Kevin Callan: Death of the Campfire

"There’s a new trend spreading in the canoe camping community. More trippers are choosing to go campfire-free."


As an almost always solo paddler, I haven't made campfires on canoe trips for a long time now. For me, it hasn't been anything to do with fire bans, but rather becoming less energetic and lazy as I've aged and also canoeing only in warm climes and times. The exceptions are if I'm base camping and staying for several days in a spot that has easily available firewood, or on the rare occasions I'm with paddling companions and they want a fire.

How about you?

Most of the tripping that Kathleen and I did was north of tree line, or in very sparsely treed country on the Barren Grounds. Our trips were usually three to four weeks. Our trip on the Thelon River lasted 37days. Carrying enough fuel was difficult, so we usually relied on a fire. We generally carried no axe, hatchet or saw, particularly as we learned to do without. We burned twigs and small branches, poked into the small fire as needed. Just enough to heat our tea and one-pot supper, and one skillet breakfast. We always let the fire go out when our meal was cooked.

So as not to damage vegetation, we preferred to make our fires in a small hollow dug with a paddle on a sandy beach. When we left our camp in the morning for the day’s paddle, we poured water on the embers, and then buried what had been our fire, We then spread any remaining twigs and branches to leave a mostly pristine site, I doubt that many people would ever know that we were there.

To address the “burning” question, we never made a fire just to sit around and look at. I always thought that was an inappropriate use of rare wood. If we were cold, Kathleen and I simply retired to the tent, and snuggled down in our down sleeping bags.

If we were still tripping, Kathleen and I would use the same approach.

If solo, I rarely build a campfire. But out on work weekends on NFCT, it's quite nice with 10-15 people. So depends on company.

PaddlingPitt said:

Most of the tripping that Kathleen and I did was north of tree line

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Michael, I can't help digressing because I notice your location is now listed as Pender Island, BC, instead of Preeceville, Saskatchewan. Did you move back?

When I'm solo I rarely have fires, most of time except for early or late season ( a variable depending on latitude) there are too many bugs to make it enjoyable and as I am usually using a large bug shelter (floorless) or a 4 person tent so I can use a stove under cover. Cooking is basically nothing more than boiling water. If I'm in the mood, bugs are minimal, weather is good and an amble supply of wood right nearby I will make a fire and stay up very very late.

When I'm in a group there is almost always a fire initiated by others, there is also often more complex meals that may require fire and more "hanging out" that is usually more pleasant if there is a campfire.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Michael, I can't help digressing because I notice your location is now listed as Pender Island, BC, instead of Preeceville, Saskatchewan. Did you move back?

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Yes, we moved back about two weeks ago. Our property in Preeceville became too much work as we aged. My back no longer enjoyed the never-ending chain saw work to maintain our 5 miles (8 km) of trails through the bush. Not to mention all the other responsibilities that required a younger body. I do very much miss what we had, though.

On my last 3 night trip, base camped with my new Campfire tent I had campfires mornings and evenings for cooking and ambiance.
When tripping I got into the habit of cooking over a twig stove, sometimes even using the twig stove to take the chill off. I really stopped having campfires as I aged, cook diner and lay down.
I think it would be a real shame to ban campfires outright as mentioned in the article. Imagine bringing your kids camping and they don’t get to sit around a fire cooking s’mores and listing to great stories. To me that’s just wrong.

Always if no fire ban. But I travel mostly in the north woods of the upper Midwest and the boreal forests of Ontario and Manitoba so there is never any shortage of firewood. The evening campfire is the social gathering spot on all trips. In 50 years of tripping I only traveled with one partner who didn’t want an evening fire.

I don’t mind skipping the fire but groups do tend to have a pyro type, or three. On a recent trip with a fire ban, five of us made do nicely with two sets of LED string lights. Lots of good options now. These were rechargeable, winding and lightweight. Ample ambiance and enough light for cooking too.

I personally dislike campfires. They take time in the morning when we want to get on the water, and they stink up gear, mainly clothing and tents. We do have fires when it's cold, or small ones to burn paper and burnable garbage, de-smell food cans, those sorts of things, but they're uncommon. I'm obviously not the type who doesn't consider it camping if they don't have a fire. That's me. To each his own.

Not camping if there isn't a fire? We were in a campground in Zion in summer on the way to a Grand Canyon run, the 1990 trip. There was a huge motorhome across the road from us (in a couple tents). It was 107 degrees, and the motorhome's air conditioning was going, everyone inside watching a movie on TV via VCR or whatever. They had a fire going in the fire ring outside, and every once in a while one of the kids would come out and put some more (purchased) wood on it and then go back inside for more TV. Camping as it was meant to be. By definition?

