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Campfires for Dummies

Army11Bravo
Explorer II
Explorer II
At the sake of opening a can of worms, I thought I would share a PhotoShop image I created last year. The running joke in our circle of camping friends is my buddy Duane who fancies himself a master campfire builder. No matter how big the fire gets, I poke and prod him that the fire isn't sufficiently big enough until it's "eye-level."

Again, this is all fun, and we have very safe fires. Please don't preach from your moral high ground.

Here is the image I created just for my buddy...


Army 11 Bravo - Gulf War Veteran
Wife, Two Teen Boys, Hound Dog (Daisy) & Beagles (Lily & Bailey)
2014 Springdale 267SRTWE Bunkhouse Travel Trailer
2009 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 4x4
47 REPLIES 47

Jebby14
Explorer
Explorer
That said I can and do still do a boy scout fire every now and then just because I can
Q: Whats brown and sticky???

A: A Stick....

Jebby14
Explorer
Explorer
I carry a small propane torch. works well, safe, fast and will light wet unseasoned super expensive Ontario parks wood.
Q: Whats brown and sticky???

A: A Stick....

austinjenna
Explorer
Explorer
I guess I have been doing it all wrong. I just put a small crumbled piece of paper with some twigs on top of it, larger ones on top of that, 3 or 4 pieces of firewood in a triangle over that.

2010 F350 CC Lariat 4x4 Short Bed
2011 Crusader 298BDS 5th Wheel
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JiminDenver
Explorer
Explorer
Yeesh

All it takes is a few shots of RC airplane glo fuel. That's alcohol, castor oil and nitro. 25% nitro works best. 😉
2011 GulfStream Amerilite 25BH
2003 Ford Expedition with 435w tilting portable/ TS-MPPT-45
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Veebyes
Explorer II
Explorer II
Who else has a Cape Cod Lighter? It is a chunk of pumice stone on a handle.

Put it in a pot of kerosene, jet fuel, diesel or charcoal lighter. It soaks up the fluid. Light stone & place under wood. No kindling needed.
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter

2007 Alpenlite 34RLR
2006 Chevy 3500 LT, CC,LB 6.6L Diesel

Ham Radio: VP9KL, IRLP node 7995

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
Diesel fuel works well if you want to do that sort of thing. It cheaper then charcoal lighter fluid and I wonder if it isn't close to the same thing anyway.

MFL
Nomad II
Nomad II
I'm afraid if no one used charcoal lighter fluid to start their camp fires, those lighter fluid companies would be forced out of business! 🙂

Jerry

Rovin__Bones
Explorer
Explorer
Magnesium bar and flint. No need for primers like gas, or charcoal lighter fluid. Finely shredded bark or dried grass as your tinder, some pine sap if available, small twigs and sticks to start out with.
1983 24' Midas Freeport. Chevy 350 mated to a TH400 transmission on a GM G30 chassis and a spiffy Onan 4kw genset.

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Rovin' Bones

portscanner
Explorer
Explorer
Hope there is a chapter in your book about thermite!
One beautiful wife
Mattie and Trooper the furcampers
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Veebyes
Explorer II
Explorer II
Used oil from the genny & a splash of gas helps to get things going.
Boat: 32' 1996 Albin 32+2, single Cummins 315hp
40+ night per year overnighter

2007 Alpenlite 34RLR
2006 Chevy 3500 LT, CC,LB 6.6L Diesel

Ham Radio: VP9KL, IRLP node 7995

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
I've found that the Sure Start Fire Lighting Squares work the best of the store bought fire starters. (That I have found so far anyway) A single square on a handful sized pile of kindling and you have fire . With some smaller pieces on top of that and large ones above that. You can get a fire going in no time.

Don't bothers to buy those dura flame things from wall mart. They are so hard to get going that you have to start a fire to get the fire starter to catch fire.

dave54
Explorer III
Explorer III
Mr.Beebo wrote:
...
Many of the "dummies" camped near me tend to burn diapers, chicken bones, styrofoam dinner ware, beer cans, broken shower shoes and assorted empty cardboard and plastic food containers.


My favorite: while cleaning out a fire ring in a popular dispersed campsite I found three rounds of .30 cal rifle ammo buried in the ashes, pointed at nearby logs where people would commonly sit. Just waiting for the next campers to come by and build a fire...

LEOs never could find out who left them.

I am amused by the number of people that burn plastic, painted wood, treated wood, and other bad stuff, then cook over the same fire.
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So many campsites, so little time...
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dave54
Explorer III
Explorer III
When I worked for the FS we would burn timber slash in winter with poor mans napalm -- 3:1 ratio of diesel/gasoline mixed with rubber tire shavings from the local tire recapper.

Stunk bad and made huge columns of thick black smoke. But it burned very hot for a long time. You could burn a slash pile that was under 6 feet of wet snow for three months.

Until the local Air Quality folks learned we did that. They nixed it right away.
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So many campsites, so little time...
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snowcrustracer
Explorer
Explorer
I start fires with cotton balls that i smear pine tree sap on.
I take a bag of cotton balls and with a stick smear the pine tree sap on them. Stash them away in plastic bags for camping.
One cotton ball burns really hot for a long time and will burn even when damp.
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