[Stoves] Accidental TLUD technique discovery

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

Dear Neil

When I was in Scouts we always made the main fires in the manner described.
I didn't see another method used so it must have been around for a while. 

The oldest methods described for lighting a smokeless fire also describe a
top lit fire. This was a quasi-military thing as cooking without smoke was
important. It is in the books on "Indian" fire building methods going back
yonks.

I was not aware that everyone as not aware this is how to do it. 

Regards
Crispin


-----Original Message-----
From: Stoves [mailto:stoves-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of
neiltm at uwclub.net
Sent: 16-Nov-16 05:40
To: Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <stoves at lists.bioenergylists.org>
Subject: Re: [Stoves] Accidental TLUD technique discovery

Crispin, I'm amazed by your scouting campfire experience, it bears
absolutely no relation to mine, where in both the troops I was in at
different times the fires whether for cooking or the sing song camp evening
fire were completely conventional bottom lit, the latter sometimes in a
tepee construction.  What you are describing, but probably on a larger
scale, seems to be what Paal Wendelbo described and that inspired him.  It
might be interesting to try to discover if old scouting literature describes
making fires this way.  Our cooking was in large oval cast iron 'dixies'
placed on top of sticks aligned in the direction of the wind hopefully.  The
most sophisticated thing we did was to roast large joints of pork, from
breakfast time to be ready at lunch time where a roasting tin with the joint
was placed on a bed of embers, a galvanised bath tub inverted over the whole
and sealed with ash and a fire from a separate pit brought over and placed
around the windward side and on top. 
 Guaging the degree of cooking was by removing a pole from the corner of the
cook house shelter, placing the metal tip on the top of the bathtub and the
wooden end in an ear!  After 4 years of observing and helping in this
process you became sufficiently competent to take charge of it.  We were
allowed half an hour leeway to bring the pork to the table, pork properly
cooked was more important than punctuality!

So was the TLUD/CD fire common knowledge in Britain/Europe?  I never came
across it in the late 50s and sixties, or since.  Our scoutmaster was an ex
navy man, perhaps if he had been army?  There's some unwritten history here
surely?

But I came across this through the second hit on a search for 'scout camp
fire instructions':

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/campfire-basics.html

They call it the 'Upside down (pyramid)' (the fire being 'upside down', not
the pyramid!

The girl guides also have it, but they don't really understand it, unless
yours had tinder at the bottom as well?:

http://gscm.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/07-1137MasterOfTheCampfire.pdf

"You can use several types of fire styl
es for a campfire. The PYRAMID starts
with a bottom layer of 4-6 inch diameter logs. Add subsequent layers of
smaller shorter logs. Fill the center with tinder and kindling and light the
fire on a small platform of sticks near the top. As it burns, the coals fall
in to the middle, helping the fire burn downward."

wikihow.com don't know it

http://scoutingmagazine.org/2016/02/how-to-build-the-best-campfire/

don't list it

It seems patchy, but I'm wondering if it simply became largely forgotten in
my day and has been revived a bit in more recent times?  It always amazes me
what my parents generation didn't seem to know.

Best wishes,   Neil Taylor