too short, to sweat the small stuff.

[Mr_Mark1]

We are not 'campfire' people per se'. I certainly enjoy a good campfire but we never make them ourselves. Just recently while in Borrego Springs, CA, at the 'The Springs of Borrego RV Resort', they have a community campfire.

I don't know what they were burning but it was suffocating us at our unit. It just so happened that the community campfire was across the street behind our motorhome. The wind was blowing directly at our site. I was trying to watch our outside TV and I had the windows open in the coach.

I was so overcome by the smoke and smell that I had to go inside. I didn't close the windows soon enough and we had so much of the smoke smell in our motorhome. We both got kinda nauseated.

I like a good campfire but it never fails, it seems to smother us whether we are sitting outside or if we have our windows open. I guess if we had our own, we would be OK. LOL!

MM.