Campfire Chat.. No really.. Campfire

[A2Z_Adventures]

Burn baby.. burn…

I have kind of refined out campfire over the last few years and wanted to get some input from ya’ll regarding your setup.

What do you burn? – Probably shouldn’t but over the last year I have been using scraps of lumber from construction of houses around our neighborhood. Out here in the west, it seems odd to buy a bundle of fire wood for $5 even though I have done it. When not trying to cook on the fire, I feed it every kind of lumber I come across. (I hear rumor you don’t want to burn particle wood or treated lumber)

How do you start it? – A friend introduced me to “Bernie” his Bernzomatic propane trigger start torch. I get a bit of tinder coupled with some lighter wood. Add some Bernie and POOF IT’S A FIRE

How much do you use in a night? – Are you fans of a burning man effigy every night or do you keep it simple. We are closer to the simple folk, just enough to keep us warm. We generally use part of a bin, but bring along two.

What do you use to put it out? – Again out here in the west, good fire management and proper dousing is very important. We keep a 5 gallon bucket to dump on the fire when we are done with it, but I am considering a 2 gallon plant sprayer.

Thanks all

[azreddot]

Campfire are part science and part art in our camp. Generally pick up a bundle where we camp.

Learned to make fire starters with a little dryer lint, parafin wax and a paper egg carton. But found a wad of lint and a BBQ lighter usually does the trick.


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[2nOZ]

The DW insists on being in charge of the campfire which is ok by me. We usually either purchase wood locally of gather it depending on the campground. She is a purest and takes pride and accepts the personal challenge of starting the "one match" campfire without any liquid fuel. (Ex Girl Scout). It's fun to watch. The fire is simple and nice. It is always fully doused before retiring for the evening. Can't wait for our next one!

[Marcm157]

I am in no way an expert on this but burning pressure treated wood is not a good idea. The gasses and other toxins that are released are not healthy for you and those around you.

[Wrascal]

I drag along a propane fireplace. Instant on/ instant off.
Safe around kids (turn it off). No smoke in my eyes or clothing.

Sacrilege?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bond-Canyon...olumn/50037278

[Doug]

I just buy a case of Duraflame logs (6ea) for $4.00 at Wallymart.
Each one burns up to 3 hrs.
Usually one a night gives me a nice little simple fire before retiring to the TT.
They also act as good fire starters if I want to buy a bundle of 3-4 pieces of real wood for $5 and burn it. I hate paying through the nose for a little fire wood.

Doug

[Seann45]

This taken from RVTravel.com Sat. news letter:
"Regarding alternative firewood, DnJ wrote this warning: “A few years ago the company I worked for built a small storage building on the property. The mill ends left over were burned in a burn barrel, and we were fined $10,000 by the Air Resources Control Board for burning processed lumber. Check with California law before using mill ends for firewood.”
That said I love chips n bits of particle board or plywood to get a fire started the glue in them really burns HOT

[North of 49°]

Originally Posted by Wrascal

I drag along a propane fireplace. Instant on/ instant off.
Safe around kids (turn it off). No smoke in my eyes or clothing.

Sacrilege?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bond-Canyon...olumn/50037278

We've gone this route, too. DW suffers from allergies and it's kind of amazing that I've managed to get her to go camping at all! While I don't mind a good wood campfire, having a propane firepit is pretty much the only way I can get her to enjoy it. If there's too much smoke, she'll just stay inside the trailer.

And I have to admit that I've sort of moved away from wood burning as well. Hauling the wood, chopping, trying to get the damp wood lit, the smoke and embers... if you're not into it, then it's more trouble than it's worth, IMHO. A propane firepit solves all of these problems. Even when there's burn bans, the propane firepit is allowed.

[Northern Jay]

I bring wood from home. Be it scrap 2x4s for starting the fire or well seasoned pine etc. I still will buy the occasional bin of wood from the local campsite suppliers depending on how long we are out. I figure bringing a few bins of wood is like travelling with full FWT. Cost of doing business. If your TV is capable, bring it from home if you have it available. That being said, sometimes there can be "issues" transporting "firewood between durisdictions due to things like pine beetle infestations.
Happy Camping

[bdreinv]

We live in the desert Phoenix AZ, we burn most mesquite, or palo verde.We always drag along a wash tub removed from a clothes washer.That's are fire ring.Good idea on bucket of water.Park Ranger told us one time leaving hot coals at a campsite could get you a ticket.I do lots of reflecting around the ole campfire!

