The importance of a fire

quattromori

quattromori

Joined
May 7, 2011
Messages
3,426
Hi folks,
I rarely post in this area (most of my activity on BF is in the traditional subforum) but I do read alot over here, and enjoy it alot. Lately, I wanted to submit some thoughts on this topic, and see what you think about it.
So, a fire in the outdoors.
I'm not starting a talk about firestarting skills, nor about fire-related safety. The question is: how important is a fire when you hike, and why do you start one?
I've been discussing this thing with a friend, and it's not as obvious as it may seem.
I live (and therefore hike) in a land of temperate weather, where only a few weeks can be considered really cold (around 0° C). I know many people here hike in cold weather and in hard winter season, so their perspective might be very different. These thoughts are aimed to those who don't have to deal with very cold climate conditions.
What I've found, is that in most cases I don't really need to start a fire when I hike.
I rely alot on equipment for keeping myself warm (when cold is an issue), leaving fire as an "emergency aid" option to warm up. On short hikes (one or two days), I rarely cook. And around here, aside from wildboars, there aren't animals to keep away.
Still...
Even if I hike in mild weather, and have no need for it, sometimes I find myself starting a fire when I hike. And I'm not sure why.
I always loved watching the fire, since I was a kid. And, somehow, I feel there's some sort of ancestral legacy in the will to keep a fire on in the outdoors. If I'm alone, the fire keeps me company. If I'm not alone, the fire becomes the center of the bunch.
For a long time, I told myself I needed it. Lately, I came to realize it's never been a physical need, but more of an emotional thing.
What about you?

:cool:
 
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Zero importance. I rarely build one, as it wastes time, and I usually hit the sack at sundown, anyway. Think I've only started one fire this year, maybe two. I'm at home in the outdoors, and want the ~12hrs of sleep I can't get anywhere else, not to screw around with a fire. Besides, fires are a social thing, and I'm solo almost 100% of the time.
 
I start a fire if I'm cold or if I'm using it to cook. That's it. If the temperatures aren't low enough that I need a fire to feel comfortable while sitting around, I don't light one. When ever practical, I cook on a mountaineering stove.

For one thing, I don't like sitting in a circle of light when everything else is dark. I'm much more comfortable sitting in the dark and letting my night vision come alive.

For another, fires, especially if you don't have a selection of wood to choose from, are hell on gear. Spark holes in the tarps, tents, clothing, thermarest chairs, etc. are a fact of life around a fire when all you have for wood is pine and cedar. It's a pain that's worth it when it's cold, but not otherwise.

Lastly, even with water close by, putting out a fire and rendering the fire site natural again takes quite a bit of time. It can take a lot longer than I want to spend on any given day when I'm striking camp.

I remember having romantic feelings about campfires, but ten seasons of being a wildland firefighter pretty much erased any sentimentality towards them. Until, of course, I'm cold...
 
While not usually a necessity for me, I do like a small fire occasionally. Maybe it is a primal thing. For me, it isn't a social thing since I also spend much of my time alone. And it isn't to scare away animals. While more critters are nocturnal at certain times of the year, I'm not afraid of them. I do like cooking while I am outdoors. I have some favorites which are quick and easy to prepare, but usually use a backpacker stove for that so the fire isn't a cooking need. I do tend to keep my fires smaller than most I see posted here and elsewhere, but then anymore, I don't venture too far when the temps are below freezing. So it isn't usually a matter of needing the heat. Or really the light. Og make fire. Fire good. :)
 
It's very relaxing sitting next to a woodfire, with a hot cup of tea, listening to the woods around you. Very calming.

My pups like to sit next to me when I have a fire going in the back yard firepit. The middle one is entranced by it, which could be unsettling if I didn't already know he was so intelligent.
 
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The fire is my friend, probably man's oldest friend, older than a dog's companionship. I also enjoy cooking on a fire more than anything. Its worth the trouble to me even when I'm not cold, its part of being a man in nature.
 
Warmth, cooking, and entertainment. It's usually either too hot or too cold up here so it comes into play both seasons, it keeps the bugs off in summer and keeps your toes on in the winter.
 
I almost always have a fire as I use it to cook, dry my socks, warm myself, use its light for my evening tasks and primarily to keep my skill contemporary. For me the wilderness is not a hobby or escape mechanism but my life. Each time I build and sustain a fire I learn one new aspect and this just makes me even more proficient in this critical life saving skill.
 
At night, I absolutely will have a fire at a campsite. It adds to the aura and gives you something to do after it gets dark. It also makes sort of a companion and something stable when everything is dark around you.

I would seldom build a fire on a day hike unless I'm cold and I had sort of planned on it anyway such as to roast some weinies. At a State Park, (assuming the fire is legal), I will have a fire if I am picnicing just for the fun of it. Again, I might roast some hot dogs or keep a pot warm. But I prefer to cook over a grill. I usually take my little gas grill on picnics or use charcoal.
 
where i live there are a lot of biting insects so i usually start a fire to keep them away. i also like to try different methods of fire starting just for the sake of getting better at it. I do cook over the fire a lot as well
 
It kind of stands to reason that if you lived in a northern country that fire may be more of a need while outdoors, as opposed to living closer to the equator. Other than that I love everything about a fire. The smell, heat, mesmerizing dancing colored flames. Wait a minute, that's fart lighting ! Wood fires ?, ya, me likes.
 
