Makeing the perfect campfire.

“To me the small on the bottom to get a base then work your way up top to big wood.

What does everyone else like to do?

And what is truely the best way to make a campfire?”

“I thought that was the only way to get one started unless you pack a flame thrower.”

“LMAO!


:)”

“Ever throw a butane cannister in the fire while a large group is around? The last one to get the Hell out of Dodge is the winner!”

“Thats crazy!I would try it.....:)”

“Let's Party man!!”

“I gotta Homer Simpson brother-in-law that likes to put paint cans on a fire and see how hi they'll fly in the air when they blow. One of these days he's gonna burn that trailor down doing that! LMAO!”

“LMAO!!!!!!!!”

“I start with the biggest logs I can carry and add the kindling later.”

“I recently started to build a little short log cabin with the fatter sticks, and then make a pile in the middle raised off the old ashes, of tiny twigs and bark. Over this I put thin sticks, and then light it. Seems to work pretty well except in high wind when the match or lighter won't stay lit.”

“We saw Buddha Bear do something similar walkindude. He used gasoline. Huge flame lit up the sky enough to see Buddha running.”

“Dude's got the right idea. I just bring a flame-thrower.

I've always believed in practicing LNT (Leave No Trees.)

;-)”

“LOL @ bacpac!”

“Pennsy Hiker missed my perfect campfire last month in the Adirondacks.
And the dude wanted to see how it was done.

I carry pieces of waxed paper milk cartons as fire-starter.

I rip them into strips that curl when ripped and make a dense pile of this material.

Pencil-size and smaller sticks are stacked in Tee Pee fashion followed by increasingly larger sticks all leaning on the center.

It works best if 1 to 2 inch sticks are added BEFORE lighting with larger wood ready to add.

The energy from the smaller sticks does not last long and is needed to start the larger stuff.

It pays to take the time to properly prepare......you won't have to start over.

In my haste to have a fire going before AmyG and the sled-haulers arrived, I ignited my ONE-MATCH FIRE while Pennsy Hiker wasn't there to watch.

Again, my appologies to Pennsy Hiker.”

“Fritz, do you know our Scoutmaster??? You could forge steel on the campfires that he builds!



Tom T., thanks for the tip! I'm sure wax orange juice cartons would work for that and it's been bugging me that I can't recycle them.”

“Yes, any waxed cartons are good.

I used to be a real Boy Scout.
In wet weather I would split 2-3 in. dead wood into quarters.
The inside corners can then be split off into pencil-size and larger.
The same insides are then shaved to make fire starter.

I've done this in the pouring rain sheltering my DRY material with my poncho.”

“Whatever you do, don't BLOW on it, hyperventilate and fall into the fire like that doofus did on 'Survivor'.

If you have to supply a 'breeze', fer gosh sakes FAN it with something, LOL”

“The perfect fires were the ones the ROTC built at Texas A&M. Alas, they won't let them build them any more.”

“Well usually I ahve a big old wad of plastic that I throw on the ground anywhere and light it. It's gonna get burned anyhow and it keeps me from having to carry it out. I'm very lazy and disrespectful ya know.





LOL! If it's in the backcountry I only have a camp fire in an alread established ring. Otherwise, no fire. In a campground, now thats another story! Mix equal amounts of fire wood, beer and a stogey at least a foot long and burn it down baby! I carry dryer lint and hand sanitizer for starter. Gas is the white man's way.”

“Boy Scout Juice!

I don't know who came up with that, but it sounds pretty nasty.”

“Finally! I can quit carrying that 5 gallon gas can on camping trips! You guys are great!”

“Anybody know why we can't help staring into fires and poking them with sticks? (Kids absolutely can't help doing this; grown men clearly WANT to poke them with sticks, but tend to exercise greater self control.

I think it may be a cave-man gene; particularly prevelant in males.

This even happens with candle lanterns, for crissakes (although the glass does deter poking with sticks).

Just wondering.”

“Well....poking is a manly thing to do...”

“I keep telling you guys that fire starter that comes in a squeeze tube is great. A little squeeze on any size log, one match, and presto, instant fire. Then just keep adding logs to get to the size fire you desire.

Mine is flames as tall as a grown man.

LMAO”

“So......cave man wants to poke.....and what does cave woman want?”

“Are you really a chief, Chief?”

“Head down to your local tire shop where the make retreads. Get some of their tire shavings -- it's powdered rubber. Add a mixture of 75% diesel/25% gasoline to a consistency of jelly. Cheap homemade napalm.

Burns like hell for a long time.”

“Sticky too!


And if you stand close enough to that fire YOU can get a contact high!”

“Yeah, and you can send good, black smoke signals for miles and miles.”

“Yes, Yes, and thumb your nose, or any other part of your body, at those rehashed communists.”