[A2Z_Adventures]

Originally Posted by Wrascal

I drag along a propane fireplace. Instant on/ instant off.
Safe around kids (turn it off). No smoke in my eyes or clothing.

Sacrilege?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bond-Canyon...olumn/50037278

Not sacrilege during fire ban. Out here, they seem to ban the open fire during a dry season, but a propane fireplace is acceptable at some state park campgrounds.

Originally Posted by Doug

I just buy a case of Duraflame logs (6ea) for $4.00 at Wallymart.
Each one burns up to 3 hrs.
Usually one a night gives me a nice little simple fire before retiring to the TT.
They also act as good fire starters if I want to buy a bundle of 3-4 pieces of real wood for $5 and burn it. I hate paying through the nose for a little fire wood.

Doug

Might have to try the Duraflame. Good idea!

[crumgater]

My DH is an Eagle Scout and our professional firestarter... he uses a small wad of newspaper and many well-honed slivers of wood (carefully chipped off larger pieces with the axe) to build a nice tee-pee that will start with one match. He then feeds the fire until it roars. We can easily go through 3 bundles of the purchased wood a night. DH normally sleeps by the fire until it goes out, then moves inside.

Our state parks do not want you bringing wood from outside the area - too much potential for spreading bugs around. They pretty much require you to purchase local wood. It's illegal in most places to forage for wood in our area, too.

[eng45ine]

We live in NE Illinois, we drive into Indiana to Amish Country where we purchase oak cutoffs from Amish cabinet makers. We back up to their scrap bin and shovel in solid oak pieces until the bed of the truck is totally full...then give the owner $20 for the privilege. Once home, I bring out the chop saw and table saw to cut the various pieces into fire pit friendly sizes. Our last visit to the wood pile yielded thirteen full tote of firewood. While in the area, we stop by the Jayco visitor's center to peek at the models they have open to the public.

[BCK]

We mostly burn dry firewood from a stock I keep at home with some scrap 2x4 etc mixed in. We don't transport wood very far so aren't above buying wood at the site either if we need to. I find purchased wood is often poor quality and wet so try to avoid it if possible.

We mostly light the fire with a piece of newspaper and a wooden match but a few times a year I get out the flint and steel and start a fire the old fashioned way.

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by Doug

I just buy a case of Duraflame logs (6ea) for $4.00 at Wallymart.
Each one burns up to 3 hrs.
Usually one a night gives me a nice little simple fire before retiring to the TT.
They also act as good fire starters if I want to buy a bundle of 3-4 pieces of real wood for $5 and burn it. I hate paying through the nose for a little fire wood.

Doug

I do this too !

[Force]

Thanks to the gypsy moths, I have 7 or 8 trees I'll have to take down so I'll be burning red and white oak for the next few years. If we travel out of state I'll try and pick up bundles on the drive in to the campground as prices for 5 pieces of wood tend to be outrageous if you buy from the CG store.

As to the "how", that's easy, I carry one of these:

[shrpshtr]

I do both types of campfires. I burn wood when applicable. However, a lot of my trips are relatively short and the propane fire pit knocks the cool off an evening nicely without the prep & cleanup. This is especially helpful after being in the sun all day at softball, basketball, and sporting clays tourneys. I prefer wood generally because I enjoy cooking over it. Given that, I don't use any processed wood, or pine for that matter, in my camp fires. Here in SC, wood is readily available just about anyway. Haven't crossed state lines with wood (and probably wouldn't given bans, etc.) so I'd imagine I'd have purchase, or scavenge, it onsite.

[JFlightRisk]

In NYS, you can't transport firewood more than 50 miles. Trying to stop the spread of Emerald Ash Borer beetles. We pick up dried firewood bundles near where we're camping. It keeps the firewood police, and ash trees happy. Usually burn up a couple bundles per fire. The fast food drink trays/paper egg cartons, make good fires starters along with some kindling.