Wood Smoke

[miles]

omg... I made a fire today using the hand-drill method(rubbing sticks...) and I got it going perfectly and everything. I was expecting to be able to just sit by it and enjoy the warmth, but it made me feel sick! I know it drives away animals, and is used to drive bees away from their honey or at least daze them, but how come people can sit by fires for warmth without being driven away? I had to stand so far away from it that I wasn't benefiting from the warmth anyway... Did people get addicted first to the wood smoke, and then breathing it in wasn't enough so they burnt their food and ate it too? I don't know how people can just sit comfortably around open fires...

I still feel sick now and can still smell the smoke.. I couldn't wait to get away from it so I've just left it to die out.. I was hoping fire would be a useful tool for me to keep warm but unless I bring a fireplace I doubt I'm going to make much use of it -_- I was wearing a rag over my face too.

It has the same sickening effect on me as other smokes which are labelled bad such as cigarettes, I just stayed by it longer. It's actually making me feel REALLY sick and smelling kind of nice at the same time, bad sign..  

[Neone]

Then you obviously werent cold enough... haha
The smoke sucks, werent the indians almost blind after winter from being all smoked in their tipi's?
but its better than freezing to death, and cooked food is better than frozen in the middle of winter.

So they probably warmed up their food and bodies and came to really like it and stuck with it.. they didnt have anybody telling them that it was ruining their enzymes or whatever...

[miles]

 

[ForTheHunt]

Pro tip don't sit where the smoke is blowing ^^

[miles]

Shiiiit and probably wasn't a good idea using plastic bags for the ground insulation either =/

[kurite]

Shiiiit and probably wasn't a good idea using plastic bags for the ground insulation either =/

Lol are you kidding? Im an eagle scout and the rule before not playing with fire is never burn plastic. Did the bag burn because that will make you sick really quick.

[miles]

Yeah I was kidding. I wasn't sitting in the way the smoke was blowing either. It still made me sick though.

[raw-al]

I find that smoke in my eyes has a therapeutic effect in that it forces the tear ducts to pour it's medicine on the eyes. It will cure an eye infection over night in the same way that Tratika does.

I like the smell of smoke, but it depends on the wood you're using. Cedar is bad news whether burned or used as fertilizer or the dust is breathed. I believe various woods are bad news such as Walnut.

What kind of wood was it Miles? I am guessing it was dry, as trying to light green wood with your method would have taken a week.

[Iguana]

Wood smoke is highly noxious, especially if the wood is not perfectly dry.

Why is woodsmoke a problem?

Smoke from wood heaters is a major cause of air pollution. In fact, during winter, wood heaters can produce up to seven times as much particle pollution as cars. Not only is a smoking fire wasting your money, but the air pollution it causes can also affect our health.

That's why we need to change the way we use our heaters.

Woodsmoke contains a number of noxious gases (including carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and a range of organic compounds, some of which are toxic or carcinogenic) and fine particles, which go deep into the lungs.

Table 1 shows the annual emissions contribution of domestic solid fuel combustion to total (i.e. human and natural derived sources) annual emissions of air pollutants in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) and Sydney Region. Refer to Air Emissions Inventory for the Greater Metropolitan Region in NSW for a detailed description of sources, pollutants and regions.

It indicates that domestic solid fuel combustion contributes a significant proportion of many of the air pollutants listed.
(...)

In winter, there is more particle pollution caused by woodsmoke than any other single source.

In Sydney, domestic solid fuel combustion contributes 19% and 29% of annual PM10 and PM2.5 particle pollution, respectively. On a winter weekend day, the contribution of PM10 and PM2.5 particle pollution can be as high as 48% and 60%, respectively. In colder climates, such as Armidale, the contribution of woodsmoke to particle pollution is higher.

The fine particles in woodsmoke contribute to the brown haze often seen on still winter mornings.

[miles]

What kind of wood was it Miles? I am guessing it was dry, as trying to light green wood with your method would have taken a week.

Loads of different types of wood, I don't know what they were. There was a lot of smoke. I did use damp wood but only after the fire had been going for a while and it had dried a bit by being next to the flame.

Iguana do you use wood fire at all? Or would you ever use it in any situation?

[Iguana]

Iguana do you use wood fire at all? Or would you ever use it in any situation?

I use it in my closed fireplace to heat my house and I'm very careful to insure that no smoke comes inside. 

[miles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTBJJsgUsG8

What do you think of this shelter? Looks like hell to me.