Fulltimers and campfires

[Nolan]

Last week one day had some people start a campfire. 80 degrees and sunny out in the afternoon, then went into their air conditioned trailer. Yeah really nice, huh?

 

Ten plus years of full-timing and no never have had one. Don't care for the smell in my home. But some people have to have it, we then have to close our windows, hope it doesn't find a way in.

[bobsallyh]

Since we started fulltiming 12 years ago, I could probably count on both hands how many times we have had campfires. Spending 5-6 months in Yuma of course figures into it. We are in Bakers Hole CG just out of West Yellowstone now, probably will max out our 16 day limit, and I might have one late afternoon some day to roast doggies if I can round up some firewood left behind by departing campers. I'm cheap, six bucks for a little bit of campfire wood doesn't cut it. And when it gets cool and damp in the evening we are inside and then sometimes the eyeballs start flashing early also. We stay in one forest service camp in Montana, where the concessionaire sells the firewood which is common practice. When the campers leave and let firewood behind, the hired hosts come pick it up and make more bundles to sell and it was already sold once! Makes my blood boil!

[accumack]

We never have camp fires. Way too many weekend campers build one and then leave it unattended. We are sensitive to what fires can do as we lost everything in September 2011 in a wildfire in Bastrop Texas 1700+ homes lost. Started due to winds and a dead tree falling on power-lines and an exceptional drought spread so fast only got ourselves and 2 cats out.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

Thanks to all for the interesting replies. Before I posted my question I searched this forum and was surprised that I didn't find that it had been brought up before. I'm thinking now that the reason is that fulltimers aren't nearly as likely to see campfires as an essential part of the RV/camping experience as do weekenders.

 

It might even have to do with the average age range we're talking about. Kids do love campfires, so I'd guess weekend camping families would see campfires as much more important than those of us who travel without kids.

 

When I posted Woodbury's article to a couple of RVing groups on Facebook the responses were stronger on both sides of the issue. In spite of many saying they were driven in each night because of all the smoke, a lot of people seemed to think that was just fine - as long as they got to have their campfire they didn't mind smoking up their neighbor's site.

 

I also think it may be more regional. Here in the upper midwest wood is plentiful and cheap. A lot of people heat with wood in the winter so having a campfire is easy enough. In Iowa over July 4 there was no wind and we were camped under a nice stand of trees. The smoke was so thick that it looked like dense fog had settled in. Still, every campsite had a fire going, many of them all day. One fellow was trying to burn up an entire pickup load of wood over that weekend.

 

A Canadian pointed out to me that in their national parks all who want to have a fire have to buy a campfire permit and use only their wood. Canada's reason: air quality.

 

Anyway, for anyone still reading my rambling thoughts...thanks for the interest. I'd like to see Chuck Woodbury's suggestion of setting aside "no-smoking" sections of RV Parks "catch fire" (pardon the pun).

[NJTroy]

We love a good campfire, but I understand the concerns others have. With the ban in bringing in wood, all too often we've found that the wood available for purchase is not only expensive, but also wet. Nothing like paying through the nose for wood and having it be too wet to even burn. We're smarter now, but we were suckered a couple of times in the past. And we've been on the receiving end of people burning garbage wood with the smoke blowing directly into the tented beds of our hybrid trailer.

 

I'm also very focused on safety, so a fire is never left unattended and always doused thoroughly before quitting for the night. The idea of waking up to a forest fire scares the bejesus out of me.

 

I rally don't want fires banned, we like the occasional one too much. But I would really like tighter rules and management on them. No one should be lighting a fire and walking away.

[JRP]

In my fulltime years the only place I remember always having a campfire was the annual visit to Quartzsite in Jan. The campfires there were a group gathering place. Otherwise when traveling on my own, there always seemed to be more important things to do than make a fire. These days I only seem to make a campfire when the grandkids visit.

