Light My Fire, Pros and cons of having campfires. Options

[Jerry S.]

Hi everybody,

For those of you who don't know my camping and RVing credentials: 15+ years in tents and 15 + years RVs; 49 states and most of Canada; over 200 campgrounds and RV parks; 5 months of RVing a year for 10+ years since retiring. I discussed my views about the site in the Campgound Reviews (mostly with Texasrvrs) string in this Forum a few weeks ago.

Since my area is about to be hit with really fridged (highs less than 10 degrees) for the next 4 or 5 days, I thought I'd try to start a hot topic. As mentioned in the aforementioned string discussion, there are some park amenities that one camper considers a positive and another camper considers a negative. One of my favorite examples is campfires.

I have read many pro campfire reviews complaining about: lack of fire rings; the size, placement, and/or what the rings were made of; restrictions, etc. Many write about the tradional aspect of campfires: just siting around it at night; s'mores; treat for the kids or grandkids; etc.

The anti-campfire people say: their rigs fill with smoke; embers and ash fall on their rigs and awnings; they can't sit outside at their own sites because of the smoke/smell; the inherent danger of open fires; the things some people try to burn; fires in 80+ degree weather; etc.

The one complaint of the pro-campfire people that I have the biggest problem with is being upset about restrictions. While some parks may ban fires for their own reasons, many bans are due to governmental (municipal, state, federal) decisions. These can be permanent or temporary but almost always based on public safety issues. I have been out west numerous times over the years in states that have dozens of fires burning tens of thousands of acres and some camper will complain about not being able to have a campfire. They act as if it is a constitutional right.

One more thought to get the ball rolling. All you have to do is read how many reviews complain about the lack of space between RV sites to realize that most RV parks are not condusive to campfires - at least to your downwind neighbors.

I could go into each of the pro and anti items above, but I'll wait to see what others think.

Jerry S.

[Texasrvers]

I know I'm talking too much, but here goes again.

I just wanted to let A3medic know that we (and I think most "RVers") do not like to have generators running next to us either. That's as rude as someone else's smoke blowing in your rig. The only time we have used our generator in a park/campground was one night when the power went out and everyone else was firing theirs up too. Mostly we just use it when we stop at a rest area to fix lunch. We usually park in the truck area and only have it on a few minutes. If it happens to be really hot we might leave it on to run the roof air, but I don't think it can be heard over the truck noise so I don't think it bothers anyone.

Also while we may not sit around a campfire, we also do not "seal ourselves up in A/C emerging only periodically to walk the poodle." Usually our trips are to an area that has lots to see and do outside the RV park. We spend a great deal of time sightseeing and basically use our motor home as a rolling hotel room. However, we can certainly understand how many people like to get away for the weekend and relax by cooking out and sitting around a campfire with friends and never leave the camp. This just emphasizes again how different people are looking for different experiences from campgrounds/RV parks and if you end up at a place that doesn't provide you with your expected experience you will probably be unhappy.

Jerry, we have rarely stayed at RV only parks, and not on purpose even then. But we do tend to pick places that lean toward RVs--especially big rigs--and those usually do not allow fires.

RLM, You need to post this sign: "Your mother does not work here so you will have to clean up after yourself." However, I doubt that will help in all cases. Some people are just natural born slobs and expect the rest of us to clean up their mess. Course that would never be anyone on this forum. We are all very nice people.

Finally, all this discussion has left me with this thought: Building a campfire is so simple even a caveman can do it!

[BBear]

Also while we may not sit around a campfire, we also do not "seal ourselves up in A/C emerging only periodically to walk the poodle." Usually our trips are to an area that has lots to see and do outside the RV park. We spend a great deal of time sightseeing and basically use our motor home as a rolling hotel room. However, we can certainly understand how many people like to get away for the weekend and relax by cooking out and sitting around a campfire with friends and never leave the camp. This just emphasizes again how different people are looking for different experiences from campgrounds/RV parks and if you end up at a place that doesn't provide you with your expected experience you will probably be unhappy.

We usually camp during the week when it's less crowded and during the times we have gone to a campground other than a state park, we have come across people who don't necessarily hole themselves up in their RV, but hole their pets up in it. We've camped next to RV'ers like this and it breaks my heart when I'm at my campsite just relaxing and I have to hear howling and scratching on the door of the rig next to us because the dogs left there miss their owners and these are the same type of people who go around calling their dogs "their babies"...what person in their right mind would leave "their babies" alone by themselves for hours on end??? Maybe they don't realize that their babies don't act the way they do in their absence as they do in their presence...just food for thought for those of you who read this who do leave your pets alone while you go out sightseeing.

I apologize for going off topic, hope ya'll don't mind!