I guess I'm the problem db,  

I don't usually build fires on my solo trips, even in Oct. Group trips in spring, I may build one during the trip just to show how cooking over a fire works to newbies. But if I'm doing the cooking, I'd rather use a stove.

Oct/solo I'll light a candle lantern under a tarp,,,my yellow tarp glows and reflects light nicely,,,slip on a headlamp and read a good book outside till it's time to head to the tent.

So I don't look to see if there's a firering or not when I camp. But this fall I've got some guys going along and we'll probably use fireplaces. Be interesting to see how much extra time and effort it takes. I know some people, not you db, worry about their manhood and using fire only. I guess I'm pretty secure and not worried about it. Others really enjoy a fire,,,I do too,,,it's just takes work and I choose to save my energy for other things.

That's my 2 cents. 

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.

I like fire.

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wally wrote on Sep 13^th, 2009 at 1:11am:


 Just you and your 10lb bag of candy
I would think a fire would be a necessity to keep Yogi Bear from pilfering your sweet tooth stash

Thanks db...I was able to get our fireplace images into the photo gallery, but too ignorant to figure out how to get them into a post.  I still don't know how, but at least I know it can be done!  

Anyway, the reason I wanted to post those images (if you are curious, they are listed in db's post above) is because we too have become increasingly aware of the poor fireplace building and general disregard for camps period in the Q.  The past three years, we have actually made it a mission each year to destruct the rock pile fireplaces we come across, clean them out by removing the ash and packing out the garbage, and then rebuild them.  The one "unatural" thing we do is to find a large mantle rock that takes three or four of us to carry and then build the pit around it.  Doing this, we hope somewhat wishfully, that others who follow will appreciate the well-built pit and not destroy it by heaping another pile of rocks on it (...note I said wishfully...).  Anyway, I guess we feel it is our way of giving back to the Q and is actually kind of a fun way to spend our donwtime between fishing forays.