Why I Don't Build Fires
I enjoy a hearty campfire as much as anyone when car-camping with friends, but I don’t build fires when backpacking. Here’s why:
1. Too Tired
After hiking 10 miles and setting up camp, I’m too tired to build a fire. I’m ready for bed.
2. No Time
There’s no time to build a fire, especially in the morning. As a weekend warrior, I must start hiking immediately or I won’t be home in time for work on Monday morning. Besides, I’d rather hike than sit by a fire in the daylight.
3. Poison Ivy
Any twigs I collect for kindling are likely to be poison ivy. I’m highly allergic.
4. Snakes
When collecting firewood at night, I’m not keen on reaching my hands into dark places where camouflaged copperheads may be lurking–not to mention black widows.
5. Ghouls
Sitting alone in the firelight makes me feel exposed and vulnerable. The light blinds me to the surrounding dark woods, and any animal, human, or ghoul can see my illuminated self from a mile away. I learned from the hobbits that campfires attract Nazgul!
Conversely, sitting in the dark makes me feel natural, wild, and at one with the woods.
6. Leave No Trace
Leave only footprints and take only pictures. All it takes is a pile of charcoal and soot to make wilderness look like a campground.
7. Fire Hazard
I’ve done a lot of backcountry camping in the Cascades in Northern California, where the dry understory is like gasoline, ready to explode at the slightest spark. Wildfires there are constant. The National Parks have strict regulations against campfires, and July 4th fireworks are outlawed.
The town where I grew up was called Paradise, but it could have been renamed Hell when it was ravaged by a fire that destroyed 18,000 buildings (including my childhood home), displaced 50,000 people (including my parents), and caused 85 deaths. In Paradise, the fear of forest fires was pounded into my head every year in elementary school, where my classmates and I were handed Smokey-the-Bear comic books as we sang:
Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear,
Prowlin’ and a growlin’ and a sniffin’ the air,
He can find a fire before it starts to flame,
That’s why they call him Smokey, that was how he got his name.
I now live in Ohio, where fire risk is low, but I can’t shake the fear I learned in California. I would never consider going to sleep or hiking onward without first completely dousing my fire’s remains with water. But water is a precious commodity while backpacking! It’s also heavy to carry! If my legs are going to ache from carrying heavy water, I would rather use it for drinking or cooking freeze-dried meals than dousing fires!
Of course, there are exceptions. I’m not always in a hurry or short on water. Sometimes I want to save stove fuel, eat a fire-roasted meal, or stay warm without being confined to my tent. It’s not that I dislike fires–it’s just that I rarely feel motivated to build them when backpacking alone.
Now that I’ve thrown a wet blanket on your love of campfires, let me suggest some fire-starting products: