Campfire Conundrum

hi all
a bush fire place whether it be a ring of rocks or a hole dug in the ground helps contain and keep the heat more concentrated and there-fore the wood lasts longer and the fire doesn;t have to be as big to get the same effect as with on top of ground fires that are exposed to the open winds and will burn away very rapidly and in a short time you will be out of wood
it basicly the same reason in years gone past that every old stylehome had a fire place in it to contain the distribution and concentrate the heat source
except inside one had to have a chimney to make it draw and extract the smoke
as for exploding rocks
i have only ever seen limestone that was freshly dug up containing moisture
that would occasionly explode and i actually had a small bit land in the top of my boot on the farm while picking and burning malley stumps but have never ever seen ironstone or granite explode and fly around

in actual fact the italian grano workers that used to build those rock walls to harness and guide water into govt dams that they built throughout many districts in wa
(wave rock water resivor at hyden is a clasic example)
used to light a fire on the top of the big slabs laying around in the late evening
and heat the rock slab then during the night as it cooled rapidly the rock slabs used too crack into smaller size peices so they could man handle them

i also have an old boys scout book that was given to my father in his early teen years and that building of fire rings with rocks and /or digging a hole was and has been practised for many many many generations throughout the world even tribal people from various countrys have all used the self same basic principal
so its nothing new and a very soundwell used practice
cheers barry

hi just had a look
'the scouting book for boys '
was
first written by robert baden powell , bt and copywrighted in 1908 and dedicated with permission to
his royal highness
the prince of wales
and
his royal highness
prince albert
duke of york
and the copy i have was the twelth edition printed in 1926 and given to dad in 1928 and cost 2/6 (shillings and pence) eh that would be 25cents now
cheers
barry

Hi Mazcan,

I have seen granite, dry and warm from sitting in the sun, explode and send shrapnell around the campsite. A thin sliver landed on the brim of my Akubra. I only detected it when the hat caught fire.

I learnt about campfires in the scouts and always built a ring of stones. A few years later I got to know an old bushman in the Blue Mountains. I walked with Geoff for years and never saw him build a fire ring with stones. He would make use of a natural depression if it was available but never built a stone ring.

I don't think it is wrong to do but I don't.

Duncs

Yep, what Bonz said, and if the rocks are the site of quite a few previous fires they would have exploded long ago. I think the risk of that as compared to the advantages of keeping the fires contained are pretty minimal.

ob

Yep,
Digging a small hole and placing the earth around the fire as a wind break / heat containment then using the same soil to cover the ashes before leaving the site to return it to as "normal" as possible, for me to.

Gday Meggs
I bet that piece of potato on the ground was for me !

I treat guests better than that!

Just a case of too many tatas and not enough hotplate and some were going to fall off.