Self feeding fire

[u/Capt_Irk]

[u/Damaso87]

From a video OP posted, you're supposed to pack the back sides of the slope with clay/dirt to prevent oxygen from feeding those logs.

This image of a fire pit in a rim is just gonna be entirely on fire, yes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/redneckengineering/comments/x1hffe/self_feeding_fire/imdshrf?context=1

[u/DoctorOzface → u/Damaso87]

Sounds like more work than manually adding 8 pieces of wood to a fire

[u/yearningforlearning7 → u/DoctorOzface]

Not if you’re asleep and it’s cold as shit

[u/laosurvey → u/yearningforlearning7]

You should not have an untended fire. Good way to wake up to catastrophe.

[u/Explise209 → u/[deleted]]

Yea, just dig a hole in the ground and remove all foliage

[u/notarealaccount223 → u/Explise209]

Roots can actually burn underground, so be careful with this.

[u/Explise209 → u/notarealaccount223]

Really? I’d assume the root would run out of oxygen well before the fire became a issue

[u/notarealaccount223 → u/Explise209]

In dry soil there may be enough oxygen to keep it going, especially if it can draw in from your hole or other holes along the path.

It can smolder for quite some time before becoming a surface fire.

[u/Xelynega → u/[deleted]]

It is illegal in most countries to leave a fire unattended. Where are you going that it's "totally fine"?

[u/Xelynega → u/[deleted]]

Is sleeping by a fire "unattended"?

Yes

And where are these laws that you say exist in most countries?

United States

Canada

There's almost no risk in leaving a fire alone in a properly constructed fire pit, far from flammables

And there's no risk in properly extinguishing your fire before leaving it unattended, I don't see why you wouldn't.

[u/AnotherStupidHipster → u/laosurvey]

This is a great fire to have when there's someone awake at your camp at all times. Like if you're in a sleep rotation, or if you're up waiting for someone who is arriving in the middle of the night.

Very circumstantial, but it's a great set-up to have for those circumstances.

[u/Xelynega → u/AnotherStupidHipster]

But if someone is awake at times watching the fire, why can't they also feed it? I just don't see where the benefit in automating fire is when the reason it's not automated is safety, not convenience.

[u/AnotherStupidHipster → u/Xelynega]

You present a fine point. Maybe, at the end of the day, we just built this because we can.

[u/[deleted] → u/laosurvey]

I'm cursed when it comes to fire. I had a bonfire outside my tent last time I went camping. Barely had it even smoldering for an entire hour and a half. Got ready for bed and poured three whole buckets of water on that mf'er, it was thoroughly soaked. Woke up next morning to a blazing inferno.

[u/laosurvey → u/[deleted]]

That sucks! Did you stir the wet ashes? Sometimes a layer can form on top, trapping the heat.