How do you light your camp fire?

gerard gue · Senior Member

How do you light your camp fire?

oldbobsbus · Guru

With a gas lighter.. smile

Oma · Guru

Citronella

aussie_paul · Guru

gerard gue wrote:
We were on a bush camp last week the guy next to us lit his camp fire with petrol and the 20l jerry can near him when he lit it a bit hard to believe !!!!

Crazy idiot I reckon. Started many fires in my lifetime with petrol BUT not until I had secured the jerry can well away.... My Dad taught me!!!

Aussie Paul. smile

deverall11 · Guru

gerard gue wrote:
We were on a bush camp last week the guy next to us lit his camp fire with petrol and the 20l jerry can near him when he lit it a bit hard to believe !!!!

We use kerosene or diesel.

This guy will shortly be known as a 'temporary citizen'

Larry

Cloak · Guru

I light my campfire from the smouldering remains of some dickheads burnt out van.... Because there is always one at every camp.

glennt · Veteran Member

gerard gue wrote:
We were on a bush camp last week the guy next to us lit his camp fire with petrol and the 20l jerry can near him when he lit it a bit hard to believe !!!!

Obviously a rocket scientist on annual leave.. wink

Dougwe · Chief one feather

I as did others here at Greens Lake, Central Vic a few moons back see the results of throwing diesel on a fire to give it a head start.

Lit up the sky for sure and nearly their boat with it.....idiots.

glennt · Veteran Member

Dougwe wrote:
I as did others here at Greens Lake, Central Vic a few moons back see the results of throwing diesel on a fire to give it a head start.

Lit up the sky for sure and nearly their boat with it.....idiots.

ALL Idiots think they are normal... yawn

TAJ · Senior Member

old tea bags kept in a small jar of kero

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Tightly rolled up paper.. Kero or metho..

grae and deb · Senior Member

good idea TAJ We,ll try that one , we use the cheapo fir lighters block s from bunnings etc , work well a bit smelly probally got a lot of kero or something in them

glennt · Veteran Member

I send wife to stand by a pile of wood scratching her head. within a minute 3 or 4 blokes lob and ask whats up. she tells em i havent lit a bush fire before , they have a fire going in minutes,,,, works fine for me

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

I start my fire almost exactly like this. I usually use dry leaves and only use newspaper as a last resort. Been doing it this way for 50 or so years.

I have only used diesel if the bigger wood is wet ... but it has been decades since I did that.

Cheers - John

GaryKelly · Guru

Yep, leaves and twigs and maybe a bit of newspaper if it's handy.

ShortNorth · Senior Member

GaryKelly wrote:
Yep, leaves and twigs and maybe a bit of newspaper if it's handy.

Depending on where you camp, if you go out beyond the treeline I'm sure you'll find heaps of newspaper with brown 'fire lighters' streaked all over it biggrin

diggerop · Senior Member

biggrin

elliemike · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
I start my fire almost exactly like this. I usually use dry leaves and only use newspaper as a last resort. Been doing it this way for 50 or so years.
I have only used diesel if the bigger wood is wet ... but it has been decades since I did that.
Cheers - John

Thats my way as well. Remember being taught that in the Cubs

When I was a kid (even well into my 20's as well) It was the challenge among my camping mates to light it by striking "one match only".

With regards to using an accelerant such as "Petrol" for fire lighting. We were told as kids never to use Kero (Parrafin), Meths, or Petrol. I still stick to that instruction. I would never use diesel nor do we carry fire lighters.

We had family friends whose daughter bears horrific facial disfiguration from someone using Petrol to start a Garden Fire. She was not even part of the fire lighting group.

DONT USE PETROL.

The Hats · Senior Member

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
I start my fire almost exactly like this. I usually use dry leaves and only use newspaper as a last resort. Been doing it this way for 50 or so years.
I have only used diesel if the bigger wood is wet ... but it has been decades since I did that.
Cheers - John

Same here mate there is always enough leaves and twigs around to start a fire.

There is no need to over complicate it, if it is damp I use a drop or to of kero. Hell you can start a bush fire with a discarded ciggy butt.

Cheers

The Hats

-- Edited by The Hats on Thursday 21st of August 2014 12:14:13 PM

roadtourer · Senior Member

We light ours like rocklizards too but usually build a little pit as per the CFA's regulations and always have full buckets near by in case of fly away. We sometimes have used the Bunnings fire starters but very rarely . usually only a few meters away from the water if there is some. If there isn't buckets are always available.

We also control the fire and make sure and where there is no wood to be collected we buy them lol
Some photos of my friend building the fire pits
If we have bigger ones they are also where people have pre lit them.. we clear it from leaves and make sure we can all sit around it. I love camp fires and camping without one isn't camping for me BUT we have always been careful and watch the CFA website for updates etc. Winds not to be too strong. We love our country too much to see it burn.

Lake Eildon there was no wood so we brought some to keep warm

Murray River

lake Nillacootie

kandagal · Guru

Yep Small sticks & twigs, & dry leaves. That is how I learnt when I was a girl guide.

Santa · Guru

gerard gue wrote:
We were on a bush camp last week the guy next to us lit his camp fire with petrol and the 20l jerry can near him when he lit it a bit hard to believe !!!!

I certainly believe it, we see reports of accidents every summer, idiots doing exactly the same, beggars belief.

As to the question, like others I light my fires with a crumpled sheet of newspaper under light dry sticks and twigs, its a simple task.

Santa · Guru

kandagal wrote:
That is how I learnt when I was a girl guide.

I had a very close friend who was a Girl Guide when I was much younger, never taught me to light a fire, however she did teach me a lot about nature. biggrin

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Maxx, that bottom pic is the best way for sure. In a wombat hole smile

I have trouble with the smoke around a camp fire so tend not to be around them much if I can. cry

Kisha · Senior Member

That's a great way to light your camp fire Taj, I always carry a magnifying glass in the first aid kit, you can always start a fire with dry leaves or paper with it, I learned this as a kid and did it a few times on the woodine, the magnifying glass is handy for many things whether at home or on the road.....kisha

hako · Guru

We don't bother with twigs,leaves or shavings....just use smaller pieces of wood in a nice pile and hit it with a butane gas torch ($7.46) that attaches to the throw-away 220gm cans at around $1 a can. The flame will melt aluminium and is great for soldering Anderson plugs etc as well as lighting fires.
A must have for any pyromaniac.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Butane-Gas-Torch-Burner-Auto-Ignition-Camping-Flamethrower-Welding-Soldering-BY-/191242011296?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item2c86e982a0&_uhb=1

gunnago · Senior Member

recycle t s soaked in diesel works every t ime

NeilandRaine · Guru

At a market Raine got one of those gizmos you use to burn the top of desserts, makes a great fire lighter.

Kooroorinya Kelpie · Senior Member

Hi all. One oldie that has stood the test of time without any risks is a piece of common, garden variety and inexpensive household candle. When commercially hunting in the mountainous and continually damp forests of NZ a number of candle stubs about 2" - that I think is 50 mm in modern speak - were always carried and used. They have the advantage of drying out wet wood which was about all we had. I never belonged to Boy scouts or girl guides but a gg I knew lit my fire a couple of times. Cheers.

signwilson · Senior Member

can't beat a gas stove no smell and no problem with allergies. People that light fires in our drought conditions have never had to fight them or seen people burnt to death

Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.