Campfire Reflectors

[sr1355]

So in my quest to get as much comfort in the cold as I can I'm thinking a small sheet metal reflector of some sort that would increase a fires directed heat output. Looking for ideas or comments, thinking maybe a 16x16 piece of gal sht metal that can be rolled up and straped to bottom of backpack. Alum won't work in my opinion due to potential heat related problems but I could be wrong...

[Shug]

We use a big one on our backyard fire pit .... works well and directs the heat at you.
Shug

[sr1355]

Thanks Shug I have a week long trip early Dec and temps will be in low teens to upper singles at night... Like to have a small fire and maximize heat output from it before sleepy time, as well as in the morns... LOL!!!

[Rat]

I use a Mylar coated survival blanket. I have the heavy duty one from Cabela's but even the single use plastic kind work very well as a fire reflector; lightweight, multi-use and cheap.

Cabela's sportsman's survival blanket

Emergency survival blanket

Two person survival blanket

[JayS]

When I grew up, we had them in a couple of fireplaces, they were called "fire backs" and they were heavy metal - probably weighed 30 to 50 pounds. Should be fine for backpacking. Seriously, they reflected heat away from the back of the fireplace and also released residual heat after the fire died out.

If you are just wanting to reflect heat, how about a windshield reflector (or Reflectix)? If others use emergency blankets without melting them, a reflector should work. For reflecting heat, shiny works. But if you are worried about aluminum not withstanding the heat, maybe a reflector would not work either. How about copper roof flashing? You might need to keep the reflecting side polished.

Let us know what you try and how it works.

[Jsaults]

Heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Jim

[canoebie]

A buddy of mine and I were solo paddling on the Manistee river November of 1996 and got caught in a nasty blizzard. That night we broke camp right at dark, two feet of snow on the ground with lows in the low teens. Firewood was hard to find and we were cold and hungry.

Once we got the fire going, we were able to get a couple of long stakes in the ground and stacked our wood on the opposite side of the fire from where we were sitting, creating a wall of wood. The heat reflected back to us really nicely and the wood dried from the heat. We kept that wall replenished with fresh wood, it continued to dry, and we continued to stay warm. Breaking the wind and not allowing the radiant heat to travel that direction, our "wall of wood" will forever be implanted in our minds as one of those "aha" moments. We had steak, baked potatoes, and warm brandy that night. Threw some tarps out in the snow under a parafly and slept on the ground to a full moon glistening on the first fresh fall of snow that year.

Warm and satisfied, we went into a deep sleep. The memory of that reflector warms me as I think about it now.

[lori]

where I go, rock faces a-plenty. Build a fire near one that's sloping gently outward and the heat bounces back and down on you.

One of the oldtimers described to me how he got caught out in November and needed warmth, so he dug a long trench near a large granite overhang, built a fire in it, gathered enough to stoke it all night, and got through the teens and light rainfall that way overnight. Survival skills and then some.

[^shane^]

Once we got the fire going, we were able to get a couple of long stakes in the ground and stacked our wood on the opposite side of the fire from where we were sitting, creating a wall of wood. The heat reflected back to us really nicely and the wood dried from the heat. We kept that wall replenished with fresh wood, it continued to dry, and we continued to stay warm. Breaking the wind and not allowing the radiant heat to travel that direction, our "wall of wood" will forever be implanted in our minds as one of those "aha" moments.

Brings back those Boy Scout memories of my youth. Every fall and winter fire was a reflector fire just like this. The wood reflector works!

[GingivitisKahn]

A buddy of mine and I were solo paddling on the Manistee river November of 1996 and got caught in a nasty blizzard. That night we broke camp right at dark, two feet of snow on the ground with lows in the low teens. Firewood was hard to find and we were cold and hungry.

Once we got the fire going, we were able to get a couple of long stakes in the ground and stacked our wood on the opposite side of the fire from where we were sitting, creating a wall of wood. The heat reflected back to us really nicely and the wood dried from the heat. We kept that wall replenished with fresh wood, it continued to dry, and we continued to stay warm. Breaking the wind and not allowing the radiant heat to travel that direction, our "wall of wood" will forever be implanted in our minds as one of those "aha" moments. We had steak, baked potatoes, and warm brandy that night. Threw some tarps out in the snow under a parafly and slept on the ground to a full moon glistening on the first fresh fall of snow that year.

Warm and satisfied, we went into a deep sleep. The memory of that reflector warms me as I think about it now.

Reflector fire. No need to carry extra gear if you don't want to...

http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?191 (scroll down a bit.)