In warm weather I don't build many campfires. In cooler weather I build them often.
Backpackers started this trend. Fire bans have reinforced it. Prohibiting fires above some elevation have reinforced it.
Fires are traditional for canoeists in forested country. No one should ever feel bad about having a fire unless there is danger of it escaping.

Solo or not, I always enjoy a small fire. All of my "cooking" is with boiled water from a Kelly Kettle, so a fire is just a comfortable tradition.
Only once was I out (with My Darling Bride) during a fire ban. On that particular weekend, we set up our camp chairs along a natural beach on Little Tupper Lake.
We were treated to a very unexpected aural display that lasted for hours, and remains the best that we have ever witnessed.
If not for the fire ban, we would have been huddled around a fire in the woods...

...they stink up gear, mainly clothing and tents.

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I love it when my clothes smell like wood smoke! It's nature's deodorant and my rain jacket will retain the smell (and remind me of the trip) for weeks afterward.

Reminds me of this survey and, yes, there is a good reason to have a change of clothes left in the truck.

I think there is fire and then there is FIRE.

I cook over a fire in my twig stove for nearly every meal.

But it's pretty rare that I make a FIRE unless I'm bored and have a lot of extra time in camp or I'm really cold (and have extra time in camp), or I need to dry out wet clothes and boots (and have extra time in camp).

My preference is to spend the majority of my day traveling with multiple stops along the way for hiking, exploring, or napping. By the time I find a camp I usually have just enough time to cook and set up camp before it gets dark and then, once I'm done eating and enjoying the sites of camp for a bit, it's time for bed.

A FIRE can certainly boost morale and add to the overall atmosphere but like all good things I find that, for me, it's more effective when done in moderation.

I'm usually happier sitting in the dusk with good night vision.

Alan

Much like Bill, when solo I never bother with a campire, unless sometimes boiling water in a kelly kettle counts as a campfirre. It just seems llike so much unnecesssary work when the time may be much better spent doing other things. When with sccouts it is practically mandatory to have a campfire. They can do it themsleves, and it is. a good make work activity to keep them occupied. The other exception is when I am with a Lean2Rescue crew on a multiple day construction or repair job. We often have old materials from a deconstructed leanto to dispose of.

I love campfires, I never go without them given the choice, and when I can't have a fire something feels seriously off. My brother (who is my #1 camping partner) is the same way.

I don't need a big fire, in fact I usually prefer a small one. Usually I build stick fires that only last an hour or so, just enough for me to relax and transition from work/adventure time to bedtime. It's more a ritual than anything else and it's a crucial part of the whole camping experience.

Gamma1214 said:

I love it when my clothes smell like wood smoke! It's nature's deodorant and my rain jacket will retain the smell (and remind me of the trip) for weeks afterward.

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Gamma,

I think you can get smoke smell in an aerosol spray can for when you miss it too much and can't get on a trip for a campfire. Spray your clothes down and never have to go without! < grin >

To each his own. We heat our house with a woodstove, so smoke smell is around our place a lot. It's going right now as a matter of fact. Don't know if that's a factor for avoiding it on a canoe trip or not.

Thanks

I spent my twenties in my 'bushcraft' phase and got fairly proficient at a lot of woodcrafty stuff including fires, be they ignited by ferro or friction or match or road flare. To this day I carry a pocketful of emergency gear for any trip longer than an across-the-pond afternoon that includes matches, wax starter, water purification, flashlight, sterile quart bag, blaze tape, and other odds and ends.
Nowadays I strive to be as low-impact as one can be camping. I quite dislike breathing woodsmoke, and it's a lot of work to keep a fire smokeless(ish). One of the reasons I avoid group campsites is there's inevitably a smouldering wreck of wet oak over a pile of cardboard going in someone's fire ring, and just as inevitably the wind will blow it right into my setup.

I too heat with a woodstove at home, but it draws very well and it's typically going hot enough to be virtually smokeless. I still love the smells and good tiredness of an afternoon splitting wood.

The BLM logged off some of their property about a half mile upwind of us earlier and are burning slash piles today. It really stinks outside right now. So bad that, though I need some firewood for the stove for the week of rain forecast to start tonight, I'm debating on whether to get it right now or not or do it in the rain later. Not like it takes real long to bring a pickup load from the pile near the barn, but restacking it in the garage does take a bit. and I need the door open for that. Win some, lose some, some get rained out? < G >

I like the Trangia alcohol stove kit for cooking and boiling water, quick and easy.