“Hey, it's my right to polute your air, you environmentalist.”

“Ooooo, ya dirty bastrd~8^[”

“Nothing starts a fire like a log soaked in a tub of Coleman fluid overnight. Make a trail of coleman fluid about 10 feet long to the log and throw a match on it as you say, "HASTA LA VISTA, BABY"”

“Gearjunkie - I've often mused about that myself. Campfires were the main source of protection and comfort for cavemen for tens (hundreds?) of thousands of years. It's only been until relatively recently when fire hasn't been absolutely necessary for survival.

Only makes sense that we become hyptnotized (sp?) by a campfire... but that dosen't explain the leprechan who whispers to me to burn things.”

“No, but if you come on the MontanaPalooza I will explain how I got the name "Chief" at the get together before tha actual hike takes place.

Wasn't from hiking companions, but it did stick.”

“Waxpaper cartons? Still? My guess is your cartons are plastic coated stock. Of course plasticized paper burns, too, though it may ignite slower.

I stick with the good ol' teepee structure to start. And gearjunkie, you are right. It is a biological imperative for me to fiddle around with the fire, poking at it and adjusting it. Can it be simplified to women tend to children, men tend to fires? My wife always laughs at me, because if there is a fire (campfire, fireplace, bbq pit) I'll be over there messing with it.

That was the great thing about scouts for me -- they let me play with sharp objects and fire out in the woods.”

“Someone should E mail this thread to all the creamatoriums in Georgia, yes?”

“I really would like to take you up on the offer, Chief. There will come a time, after my last young-un is out of the house, (one year and counting), that I'll be free to take advantage of these get-togethers.
You bringing the single-malt?”

“I get very serious when it comes to building a fire...

gather your materials

rub some dry grasses together to rough up the outer husk, then make a "birds nest" out of the grass.

using only 1 match (or flint and steel or other firestarting technique) light the birds nest, add sticks (make sure you start small and work up in size)”

“we used to roll corrugated card board from light bulb pkging about the size of an m-80, tie off with string (wick), then dunk in molten wax. Just light the candle, man.
I prefer a lean-to fire for simplicity. That trying to get the teepee just right and worrying about it toppling just isn't worth the effort for me.
Ever hear of "sock-juice?" Its what scouts smuggle in their gear, in a sock. Generally its a small can of lighter fluid. A scout is prepared. You never know when your Zippo will need a squirt.”

“The neighborhood where my parents live has an annual Christmas party on a vacant lot. One year the pyros were in charge. One was getting the small kindling started, and the other guy decided it wasn't starting fast enough. He threw in some gasoline on an open flame, saw the flame tracking back up the vapor trail to the cannister, and threw the cannister into the fire pit. Both these guys had just enough time to get about 15 feet away. The concussion wave threw them and all the lawn furniture set up even further away. I was down the road about 200 yards from this. It shook every window in the house and knocked over a flower pot. Those 2 guys still aren't allowed near the fire pit any more.”

“You might be a redneck if...”

“I do think it crosses the line from campfire to bonfire when the over-hanging limbs from the surrounding trees wither from the heat.”

“I prefer the black powder and model rocket engine method to start a fire. I also learned this in Scouts as a dramatic way to start a council fire.

Build you fire lay, liberally sprinkle black powder on logs, place the rocket engine in a small pile of powder, run wires from the ingnitor a goodly distance from the fire and touch the wires to battery terminals. Can be very spectacular.”

“Haha! My buddy Mike is a self admitted pyro. When we stop he's always buggin' me to get the fire going. I like a small fire to poke and stare at and he is fine with this for a short time but sooner or later ya find him making a big circle around camp picking up anything that will burn within 50 yards to throw on the fire. I try to only pick up a bit of wood so it might slow him down but he always ends up putting the whole pile on. Sheesh!”

“...hey y'all, watch this!”

“And then there are those who can't seem to tolerate a fire unless it is liberally and regularly smothered with heaping mounds of pinestraw--

God how I hate that.”

“I like the bird nest(grasses and barks) method for starters, then small twigs and branches are laid on to establish a good bed of coals. This is essential for drying and preheating wood and for morning fires, you gotta have some good coals to make it thru the night. I hardly ever put anything on to the fire that will not completely burn away. Nothing quite as ugly as a fire ring area full of huge hunks (trunks) of charred wood. If there is nothing but white ashe left it was a good fire.

And I always keep alittle extra tinder to ward off any morning chill. I like to have my fires hot and bright if I can.”

“Wet sandstone rocks from a stream placed into the inferno make for an exciting fire.”

“I'll get whatever comes in a keg...for the Pre-Hike-MontanaPalooza-Party.

That is if it's OK with Aero and the participants.”