Since I now live in the middle what what is probably a permanent fire ban, I will say that not being able to have a fire won't stop me getting out there. I've become very used to not being able to have a fire while hiking, so its not that big of a deal. It's a skill I'm not going to let go of anytime soon, but one that only gets used for practice, and very rarely for actual use. That said, its unlikely I'll be needing much of a fire for anything anytime soon. Maybe to keep the bugs away, but so far its seemed that if it cools off enough to have a fire, its too cold for the bugs to come up.
 
When backpacking, unless I'm staying in the same spot for more than one night, I don't bother. Then, it might just be the tea light candle lantern. If more that one night, I might spark-up a little redneck TV :)
 
I'm with the OP. I often make "unnecessary" fires simply because I enjoy them. I enjoy the fire, the process of making it, and using the implements to do so.


I also agree that there is something archetypical about fire that resonates in the human mind.
 
I probably use fire more than most for not only cooking, but for heat in lieu of a sleeping bag. Nonetheless, that is still not very often as a sleeping bag makes for great convenience.

Will apologize now for taking your question on a tangent beyond just hiking...

It cannot be overstated how important it is to have a strong relationship with fire. It is one of the sacred elements and a foundational tool of which man used to build civilization. We still use fire everyday, we just don't realize it because it comes through a copper wire.

Knowing how to create and use fire, especially in adverse conditions can greatly supplement your comfort level, survival situation or not.

Here is a good list of uses for Humans from Storm (who passed away in 2008). This list doesn't even touch the other values fire plays in the life-cycle of an ecosystem.

http://stoneageskills.com/articles/usesoffire.html

Some Uses of Fire

Heat/Flame
- straighten spindles and shafts
- warmth
- open pine cones to access seeds
- drying
- forcing animals into a preferred direction (hunting)
- modifying vegetation landscape (farming, coppicing)
- rendering food palatable/digestible
- felling trees
- preserving wood by charring (fungus/insect repellent)
- coal-burning containers
- water purification
- cauterizing wounds
- heating rocks for stone-boiling and sweat lodge
- removing seed chaff/thorns
- firing pottery
- modifying wood, stone and bone for use as tools/handles
- soften materials to bend and to make easier to modify with tools
- scarification tattoos
- to lure fish at night
- reducing trash
- hardening the points wooden tools/weapons
- melting hardened substances for use

Smoke
- communication at distance
- waterproofing tanned hides and pottery
- food preservation
- to conceal scent
- a carrier for inhalant medicines
- repel insects
- subdue insects (to get at larvae/honey)
- food preserver

Ash/Char/Soot
- charcoal for easier future fire-building
- mineral paint
- medicine
- to write with
- salt
- sunscreen
- toothpaste
- slipping hair from hides
- deodorizer

Light
- seeing in the dark
- communication at distance
- keeping animals out of camp
- psychological security
 
A fire is only actually necessary for me here during certain times of the year so the fire itself isn't as important as the ability to make one if needed. In the summer months I'd rather eat energy bars and ready to eat canned or bagged foods than to start a fire in the 107F heat indexes. But in the autumn and winter I like a fire even if if the only purpose it serves is enhancing my relaxation and invoking memories of days gone by...but I usually cook over it too as I love the smell of foods cooking over an open fire.
 
It's not often I make them now. They're just too inefficient. It takes time to set them up. Then you have to tend them. If you've bought decent gear you need to stick a fireblanket over it to stop a rash of holes forming like a dribbling hash smoker has blown when she should have sucked. Failing that you have to resort to crappy materials that have most of the disadvantages of crappy materials; heavy, bulky, not very well suited to the weather and all that just so you don't burn holes in them. Then there's the stink that I can happily live without. And they give you something else to tidy up afterward. They just can't compete with diving into a bivvy bag with a lovely sleeping bag that's being primed by a hotwater bottle inside, reaching out an arm to put the kettle on from the snuggly bug cocoon, and looking and listening to everything around whilst few things know you're even there.....................As a kid they had enormous appeal. But then as kid you'd be out with ya mates dragging some lumpy old potato sack of a pack, with little water but a lot of beer, and 10 miles could have been 1000 miles for all the difference it made. You'd all hike in to a spot for a weekend, some people even carrying bags in their hands, and there you set up a camp and get a fire going for the weekend. It was normal. It was a focal point for the group, a Fools Lantern providing a mecca to arrange the seating round, much like TV does in many homes. That's not really something I'm into spending a lot of time doing now though..........................That said, the influence they have over women is not something I ignore. Every beach party we ever set up exploited that fact to the maximum. And still now, at the right place at the right time, with the right person I'll make a little fire in the woods to manipulate her mood and give her a nicer experience. I don't do it a lot though. Whilst it can be nice sometimes she doesn't really need that either. She too understands that a fire is a big sign to all the wildlife to keep away whilst simultaneously seeming to function as an advertisement to any person in the vicinity to come here, and that is arseways round.
 
I always have a fire.
I also don't like bringing much in the way of "proper" equipment, so it gets cold without fire.
Like every caveman knew, "Fire good.":thumbup:
 
I rarely make one if i'm backpacking..... just poses too much potential danger to my tent, clothes. However, if i changed the clothing i wore to more traditional materials that may be enough for me to make fires more often (but i really love my puffy down parka!!!).
 
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