Scrounging with no chain saw

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kversch

Member
Dec 26, 2014
153
New York
was camping over the last two weeks. I came across a really nice downed yellow birch tree. It was big and solid. I knew it would still be wet but that doesn't much matter for camp fires. Had to use all primitive tools no chain saw use aloud in the campground.

Might have been a little stupid but I didn't mind kind of enjoyed it.

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It's not really camping to,me unless there's a camp fire... I've done very similar scrounging a few times. Good on ya!


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Dry wood makes for a hotter and less smokey campfire. Last week we went camping and some very nice person left a nice dry round of unsplit cedar by the firepit. It made some dandy firewood after a few minutes of splitting. We only used about half of the round and left some splits for the next person.
 
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Exactly. I've never done it!
What do you stare at while drinking beer?

We've had some burn bans before and had to camp without a campfire. It was rough. Once it gets dark out we all want to gather around the fire and yes, consume some beverages. We ended up setting a coleman lantern in the firepit. Not the same.

Now somebody always brings along one of the newer propane fire pits. The new ones are actually very effective at making heat, flames, smores, and light. In fact, I suspect it won't be long before regular wood fires are outlawed at many campgrounds. They're that good.
 
When I was in high school the US was going through the oil embargo, my dad decided to burn wood. We used a bow saw and splitting maul to cut trees off some property we owned and hauled it home in the trunk of a Ford Maverick. We probably cut a cord and half before he finally bought a chainsaw and we continued hand splitting (I still do). .
 
I read somewhere that 1 gallon of gas is roughly equivalent to 500 man-hours of labor. After seeing what you can do with a chainsaw and a gallon of gas versus what you can do by hand, it seems likely this is quite possibly true.
 
Back in our younger days when we were camping we always used dead wood from Crown land or loggers scraps, but when my son comes to our area to go camping he always stops in to borrow my boat, then fill it with wood from our woodshed. I don't mind as he often helps cut and/or pile as needed but as he is wilderness camping I keep suggesting that he just leave any surplus on site .
 
Dad had a few 2 man saws. I was the second man. Somehow he could never get an old homelite running. When he did the chain was dull and he couldn't sharpen it. Those were the days. Must be why I have a perfectly maintained Stihl and chains you can shave with.
 
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