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I was inspired to start this thread by unclefuzz's thread about firewood ripoffs.
In many states, you cannot transport wood due to the threat of transporting invasive insects.
So, campers have to buy wood loally near the campgrounds or buy wood at the campgrounds which can be expensive.
So, what are some options? PLEASE POST YOUR CAMPFIRE FUEL ALTERNATIVES. here are some to start with:
NO FIRE: First, you can give up on campfires. Use gas stoves to cook, and use candles or KEROSENE (not gas) lamps to stare into at night and tell stories.
WOOD SCRAPS: Keep your eyes open on the neighborhood garbage day for wood scraps. Some of this might be building material. Some might be broken chairs or bedposts or wooden pallets. Yes, some people might freak because it has varnish and blah, blah, blah, but it burns.
PAPER & WAX LOGS: you can make your own logs that burn a long time. A cheap and easy way is to get old newspapers (good luck finding them these days) or other papers or cardboard and roll them TIGHT into logs and tie them with balers twine. the tighter you roll them and the bigger you roll them, the longer they last. Turn the paper logs up on their side and pour melted candle wax into the edges of the logs. The logs can soak up a lot of hot wax. I have heard of some folks pouring wax onto the paper while they roll them in order to get wax to the middle of the logs. THIS dude has a clever method for making logs.
You can get wax from old candles. Ask old churches if they have old candles laying around in storage that you can have. a lot of the old Catholic churches have boxes of old Easter candle tucked away in storage. Of course, you can buy paraffin at the grocery store or hardware store too.
BRICKS, RAGS, KEROSENE, VEGETABLE OIL You can buy kerosene at your some rural hardware stores for about the same price as gasoline. You can also buy vegetable oil at outlet stores for about the same price (around $4.00 to $5.00 / gallon) Mix the kerosene with the vegetable oil in approximately equal proportions. Get a bunch of rags - cotton is best; like old blue jeans. DO NOT USE USE GASOLINE OR ALCOHOL FOR FUEL. ONLY USE KEROSENE AND VEGETABLE OIL!!! Gasoline and alcohol are much too explosive and dangerous. The combination of kerosene with vegetable oil makes for a slow burn.
get some patio bricks and make a brick/rag/oil Dagwood sandwich: Put down a patio brick (or bricks), lay at least three inches of rags on top of the brick layer and douse the rags and brick(s) with the kerosene/oil mixture. Really soak it good with the kerosene/oil. Repeat this process layering bricks on rags and rags on bricks until it is about three or four layers high. Then pour kerosene/oil over the whole Dagwood sandwich of bricks/rags/oil. Let the oil soak into the bricks for ten minutes or so. You will see the oil soak into the bricks.
When you light it, it will burn, but it won't explode like gasoline. The vegetable oil tones down the burning and makes it burn longer. This Dagwood fire will burn for about one or two hours. After the fire goes out, the campers' faces will be all covered in black soot and you can dance around singing Al Jolsen songs and you will be so entertained that you won't need a fire. Ha ha. Just kidding about the soot. This actually works pretty well and burns clean.
In many states, you cannot transport wood due to the threat of transporting invasive insects.
So, campers have to buy wood loally near the campgrounds or buy wood at the campgrounds which can be expensive.
So, what are some options? PLEASE POST YOUR CAMPFIRE FUEL ALTERNATIVES. here are some to start with:
NO FIRE: First, you can give up on campfires. Use gas stoves to cook, and use candles or KEROSENE (not gas) lamps to stare into at night and tell stories.
WOOD SCRAPS: Keep your eyes open on the neighborhood garbage day for wood scraps. Some of this might be building material. Some might be broken chairs or bedposts or wooden pallets. Yes, some people might freak because it has varnish and blah, blah, blah, but it burns.
PAPER & WAX LOGS: you can make your own logs that burn a long time. A cheap and easy way is to get old newspapers (good luck finding them these days) or other papers or cardboard and roll them TIGHT into logs and tie them with balers twine. the tighter you roll them and the bigger you roll them, the longer they last. Turn the paper logs up on their side and pour melted candle wax into the edges of the logs. The logs can soak up a lot of hot wax. I have heard of some folks pouring wax onto the paper while they roll them in order to get wax to the middle of the logs. THIS dude has a clever method for making logs.
You can get wax from old candles. Ask old churches if they have old candles laying around in storage that you can have. a lot of the old Catholic churches have boxes of old Easter candle tucked away in storage. Of course, you can buy paraffin at the grocery store or hardware store too.
BRICKS, RAGS, KEROSENE, VEGETABLE OIL You can buy kerosene at your some rural hardware stores for about the same price as gasoline. You can also buy vegetable oil at outlet stores for about the same price (around $4.00 to $5.00 / gallon) Mix the kerosene with the vegetable oil in approximately equal proportions. Get a bunch of rags - cotton is best; like old blue jeans. DO NOT USE USE GASOLINE OR ALCOHOL FOR FUEL. ONLY USE KEROSENE AND VEGETABLE OIL!!! Gasoline and alcohol are much too explosive and dangerous. The combination of kerosene with vegetable oil makes for a slow burn.
get some patio bricks and make a brick/rag/oil Dagwood sandwich: Put down a patio brick (or bricks), lay at least three inches of rags on top of the brick layer and douse the rags and brick(s) with the kerosene/oil mixture. Really soak it good with the kerosene/oil. Repeat this process layering bricks on rags and rags on bricks until it is about three or four layers high. Then pour kerosene/oil over the whole Dagwood sandwich of bricks/rags/oil. Let the oil soak into the bricks for ten minutes or so. You will see the oil soak into the bricks.
When you light it, it will burn, but it won't explode like gasoline. The vegetable oil tones down the burning and makes it burn longer. This Dagwood fire will burn for about one or two hours. After the fire goes out, the campers' faces will be all covered in black soot and you can dance around singing Al Jolsen songs and you will be so entertained that you won't need a fire. Ha ha. Just kidding about the soot. This actually works pretty well and burns clean.
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