We love camping, even if we call it “full time living.” Being outdoors, building a fire to cook over or just sit by, its deep engrained in the psyche of those who camp. Whether we build a fire and carefully construct it, play with it and throw things in it, or just toss a bunch of chemicals and watch it burn, there are a few types of fire builders. Maybe one of these fits you, or maybe you do something different. Leave comments below on the type of fire builders you are or tell us of other kinds that we haven’t thought of!
Architect
This is the fire builder who plans ahead, places the tinder and kindling in just the right spots and layers the larger wood on top. They craft the fire meticulously and if all goes as planned, only need a single flame to start the whole fire put alight. Its a process and discretion is used with wood. Tinder on the bottom, then kindling, then slightly larger pieces of wood. Once it is all burning, then the full logs are added. The goal is to allow air to flow in and form heat pockets inside the construction to feed the heat and grow to a perfect flame.
I am definitely an Architect. I will lay the sticks just perfectly to get the fire started and watch it as it grows. It takes longer, but the result is a full burning fire. Like other Architects, I hate when other people start poking at the fire or throwing wood in all akimbo. Its an art form, let it grow on its own.
Meddler
The Meddler is not content to let a fire grow. It needs to be constantly moved and altered, putting sticks on the hotspots and moving things around to get the fire going. The Meddler is not content to let a fire grow, they need to customize everything to make it work. Perhaps impatient, but the Meddler can still have results. They will also refuse to give up on a fire, but always working to getting the flame going.
Tiffany is surely a Meddler. I didn’t realize this before we started camping as we had never sat around a fire before. Now she will spend hours trying to get a fire going, regardless of weather conditions or limitations of wood. She will make it work, even if it takes hours.
Chemist
The Chemist is the one who says screw it to taking time and throws something very flammable on the sticks to get the to burn right away. Usually a fan of lighter fluid, the Chemist will douse a pile of sticks in lighter fluid and throw a match on it with the resulting fireball reaching to the skies. It usually results in a decent fire, but it has no art to, no patience.
Baker
The Baker needs a fire for cooking. As such, they will handpick their wood, and like the Architect, build the fire in forethought with where and how they can cook on top of it. They might use chemicals to get it started, but the end result is a long, slow burn that can be used for cooking food. Its more of an art like the Architect, but with a specific goal in mind.
Disposer
The Disposer is the one who throws any and everything in the fire. They aren’t concerned about environment effects or breathing in toxic fumes, if it burns or even melts, its going in the flames. The Disposer will throw plastic bottles, beer cans, cigarette butts, cardboard boxes, paper plates, whatever you can think of. For them, the cleanup after dinner is easy, just throw it in the fire. It might be a toxic mess when they are done, but that doesn’t matter.
Are there any others you can think of? This is a short list off the top of my head, but I think it covers those we’ve had the pleasure of running across in our short journey so far.
