THE CAMPFIRE
The first thing
that comes to mind when I think about camping is the Campfire. The second
thing is, “I sure hope they never stop us from having them”. In this day of Spare the Air Days at least in the State of California , they have still
not outlawed the good old campfire. I
would gladly give up the right to have a fireplace fire in my home to retain
the right to have a campfire in the wild.
I’m sure there are those of you who
do not agree with me on this point, but I am pretty sure most of you agree that
a campfire helps retain the real
romance of living outdoors.
Putting the
romance of the campfire aside for the
moment, there are very practical reasons to have one. Here are a few: heat, light, cooking, cleaning and warding
off most wild animals. I know that each one of these can be replaced by: a stove, lantern, boiling water on a stove
and a weapon of some sort. But if you are going to have a campfire for esthetic reasons why not
also use it for practical ones too. In that way you are not using as much propane, white gas, batteries or ammunition,
I also hate roasting marshmallows
and chestnuts over my camp stove.
The main
ingredients of a Campfire are: tinder,
kindling, wood, igniter, air and a contained place to burn it. Configuring
the layout of a fire is as important as having all of the ingredients. Before
all of these are combined you should always make sure that Safety and Respect are
always present. Having a container of water, at least one gallon and a shovel
are important. Keeping all flammables away from the fire area is paramount.
Last protecting your body particularly your hands and arms is mandatory. I have
a pair of Fire Gloves, with them you
can reach into the fire and adjust things without a stick. I will talk about
them when I go into equipment.