Camp fire styling

[GPSGuided]

There are numerous ways and styles in building a camp fire. What's your favourite method and why?

Just saw a Youtube clip on 'Swedish fire torch'. Pretty neat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeXf6xJJ2fw

[GBW]

Ive seen that one GPSG, and one where a guy used a chainsaw to make cuts into the end. The only problem for me is no axe and no chainsaw, so usually its a ring of rocks if possible.

[GPSGuided]

Yes, not easy to make a nice one of that without a nice axe. Much more workable for cooking and others than one made with a few branches and sticks in a shallow pit.

[walkon]

I liked this torch so much I stashed a few blocks here and there for when I did a remote walk up past the locked gates

[Travis22]

Not a bad idea Walkon.

I often take a small hatchet for such tasks. I'm generally not fussed about campfires my only rule is build them so they burn clean and efficiently! Nothing worse then a campfire that produces more smoke then flame.

Travis.

[icefest]

Swedish fires are great! They're best if you prepare them a year or two in advance and let them dry out.

[GPSGuided]

Ok, there's even a Wiki entry on camp fires with listing of styles - Tipi, lean-to, log cabin, hybrid, Finnish rakovalkea, Schwedenfackel, keyhole, top lighter and star fire. Do you know them all?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campfire

[ErichFromm]

What about the "Dakota fire hole". Kind of nifty as a different way to do a campfire.

A bit restrictive though in the sense you don't really get much warmth from it, plus I don't usually take a shovel when hiking so purely a base camp activity....

[GPSGuided]

Don't bring a trowel? Have never tried the Dakota fire hole but it's a logical design. Buries very well after use.

[ErichFromm]

Don't bring a trowel? Have never tried the Dakota fire hole but it's a logical design. Buries very well after use.

I usually don't eat much when hiking so rarely need to "go". When I do I usually manage to plan a hut visit along the way.....

[JIM1]

If I got the time ill build a wall out of sticks and have a long fire in a bit of a hole, the wall reflects some heat to help stay warm, provides extra wood if needed and if all else fails smother the fire and sleep ontop of it.

[bigbreath]

Here's a link to Swedish torch that you can make without a chainsaw or heavy equipment. I tried it, and with minimal amounts of wood had a small fire going that lasted almost 4 hours http://youtu.be/kFKzvWDeiFc

[bigbreath]

Well, it's a Swedish torch of sorts

[GPSGuided]

It's a mossy torch! Nice.

[mikethepike]

I cant' think who it was - an outback cattleman I think - who remarked that when it came to boiling the billy during a short break, the aborigines he knew could do it on a far smaller fire than the Europeans and I sometimes try to keep that in mind when making a cooking fire.

I'm generally not fussed about campfires my only rule is build them so they burn clean and efficiently! Nothing worse then a campfire that produces more smoke then flame.

.
Personally, I think that when it comes to smoky fires, the smoke has 90% to do with the wood rather than the design.

[walkerchris77]

I just get 4 logs and make a cross and as it burns u just keep pushing each log a bit further in. Simple and does not use much wood . Sometimes my wife helps me get wood.

[Travis22]

Personally, I think that when it comes to smoky fires, the smoke has 90% to do with the wood rather than the design.

In my experience smoky fires 99% of the time comes from people loading too much wood onto a small fire, or trying to burn logs far to big for the fire to burn efficiently.

Travis.

[perfectlydark]

This thread made me think that I havnt had a campfire in well over a year. Miss them:) when I did have them occaisionally usually id keep it small and compact, and usually just use embers for cooking snags wrapped in foil. Probably similar to walkerchris..just a few branches, crisscrossed and push in when burnt enough