Campfires and alternatives during summer.

R

RMgX

Joined
Aug 2, 2005
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Hi all, I like hiking and preparing foods in the outdoors. During dry seasons however I feel I must avoid campfires and even portable stoves as to not risk starting any forest fires. I would like to be able to cook outdoors even during summer. What techniques do you use and how safe are they? Is there any way to avoid open flames or will I just have to stick with cold food during the summer hikes.
I might be a bit paranoid but I had an unpleasant incident with campfires as a kid and have been really carefull since then (no one hurt and no significant property damage, but it was still scary)
 
The obvious answer is an MRE heater. No chance of fire from that.

Otherwise you could do what I do. Clear a 5 yard radius of anything combustible, can be a pain but it's the safest way I know. However you can use the cleared stuff to fuel the fire later on. After clearing I dig a hole, about a foot deep and about a foot to two feet wide. This is then my fire pit. I have a fire in there with no fuel stacked higher than the lip of the hole. I can usually get a couple of thicker branches to span the hole and rest my pots on to allow me to cook that way. When done I can fill the hole in, using any extra water, or bodily fluids, to dampen the ashes.

Other than that I've found most gas stoves to be relatively safe as long as they are on flat ground with nothing flammable within a foot.
 
I don't have any qualms about my most commonly used stoveas far as hazards go because it is low and wide making it very stable. The remote bottle and the pre-heater tube makes operation much more predictable than old fashioned picnic canister stoves. I can think of others that would be good in this respect too.

That said, perhaps one of those jobbies that looks like a big car cigarette lighter could be ideal for you if you can work around the design limitations elsewhere. Immediately springing to mind is the Radiant Burner used by MSR in their Reactor model.
 
Thanks for the ideas. I am thinking maybe combining the hole in the ground + clearing, with a gas stove, would do the trick. That way I would minimise chances of knocking it over, and if I did, well there would be nothing to burn anyhow. Do the MRE heaters work for other stuff than MREs? They seem the most convenient but I am not sure if it would work with a trout or similar.
 
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