Campfires--yes or no?

[Jim Bennett]

I know when I start travelling for longer trips, especially those through the US, I will not be able to have campfires in many cases. This is a bit saddening for me, but it is true that there is so much else to do camping, I will have a horde of fun anyway. I will just miss that one element, the evening campfire. I will survive.

[Glenn Baglo]

You could always take up smoking.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

You could always take up smoking.

Not after having quit for 28 years.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

Hmmm.... If "Camping = campfire unless fire hazard or environment won't support fires." I'd have to guess that a lot of us, by that requirement aren't campers.


I enjoy the outdoors, being in campgrounds where I can take walks into nature, take trail hikes, even climb in and out of the Grand Canyon etc, but I no longer have a great need to sit outside and breath in smoke, especially from someone else's campfire.


I guess what I am saying is that a campfire is not any kind of "Requirement" to enjoy camping and/or the RV'ing experience.


We are long removed from our Neanderthal relatives that sat outside the RV/cave eating a triceratops rib bone and (apparently) trying to woe the opposite sex with the size of their flame (?)


Camping and RV's are mutually exclusive terms to most "Real" campers anyway. It's your world, enjoy it the way you want, without having to meet anyone's definitions and/or criteria to tell you what you are or are not doing...

Must have skimmed by this part...

I know that different folks have different tastes in camping and I'm good with that but camping and complaining about the wood smoke is like going to a Grateful Dead concert and complaining about the pot smoke and hippies. Burning Man and carping about the naked people. Etc. etc.

I'm not exactly sure how far removed from my Neanderthal ancestors I really am. Growing up my mom often referred to both us boys as "house apes" and I'm pretty sure she was not too far off the mark

Camping = campfires is my own personal preference and requirement for my camping not holy writ.

[David Tilston]

Fire at my place every Friday. That is unless it is -20°C or less, or already uncomfortably hot.

[rbryan]

We love to have a nice campfire. But, I think there's a difference between an RV Park and a Campground. Some RV Parks don't see one. So, they stack the spaces very close together, and then include a fire ring at each site. Bad idea. No matter how you slice it, someone isn't going to like having smoke barreling into their trailer. Some are so close together that they pose a safety hazard as well.

At a campground on the other hand, we've never had an issue. The other campers are sometimes 30 or 50 yards away from us, and it doesn't pose a problem. At the BLM Campgrounds it's even better. Love to camp in those.

The better RV Parks are the ones with a "community fire pit", far enough away from the RV sites that the smoke isn't an issue. Besides, it gives you the chance to meet people you otherwise would not have.

We've pulled into an RV Park several times that thought it was a Campground. Sites that were less than a vehicle's width apart, with a fire ring sandwiched in between each one. In these cases we just kept going, and looked for another place. Works for us.

[Doug in Sacramento]

Nothing more aggravating than a campfire that you can't see or feel. California state parks have installed steel fire rings that are at least 2 feet high. The only way you can experience the fire is to stand next to it or bring a barstool. Not worth starting a fire. The must be overly paranoid about wildfire.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbryan

The better RV Parks are the ones with a "community fire pit", far enough away from the RV sites that the smoke isn't an issue. Besides, it gives you the chance to meet people you otherwise would not have.

We've pulled into an RV Park several times that thought it was a Campground. Sites that were less than a vehicle's width apart, with a fire ring sandwiched in between each one. In these cases we just kept going, and looked for another place. Works for us.

I like the idea of at least having a community fire pit, especially when units are parked tight together. I haven't seen one in my travels yet, but then have only stayed in the parking lot type campgrounds a couple times.

For me, I really don't like the sardine type campgrounds, and would certainly not like having fires at them, either my own or others.

Originally Posted by Doug in Sacramento

Nothing more aggravating than a campfire that you can't see or feel. California state parks have installed steel fire rings that are at least 2 feet high. The only way you can experience the fire is to stand next to it or bring a barstool. Not worth starting a fire. The must be overly paranoid about wildfire.

I have seen those. They are terrible for getting heat from, and proper air flow in. My favourite is the campfire with a ring of stones, though I do understand that would not be feasible in a campground.

Here is a photo of a campfire ring I built last spring at our land. Works great for us, and notice there is next to no smoke, and it was not up to heat yet.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Doug in Sacramento

Nothing more aggravating than a campfire that you can't see or feel. California state parks have installed steel fire rings that are at least 2 feet high. The only way you can experience the fire is to stand next to it or bring a barstool. Not worth starting a fire. The must be overly paranoid about wildfire.

