I do think fire-making and fire-cooking are dying arts. It's not an issue of manhood, but as issue of old vs. new, something timeless vs. recent technological developments.

Many in my age group view fires as a disturbance, something bad and scary, and something that doesn't fit the LNT guidelines (which is malarkey, if they're done right). Personally, I think it's more a result of persistent marketing - of course REI-type places will say fires are bad, because why build a *free* fire when you can purchase a space-age titanium stove for $150? And then there's the fuel, and the expensive aluminum containers, repair kits, and parts...

There's a certain "image" out there, created by ad-based outdoor magazines and store catalogs, which portrays the "new" saavy outdoorsperson as the one with all the latest clothing, gear, and technology... and not the guy out there using old skills. Look around at these catalogs and publications, and in very few places (if any) will you find pictures of people around campfires, or stories about fire-making.

Browse through the freelance photo submission requirements for Backpacker Magazine or a similar ad-based publication, and you'll find that they *require* that people in the photos have water bottles in pack slots, etc., basically as much gear as can be fit in the frame, because their magazine is in the business of helping their advertisers sell gear. I don't fault them for it, but it's helping foster the idea that getting outdoors is about gear and the comforts, not about the human experience.

I admit that stoves are handy, and make getting hot food into the belly a lot faster after a long day, but there's something about a fire that just can't be replaced by anything else. A fire is a tool, a friend, a light, a source of warmth, and something that is created by one's own hands out of 'nothing.'

As for the large, elaborate firepits... I don't know. A product of boredom, probably. And the piles of green branches fresh cut from the trees within the campsites... a product of simply not knowing any better. I imagine that for some, the B/Q is the only place a fire is built all year.

As for the garbage and TP in the pits... I don't think I need to get into how I feel about THOSE people...

Long live the fire and the fire-makers.