Alternatives to campfires?

[skyl4rk]

I prefer not to breathe smoke and I don't like smelling like smoke from sitting around a campfire.  But the social aspect of being with friends around a fire is one of my favorite things.

Is there an alternative to a campfire that will still provide the entertainment and focus of interest that a fire brings, and also give friends a reason to sit around and talk all night?

 

[rvpopeye]

I've seen many campers with propane fired camp fire pits.

 

[jimindenver]

Some at the Flagstaff GTG and Colorado GTG saw my propane campfire sold by Lowes for $100. We had a fire ban in Colorado so until that ended is was the only fire we had. You do not get the popping, hissing and smoke.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garden-Tre...rtable-Steel-Liquid-Propane-Fire-Pit/50037272

 

[lenny flank]

I prefer not to breathe smoke and I don't like smelling like smoke from sitting around a campfire.  But the social aspect of being with friends around a fire is one of my favorite things.

Is there an alternative to a campfire that will still provide the entertainment and focus of interest that a fire brings, and also give friends a reason to sit around and talk all night?

A full keg of beer often has that effect.

 

[Almost There]

Welllll, I seem to remember that one night on the Colorado, AnneMarie put out a dozen tea lights on the fire ring rocks because it was too windy for a real fire and it worked exactly as the campfire would have..... :angel:

 

[user 423]

Here you go. Just a click away on your laptop screen:

 

[skyl4rk]

Welllll, I seem to remember that one night on the Colorado, AnneMarie put out a dozen tea lights on the fire ring rocks because it was too windy for a real fire and it worked exactly as the campfire would have..... :angel:

I was the one who did that and told Jim I was summoning the devil

 

[Kia girl]

Amazon has tabletop ventless portable fireplaces for about $40 that don’t have all that smoke. They can be used indoors also.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MrNoodly]

How about sitting around, playing musical instruments together -- in the dark?

How about just talking -- in the dark?

How about getting everyone on their backs looking at the stars?

How about sitting with your backs together, letting your eyes adjust to the darkness, and telling what you see?

 

[Soozen]

It's nighttime. Go to bed!

Yeah, me neither. ;-p

 

[hugemoth]

Ask everyone to bring a candle and put them where the fire would be.

 

[Canine]

Get some yellow, red, and orange colored paper. Cut it into long triangles. Tape them to the front of a fan. Place a light facing up in the fire pit. Lay the fan on its back on top of the light and turn the fan on. Voila!

 

[wagoneer]

Do these constitute a fire?

 

[DannyB1954]

I was the one who did that and told Jim I was summoning the devil

I am curious as to who showed up.

 

[WanderingCanuck]

Learn a little bit about astronomy and try to identify some constellations. Google's "Sky Map" app is a handy way to become an instant expert.

The absence of a camp fire (and other lights) will add to your success, as long as you're away from urban light pollution.

If you're lucky, or the time of year is right, it's even quite common to see meteorites. Of course this only works on a mostly cloudless night.

... Oh, and if you don't feel like sleeping that night, or for the next couple of nights, really good ghost stories are much better in the middle of a dark forest with no lights whatsoever. You'll never be the same afterward.

 

[highdesertranger]

to be legal during a burn ban anything that has an open flame must have an on/off, switch/valve. sometime during high levels of burn bans even those get banned. highdesertranger

 

[WanderingCanuck]

to be legal during a burn ban anything that has an open flame must have an on/off, switch/valve. sometime during high levels of burn bans even those get banned. highdesertranger

In many places you can get around this by purchasing a package of wieners. Then it's a cooking fire, and is often an exception.

Not that I'm advocating doing anything that's likely to burn down a forest. Anyone who is unaware of the level of attention and care needed to have a controlled fire in a tinderbox should abstain, period.

 

[waldenbound]

I'm pretty much over campfires. Yeah, just sit, talk, tell stories, look at the stars.
I guess that's what living in the west does to a body.

 

[WanderingCanuck]

Heating a home with a wood stove will also do that. The novelty wears off quickly.

It's great on those really cold blustery winter nights, but I dread the morning after when the fire has just about died out.

It's often the "city people" who are afraid of the dark and have the insatiable desire to burn large amounts of perfectly good hardwood while consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

 

[Canine]

In many places you can get around this by purchasing a package of wieners.  Then it's a cooking fire, and is often an exception.

I've never heard of that. In Colorado and Montana if there is a fire ban, it has nothing to do with cooking food. It is a Class B misdemeanor in Colorado up to $5000 in fines and/or 6 months in jail not including cost of fire suppression to put the camp fire out. Seriously, if the fire department comes up to put out your camp fire, you have to pay for it. Then if a forest fire starts, that opens up more criminal liability. If there is enough property damage or someone gets hurt/killed, then it's a likely felony. Then there are the civil cases of paying for that lost property and the legals fees, which can easily rise into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Your life as you know it is over at that point.

If food allows you to have a fire during a fire ban, then go for it, but that isn't the case everywhere. I've seen people get tickets this year. I've called the cops on a couple of my campers for fires during Stage 2 because they wouldn't put the fire out. One got a big, fat ticket while the other one took off leaving a huge mess and drug paraphernalia and didn't pay for the campground. The cops are still keeping their eyes open for that couple.