Come on Guys. California is 4 years into a drought, every thing is as dry as tinder, there is limited water, and limited fire fighting resources. When a fire starts, they can grow from a campfire to 300 acres in a matter of minutes. We are lucky that they just didn't ban all campfires.

That's being proactive, not paranoid.

And, BTW: what's happening over at Lake Berryessa as we speak? Looks like 4000 acres burned and 15% containment.

[Jim Bennett]

Believe it or not, not everyone lives in California.

It can get quite dry here at times to, and fire bans get implemented, and we always respect them.

[Anne H]

Love my little Fire Dancer! I got it instead of the less expensive Campfire in a Can because I liked the look of fire glass (adding even more to the expense!) instead of the fake logs.
I love a real wood fire, but traveling alone, I rarely want to spend the time on a wood fire. I can have a little ambiance and turn it off when I'm ready for bed. Would be better if I could cook on it - but you can't have everything!

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

We are long removed from our Neanderthal relatives that sat outside the RV/cave eating a triceratops rib bone and (apparently) trying to woe the opposite sex with the size of their flame (?)

LOL you would be hard pressed to prove we are long removed from that at some of the large vintage trailer rallies I have attended

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Carol H

LOL you would be hard pressed to prove we are long removed from that at some of the large vintage trailer rallies I have attended

LOL... Did you get hit with a club?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Anne H

Love my little Fire Dancer! I got it instead of the less expensive Campfire in a Can because I liked the look of fire glass (adding even more to the expense!) instead of the fake logs.
I love a real wood fire, but traveling alone, I rarely want to spend the time on a wood fire. I can have a little ambiance and turn it off when I'm ready for bed. Would be better if I could cook on it - but you can't have everything!

I know with gas fireplaces, they are starting to do more with rocks and glass, and less with fake logs, and I really like that a lot more. At least they are not trying to make it appear to be something it isn't.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Anne H

Love my little Fire Dancer! I got it instead of the less expensive Campfire in a Can because I liked the look of fire glass (adding even more to the expense!) instead of the fake logs.
I love a real wood fire, but traveling alone, I rarely want to spend the time on a wood fire. I can have a little ambiance and turn it off when I'm ready for bed. Would be better if I could cook on it - but you can't have everything!

Finally, after a year of wanting the Fire Dancer... I pushed the button on Amazon Prime (love it!). I'm with Anne, want a fire (when applicable), but don't want to worry about letting it die out at the end of the night, or the expense of buying the right wood. Besides, everything I take, MUST be within Ten Forward's foodprint. The Fire Dancer will fit within the under loft hatch. Nothing to drag out of the basement/garage or shed. SCORE

YMMV

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Believe it or not, not everyone lives in California.

It can get quite dry here at times to, and fire bans get implemented, and we always respect them.

No, not everyone, but the person that wrote the post I was responding to did, and is about 100 miles from our biggest fire as we speak.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Bob Miller

We are long removed from our Neanderthal relatives that sat outside the RV/cave eating a triceratops rib bone and (apparently) trying to woe the opposite sex with the size of their flame (?)

Won't get into a discussion of flame size (does it matter?) but we aren't all that long removed from our Neanderthal relatives. If you care to research it on the web, you will find that 3%-5% of the DNA of anyone of European descent is Neanderthal DNA. And you can get a kit allowing you to send in a cheek cell swab that will tell you exactly what percentage of your genes were inherited from the Neanderthals before they died out and we're still interbreeding. But I don't know if that has any effect on the desire to sit around a campfire.




Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[Bob Miller]

That might explain my problem when I was but a child. My knuckles were always bruised from dragging on the ground. Docs fixed it by taking out 3 inches from my arms and adding it to my legs. Worked out just about right.


BTW: Contrary to a certain theme park in TN (?), Triceratops were gone for a million years when cousins Mr. and Mrs. Neadner were enjoying a animal style double double from In and Out.....LOL

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by crowwing

I have always thought there was a connection between a camp fire and the early history of humans on our planet. I am guessing that early men attracted their females with the help of a dancing fire...

You may be right about the dancing fire. It had to be better than dancing men, which probably just made the females laugh.

[Leej]

I recently stayed at Marble Quarry RVPark in Columbia Ca. You could use their fire pit and buy wood from them...the fire 'pit' was the inner liner of washing machines! So the fire was contained, the light came through the the holes..pretty!
I don't generally make a fire...asthma!
So maybe the propane fire would work for me..cleaner burning...no smoke!