2021-023 | GOOD FIRE ETHICS

OUTDOORS COMMON SENSE TIPS: Keep your fire small. Small enough so you could approach it safely and, at the same time, enjoy the warmth. Small enough to boil water and cook food. Small enough to contain it safely. 

Feed it with twigs instead of logs. Do not waste too much firewood for nothing. 

No need to have a big fire. No need to prove that you are a fine wood gatherer. A small fire serves a better purpose.

 

First seen in Facebook

March 8, 2018

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I COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND why people make a bonfire in the tropics? For what purpose? You are no better than those illegal loggers that you despised so much. Those firewood you used for arousing your “primitive feelings” and your imagined rituals could have been used better by poor homesteaders for cooking. It is really a waste of good forest resources that amount to nothing!

Fire was man’s earliest companion until it was used in the later prehistoric years as a tool in early warfare. Likewise, it was used as a convenient shield in the commission of a crime. Lately, it became an instrument of choice by arsonists in falsifying insurance claims and, you scorn this one over the others, as a clearing agent to rid land of wild vegetation for farming. So, it carried a bad reputation. 

Fire, as we know now, has three elements. Yet just a few know that there is a fourth element. Fire can never be tamed nor will it recognize a human master. It is an ancient element where myths of its origins are concurred and born in tribal legends and children’s tales. Fire is neither good nor bad and humans have accepted its presence willingly in their hearths and loathed it when it goes berserk. 

I would rather have a fire that I can approach safely and extend a hand to reach over a pot that I place over it than have something that would totally keep me at bay. In bushcraft, we never play with fire. We respect so much this ancient human companion that we always place it in the middle of our campsites so we could enjoy its company. It becomes the center of a gathering.

 

From a campfire comes these human fondness of telling yarns and stories. It animates every individual around as it danced to the play of the breeze and makes the moment magical; totally connecting you to some humans of long ago who may have gathered around an ancient fire doing what you are doing. With a small fire, in hushed voices, words could float plainly in a tight circle. 

The presence of a fire, lit by wood, is always reassuring. Woodsmoke is so sweet that it arouses your primeval senses and keeps you alert. Settle with twigs and small branches and let it all burn out. Avoid large wood like logs. It keeps a hidden ember no matter how generous you douse it with water. Again, keep your fire small. It is practical, safe and manageable. Bonfires are for movies only. Do not imitate that unless you are sending a distress signal. 

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.