[sandsys]

We like the evening campfires of our group gatherings in Quartzsite so we contribute towards the purchase of wood for those. We hosted a couple wiener roasts in parks near home. We build small fires to burn papers we would have shredded if we still had a shredder. But, we don't usually build campfires. BTW, when we were leaving one site after buying too much wood for a family gathering, we stopped at a neighboring site and encouraged them to go collect our leftover wood; we don't transport wood even if we paid for it. We've since been told some campgrounds encourage hosts to collect leftover wood to donate to campers that might not be able to afford their own. I like that idea.

 

Linda Sand

[Jimalberta]

Scott....Canada's reason for using local wood only is exactly the same as in the US....importation of unwanted insects....not air quality.

 

We also are 1/2 timers ( snowbirds) and enjoy a nice campfire when we are boondocking in the desert. I also love to cook our steaks over the fire....no better tasting steaks than one cooked over the hot coals of a campfire. We like to sit and have a glass of wine around a camp fire occasionally as well.

Up here in Canada for the summer we do go to the mountains and ride our RZR and then we also like to enjoy a campfire at night.

[mocroc]

We never have a campfire! If one needs one now days, the propane fire pit is the best way to go.

 

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

Scott....Canada's reason for using local wood only is exactly the same as in the US....importation of unwanted insects....not air quality.

 

 

The Banff National Park website says:

In order to keep your campfire safe for you and for the environment, adhere to the following regulations:

Fire Permit - Each registered party wanting to have a campfire must purchase a fire permit for $8.80 per site per night (includes firewood). Permits are available at the campground or self-registration kiosk.

I took that to mean they were concerned about air quality, but you may be right about insect invasions, I guess that's part of the environment too.

[kathydavidb]

We used to have campfires when the kids were still at home with us. It was kind of a tradition when we camped to have an evening campfire & roast marshmellows, etc. Now that we are retired we seldom have one. However the urge to sit by the warm fire on a cool night has us making one every now and then. Usually like some others have said, we like to build a campfire in Quartzsite, Az. It's a good way to meet your neighbors. We like it when they ask to sit by our fire and we often talk late into the evening. (Sometimes we have liquid refreshments too) A campfire is a good way to get together with others.

[whj469]

We also don't do campfires. They could be ok in a state park with lots of space between RVs.

With the small and close together spaces, the smoke will come into my fiver, maybe no one elses,

but right into mine. I wouldn't want my smoke going into some ones RV. I try to be considerate.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

I haven't heard this quote in years but a fellow fulltimer who got smoked out last night said it today:

"White man build big fire, much smoke; red man make small fire, just enough, no smoke."

[Raquel]

I don't think that Trish and I have ever had a fire, except when really camping and we used the fire for heat and cooking. However, we have friends over now, who enjoy sitting out around a fire drinking a little wine having lots of good conversation. We make sure the fire is kept low, using dry wood, and burning well. When we're finished we make sure the fire is out so it doesn't smolder.

[richfaa]

We do have campfires when our local camping group camps always have in the 25 years or so of camping with them. We have several campfires at our Montana Rv rally at the fair grounds in Goshen.Ind, The wood is donated and the campfire is a place to gather in the evening. We are fans of campfires and always had one on camping trips. Love to cook over them. In the last few years it has become difficult due to restrictions and In Florida we just do not do campfires. We always carried wood around in the back of the truck but have not done that for years.

Campfires and camping just go together. Or did.

 

We have a fire pit the rear of our lot here at the S&B as do many neighbors and summer campfires are common. Kielbasa over a campfire. It does not get any better.

[R. Walter]

Campfires are also high up there with safety concerns. A couple years ago we were in a national forest campground Memorial weekend in New Mexico around Bandelier Nat'l Mon. On the last day when most everyone cleared out one camper did not douse his campfire thoroughly. Winds picked up and embers blew onto the dry pine needles and very quickly traveled the forest floor. We were around the corner and saw the fire moving fast. I ran to where the smoke began and saw that it started in the firepit. We made the 911 call and very quickly packed up. The fire trucks were coming in as we were leaving. We followed the news report that night and following weeks. That fire closed the campground for the rest of the summer. It destroyed many acres of surrounding forest. It just amazed us how fast it traveled in ten minutes time.

