middleagedmadness wrote:There's a bit of a discussion going on over on stw about throwing BBQ coals on the floor and lighting up to use as a cooker ,think Mr Whitestone is trying to educate the fella but to no avail from the bits I read

Indeed, he's a lost cause methinks: "I've been doing it for 30 years and not had any problems"

That's the bit I caught ,30yrs and no accidents think his forum name is really red Adair

Every year after Rally GB, Hafren forest is full of piles of half burnt charcoal / logs along the fire roads ... added to the discarded cans, bottles and burnt tyres, I don't suppose it's that bad.

What annoys me most is that these forests are public spaces for everyone to enjoy, yet they seem happy enough to turn a very blind eye to what goes on when they're having their palms crossed with silver.

Ah this fella Stu was up in Scotland so in his head he reckons there's nothing wrong with what he's doing don't think he realises that Scotland has got nearly as many peat bogs as Ireland has ,and they'll bleedin shoot you over there for having a fag near the peat bogs never mind a full on "earth" bbq

But he's being doing it 30 years without incident Stuart. Bit like those drivers that'd never had a crash but seen hundreds .... 30 years? Wouldn't you have thought someone would have told him he was a w@nker before now?

Bearbonesnorm wrote:But he's being doing it 30 years without incident Stuart. Bit like those drivers that'd never had a crash but seen hundreds .... 30 years? Wouldn't you have thought someone would have told him he was a w@nker before now?

Not many people tend to speak their minds these days , I just have no filter so my wife says ,but that's why I like this place and most of the people off here I've rode with there's no pretence ,and I think that's why that fella frequents that other site for true gnarly riders

Ah but StuMaM, maybe we're pretending we've no pretence . And I'm confused about whether I'm confused now .

You're right it's one of the good things here. I remember having a great time hurling abuse at each other and talking lots of lovely bollox on WRT but of course in the greatest of Kenny Everett traditions it was All Done In The Best Pooooossssssssible Taste .

Yea I think the words you tw@t were hurled a few times that Sunday night after the pub meal and some of it was even perfectly timed as Steve m told me

All about knowing when to be silly and when to be serious. Can be a fine line (alcohol, amongst other things, is a known modifier of the exact position of this line of course..). But it's interesting to see who has which as their default setting, and to see why/when/how they switch to the other condition. Oh dear, gone off topic to philosophy . Now where are those matches.....

Putting a different slant on things, how do people feel with having a fire in a foreign country? Different cultures and all that.

I mean from a biking viewpoint and not from a ‘we live in a hut and have no other means of cooking’. When I’ve been to Finland it would appear, in my limited experience, to be the norm to have an open fire in the countryside. Being honest, I’ve always appreciated the open in Finland (I’ll add that in the UK, I’m completely against them, so maybe I’m a hypercrit)


(And to answer Stu’s non-question on Rally Wales’ fans, then yes, rally fans can be twats and see having an open fire in the woods as part of rally culture - have been in many arguments with them over this!)

Simon, my limited experience of Finland is that most (all) the fires are in purpose built fire stands as found at Laavus. I didn't see any evidence of fires elsewhere. In that case it's no different from something like fire pits at campsites in this country.

Last year we decided to bivy out at a laavu north of the Arctic Circle, some locals turned up and had a barbie. We kept the fire going for a while after they left. The main problem was that my kit stank of smoke for nearly a year afterwards

I'm told there's being over 112 reported wild fires in the UK this last week, inc' Newborough forest, a favourite haunt of some here ... if ever there was a powerful reminder that campfires really aren't required in order to enjoy yourself and are simply a selfish or at least thoughtless act, this must be it.

Sermon over, as you were.

As I came past the landward end of Loch Etive yesterday there's a spot people wildcamp. 1pm in the afternoon and blazing hot and someone had a largish fire going, no one cooking on it, no one sitting round it. Just what is the point!

Didn’t think of firepits Whitestone. D’oh! Makes sense now. All I remember is sitting next to them and not wanting to leave them

That’s staggering Stu, 120+ fires in one week What is up with these people.

I can’t belive that Ray, an unattended fire. You would think with what’s happening in the news this week on the Moors would make the public think a little more about their actions but I guess now

voodoo_simon wrote:Didn’t think of firepits Whitestone. D’oh! Makes sense now. All I remember is sitting next to them and not wanting to leave them

That’s staggering Stu, 120+ fires in one week What is up with these people.

I can’t belive that Ray, an unattended fire. You would think with what’s happening in the news this week on the Moors would make the public think a little more about their actions but I guess now

There were some people there, a family to whom I think the fire belonged to but they were sitting away from the fire which was big enough to be happily consuming the six inch diameter four foot long log they'd placed over it. If it was totally unattended I'd have put it out.

Sorry Ray, wasn’t trying to call you out on that one

voodoo_simon wrote:Sorry Ray, wasn’t trying to call you out on that one

No apologies required, didn't think for a second that you were.

Interesting conversation but leave no trace is bigger than just do you/don't you have a fire.
How many folks on here are packing a trowel to properly bury their sh1t at bivi sites.
I love free camping in Scotland but a lot of places are getting to be open sewers.
Go to those places with evidence of fire and you will also see not so lovely 'alpine roses' dotted in the nearby undergrowth.
We all need to get our houses in order before we start throwing stones at the behaviour of others.

How many folks on here are packing a trowel to properly bury their sh1t at bivi sites.

Another LNT valid point. I don't take a trowel but I do bury it properly - heel dig-kicks to bury down into soft ground, if not possible I go elsewhere. You only need to bury it enough to not be an offence or washed over by water run off etc, since burying it / burying very deeply slows the rate of breakdown (as far as I'm aware).

Touring in France recently suggested I may be one of very few people in that country that does bury it! Laybys there are a minefield.

Interesting conversation but leave no trace is bigger than just do you/don't you have a fire.

I don't believe that anyone has said that it's only about fires. It's simply that fires are one of the main visual scars people leave and thus easy to spot ... and the weather / ground conditions at present just highlight why they're a bad idea.

As you say, LNT should be exactly that - No Trace, whether that be an empty can, the remains of a fire, a snapped branch, dislodged stones or anything else ... including turds

How many folks on here are packing a trowel to properly bury sh1t at bivi sites.

Me. I have a dangly trowel instead of a mug

ScotRoutes wrote:

How many folks on here are packing a trowel to properly bury sh1t at bivi sites.

Me. I have a dangly trowel instead of a mug

instead of a mug to go in/pack it out?

jameso wrote:

ScotRoutes wrote:
Me. I have a dangly trowel instead of a mug

instead of a mug to go in/pack it out?

Blizzard tent stake here, dual purpose (but your tarp falls down if you need to go in the night )

Fires are used in vlogs/videos/promos/etc. as a feel-good, desirable image (which in reality should be discouraged).
A pile of poo, I imagine, would not have a similar influence on people....

jameso wrote:

ScotRoutes wrote:

How many folks on here are packing a trowel to properly bury sh1t at bivi sites.

Me. I have a dangly trowel instead of a mug

instead of a mug to go in/pack it out?

One day I'll be cycling and meet two girls...

"One day I'll be cycling and meet two girls.."... noooooo, thought Stuart nipped that one in the bud the other day .

V peg here too. My tarp wouldn't collapse though because it's my "extra" one for holding the shower-sheet on. Erm, OK, good point, I'll just have to restrict my nocturnal logging activities to fair weather then, and hold them in when it's not so clement.