(TikTok screencap)
There’s something really cathartic about placing shit in a firepit and just watching it burn away.
" …some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the wood burn "
White guy detected
It’s also the smell of smoke. The crackling. The heat. How the poking stick feels in your hand. Poke poke
Brown guy here, I like fire too
You know it’s American when skin colour is mentioned for no reason
I went to an engineering school and I am here to tell you that pyromancy is practiced by every type of person.
The best pyromancy comes from the United States, we have such classics as The German Barbeque, Korean Barbeque, Vietnam Barbeque, and California.
Is that a jab about all the forest fires CA keeps experiencing? If so, well done. I chuckled.
I’m from the Inland Empire here in SoCal I have to make jokes or the sirens call of the inferno starts to eat away at ones mind.
You forgot the Midwest Bonfire with 1000 drunken teenagers and a fire big enough that the local fire chief comes to check on it.
Isn’t that just Sunday?
Yeah, whats the deal with “white guy”? Guys like fucking with fire. Black, white, brown, blue. If theres an alien species on the other side of the galaxy, you can bet they have something very much like guys, and the love fucking with fire.
Of course I know him. He’s me!
I didn’t know it was a racial trait.
Yeah, like why does race need to be involved here? Fire should be for everyone to enjoy.
Outdoor recreation and camping was and still sort of is exclusionary to black folks especially, but there’s a lot of people trying to change that
I live in the UK so I don’t think this really applies here. If you are not going out and touching grass, its on you. Not the colour of your skin.
Yes I think there are some differences between racism in the UK and the US
I am curious now, how does race stop someone touching grass in the US?
Intersectionly.
The US has extremely shit PT, with black Americans often living in already under-serviced communities, and with less disposable income and social services to support them to travel off to touch some grass.
What does PT mean in this context?
Lookup “Sundown Towns”
It doesn’t, but it does result in comments like yours. I’m not interested in responding further to you.
There are quite a few black comedians in the USA who explain why. Basically life as a black man in the US is hard enough and there is no need to introduce recreational “challenges” like campingto feel fulfilled.
It’s a joke.
White people’s ancestors had to survive brutal winters. It’s the reason they’re white.
Ehhhh, even places like the Sahara can get below freezing temps at night. Of course we also shouldn’t forget that people native to the Asian steppe and American high plains would also need to deal with freezing temps. I just think that it’s a human trait in general to need to mess with fires. (That probably stems from a vast amount of people on earth being able to trace their heritage back to the Mongols)
Or gendered. I do this in my friend group. I also grill, smoke, and bbq.
Yeah my sister and I are both the fire keeper type.
I absolutely adore keeping the fire going. I was a white man for decades so i’m not dodging the allegations. I have never been camping where i was not the last person awake and always keeping the fire just right until all the wood was gone.
It’s all about the air flow. Too much and everything burns too quickly in a roaring furnace, too little and you have no light and not enough heat. By constantly adjusting the logs you can maintain the proper air flow to keep everything just right. Rotating a log to present fresh wood to an eager flame here. Squeezing two logs a little closer to reduce the oxygen and trim things up there. A proper fire adjusting stick (and a backup) is crucial.
Give me a stack of seasoned wood, a k-bar, a magnesium fire starter and a comfy camp chair and i’m in heaven from the time the sun sets until the wood runs out.
I was a white man for decades
I feel like someone’s gotta ask: Are you no longer a white man?
Too much soot from staying near the fire
My lungs have turned black.
Probably a trans woman? From the name and Fed instance.
from the name??
this is going to mess with me when i make my next account 😂
My take is that ‘violetsoftness’ just seems like a feminine username. So if you used to identify as male but now use that username, I also guessed trans woman. The name itself doesn’t necessarily make me think trans, just fem.
For whatever it’s worth, I think it’s a great name! It gives a nice, friendly vibe, like you would be fun to hang out with.
<3
Either that or an it*lian.
@Alxe has it, I am now a white woman :)
reverse Micheal Jackson?
Solidarity from another former white guy and campfire enthusiast.
💖
As someone else who was a white man for decades, ever started a fire from sratch ?
I’ve done it once. Pain in the ass, but the sense of accomplishment you get from starting a fire with nothing but kindling, some sticks, and a boot lace is amazing.
have tried 3-4 times but never even got a whiff of smoke! The region i camp in is generally described as ‘rainforest’ and while i have to assume it’s possible I am missing some trick to it.