Are you saying you were there at the start of the Las Conchas fire in 2011?

[2gypsies]

R. Walter: No, that was a biggie in the area happening around the same time. It's the same year the Arizona Wallow fire did it's devastation. A bad summer for fires.

[Solo18]

I have asthma, so the smoke from campfires sometimes causes me to have to shut windows and turn on the AC. I don't mind them if the campsites are spread far apart, but when you add campfires to people cooking outside, it really can get bad.

 

I only have a campfire when my sons and their small kids come to visit.

 

I think one reason full-timers like me do not bother with campfires or cooking out is that we tend to cook real meals inside. One friend was surprised I did not cook outside every night, but then mused that she guessed hot dogs, hamburgers, and occasional steak would get pretty boring all year long! Yup.

 

By the way, one kind of firewood you CAN always bring into a campground is lumber scraps from construction.

[reed and elaine]

Thought we were the only fulltimers that didn't build have campfires very often. We prefer quiet and starlight. Do have campfires when kids and grandkids come to visit. Problem with scrap lumber is that it is often full of nails, as with pallets, and then the campsite is full of nails. We have a commercially available magnetic sweeper for the purpose of making sure that we don't wind up with flat tires in the middle of nowhere. Wound up with perhaps a pound of rusty nails at dispersed campsite at Buena Aires NWF in southern Arizona.

 

We do enjoy sitting about in lounge chairs listening to night sounds. Heard some interesting calls a year ago and thought it might be an owl. Have a bird identification ap and listened to the sounds of owls that might be in area. They were Boreal Owls and when I played it on cell phone, they flew directly overhead, hooting in curiosity as to who had invaded their space.

 

Fires mean using up a few gallons of water to make sure the fire is out when we go to bed. That adds up to a lot of water when boondocking at dispersed sites not on a stream or lake. But there are times, as in the attached photo.

 

Reed and Elaine

[remoandiris]

Seems to me the editorial should have people complaining about how parks pack us in like sardines instead of complaining about campfires.

[s106300]

Scrap lumber is a good way to go but be sure wood hasn't been treated with chemicals. The prudent camper inspects their scrap and pulls out nails prior to putting them in the fire and is careful about proximity to neighbors. Doubt most people do campfires every night but a lot of folks do them from time to time. Can't quite get the same glow from propane. We do plan to do some cooking with cast iron over fires once we get underway. Last rally we were at seemed a lot less "friendly" without the campfire experience.

[Ray,IN]

We bought a small portable metal fireplace with a screen cover. Buying local wood is always inconvenient, so we buy a box of the pressed,formedl logs= a real wood fire. Each one lasts ~2 hours, that's long enough for us to enjoy when we desire a fire, but short enough to be burned up completely by bedtime. We don't use it often, but every once in a while a chilly night beckons us to sit by a fire.

[rmalikone]

We have a few camp fires, but don't bother with wood anymore. I buy a box of the compressed fireplace logs. Nice,neat,tidy fire-no more working on moving burning timbers around or constantly having to add more wood to keep a nice blaze. One little 2hr log is plenty or if you like to sit a bit more there is the 3 hr log.Both burn bright, and long and has a good smell. Warning "Not To Be Cooked Over" imparts a chemical taste. Yes I have tried LOL

Even though we are fulltimers, sometimes we like a campfire.

[Ropeshaft]

Seems to me the editorial should have people complaining about how parks pack us in like sardines instead of complaining about campfires.

That was my thought as I was reading through this thread. Lack of adequate space is a bigger turnoff for me than campfires although the two do sort of go hand in hand. We have our favorite site in our favorite State Park where I would really have to wind up if I wanted to hit the next RV with a baseball. We have campfires every night when there.

[rmalikone]

Just was at Wally World today and they do have compressed logs that can be cooked over for dogs and s'mores by Duraflame. I bought two