Pro tip: dip a paper towel in olive oil, stuff it under the main log, and light it up. Olive oil burns slow and hot.
they are talking about making fire without using lighter or matches or a fire starter, just wood on wood friction the way people had to make fire before any of those things existed. An oily rag won’t help you with the difficult part; making a small coal to light your tinder.
Right, I missed that.
I love when I get back home and even after a shower and laundry, my hair and clothes still smell smokey.
fuck yeah that’s good shit
I read this in Ron Swanson’s voice.
It’s all good until you experience a fire where there’s two of them.
‘I was kind of saving that stick’
‘Dude, you’re choking it’
Lol, depends on the group. I was recently at an sca event and had a fire going with another tender, and we worked great keeping the fire stoked and we’re super chill about it. We even helped each other reset the stack as it collapsed and more fuel was added.
Oh man.
One = chill small little fire.
Two = big fire, no one’s getting cold.
Three = call the fire department cause we’re about to start throwing big shit on this flame.where there’s two of them.
This is getting out of hand!
If there isn’t another I will become that person just to fuck with them.
I too feel very seen right now.
I feel like it’s a do-or-die caveman instinct or something.
I was hanging out with a group of people in my friend’s backyard. We were supposed to have a bonfire, but the wood was wet and wasn’t burning. We used all sorts of fuel, fire starters, etc. I saw what looked like corner of a log turn into ember, so wouldn’t give up. Never got a flame when we were there, of course.
I felt very proud though when my friend sent me door camera footage of the firepit turning into a massive blaze in the middle of night that woke her up.
I don’t know why, I just have to keep poking that fucker with the dedicated poking stick, then wave the burning poking stick around for a bit.
You all laugh until the fire is in the oven of a hut with freezing temperatures outside and the fire guy is the one getting up in the middle of the night to keep the fire going. You then wake up to a cozy hut instead of spending the first two hours awake freezing in your sleeping bags.
you mean recruit. we recruit.
This is the campfire equivalent of that one person who makes best friends with the family dog at every party. Some of us enjoy the group but our social skills are only on par with fires and dogs.
Wait… I’m white!?
sorry you had to find out this way
Does dad know?!
who do you think gave you the skin
“See no Evil, Hear no Evil” - 1989 Funny comedy, has my previous comment as a line in it.
“Sad Story 😥” - 2020 Twitter meme, has my previous comment as a line in it.
I wonder if there is a genetic component to keeping fire for recreation or comfort.
I think all societies have a cooking on fire aspect.
The use of fire seems to play a much more active role in societies in cold climates. It seems to play a less prominent role in the tropics with warmer nighttime temperatures.
This reminded me of something my dad told me when I was younger. It was mostly to justify saying that no, I did not need a TV in my room, but still kinda interesting:
In many cultures (definitely the ones my family grew out of), the fire served as a gathering spot. People would talk about stuff, share food and jokes, and relax together. It was a shared experience and source of comfort that helped strengthen interpersonal bonds.
His argument was that the family TV served a similar function (without the whole ‘also it’s the means for cooked food’ aspect, which shouldn’t be overlooked). It’s a point that made some sense to me at that stage of late 20th century mainstream society.
Hmm…the 21st century, defined as billions of little fires, and many of us cold. There’s a really pretentious poem here somewhere.
Yeah I miss the days when my entire family would gather by the TV at night to watch something, anything really, I could be laying on the sofa reading a book but still enjoy the company and finding something interesting while channel surfing was it’s own joy, now I can stream or download anything I want to watch on all my devices and I can’t find anything interesting that makes me feel the sense of peace I had back then as a kid
Survivalists like to boast of their skills to start a fire from scratch with no modern tool. But that wasn’t the main skill in ancient times. Most societies found it easier to start a fire once and then keep the flame going through several mediums. It was a practical, mundane but vital activity that everyone participated in. The calories gains from eating cooked food was our cheat code for unlocking brain power.
DONT HATE it’s all he’s got
Well, technically without him there would be no fire.
be honest, the Nike gel soles are doin most of the heavy liftin’
Brought to you by Carl’s Jr.
That’s what I’m sayin’! I’m mildly autistic and not very good socially. Even if I want to be there it can be difficult. Tending to the fire is a way I get to participate.
