TRF Fire Ban - Please Read

[Lady Laura]

Necessity is the mother of invention.

I already have all this stuff, so I'm not out any $$$, but here's my "campfire".  I'm using the battery pack from my portable fan:

pluggin in my ac/dc adapter:

and then plugging my awesome fake fire into it.

I stack up firewood around it, and presto:

[Lady Laura]

On second thought, I might get alot of people running up with fire extinguishers.  Maybe I'll just stick with a fluorescent lantern and solar tikis!

[Bonny Pearl]

On second thought, I might get alot of people running up with fire extinguishers.  Maybe I'll just stick with a fluorescent lantern and solar tikis!

LOL, yep that might be a good idea. 

[DKayM]

Even though I'm a smoker, I'm glad to see the ban in effect. I have no problem with having to use designated smoking areas, and/or fines for those who break the rules. The safety of people and the grounds are way more important than me having a bit of nicotine. Even before the fire bans, I've always used those snuffers that hold the butts for the car, AND have at least one coffee CAN with dirt in it for others to use. If I chose (in the past) to smoke in Faire, I made sure my cigarette was out, then made the effort to bend over in my corset to pick it up and threw it away in a trash can, after making VERY sure it was all the way out. I'm also not adverse to picking up other people's butts and saying something to someone if I see them just toss it - I've been known to actually chase someone down for doing that VERY rude action.

Last year at closing, we had no heat in or near our tent, except body heat and lots of blankets. I'm sure most of you know how cold it got that weekend!  Yeah, so it won't be the same without the fireworks, but if it means one thing missed in the whole experience, then so be it, as long as people stay safe!  Kudos to TRF for making these rules!

[LadyStitch]

Bonnie, our clan has the propane heater type things like what they have at the hot chocolate place. We just bought the head portion that sits on the propane tank.  I think they were something like $75 each.   We also have a table top one but it connects to a coleman stove bottle.
My clan is only taking 10 people this year, so we are having to consoledate our packing anyway, but the ban is cutting down on our things even more. 

We were planning on doing a hotel if we went to TRF this year, but with Fuzzlet being born early and few ways to have good heat, there is no way we can take her now.

[Chandler]

Even though I'm a smoker, I'm glad to see the ban in effect. I have no problem with having to use designated smoking areas, and/or fines for those who break the rules.

I agree. It's going to be a nuisance to have to leave my camp just to have a cigar, but it's better safe than sorry.  i just hope they put the designated smoking area in a convenient central location in the campgrounds, or have a few of them spread out over the camp.  If they put only one somewhere up by row 1, for example, they're going to have a lot of people just smoking in their campsites because they don't want to make the long trek just for that.  I'm also fine with the designated areas in the park - in fact, I'm surprised that the free for all has lasted this long.

[FaeHollow]

Maybe fire circle will turn into "smoking area"

[ravic]

TRF Fire Ban is now on the KHOU 11 website. Maybe this will help get the word out.

[Chandler]

Maybe fire circle will turn into "smoking area"

That probably makes the most sense, given that it is a large, cleared area that is sorta centrally located.  It's not real close to where I camp, but to be honest, I wouldn't want the one centralized spot to be next door to my camp anyways.

[maeven]

We're going to Academy tomorrow to see what we can find over there. It shouldn't be too bad, considering the majority of the stuff we have already didn't require any heat or fire.

[gaerdon]

Might also want to grab some ear plugs, going to be alot more generators going this year.  Had a feeling this was going to happen so been stocking up on batteries and lights for awhile.  Couple of things i grabbed if its any help to anyone:
Academy has some fleece throws for 4.99 right now (on website as well as in store if they are in stock) cheap enough to toss if they get dirty/dusty/spilled on, but should help with no fire to keep warm
Walmart (at least the local one) had the coleman small propane tank catalytic heaters on sale for $34 for hunting season
The solar powered lawn lights- walmart has them as cheap as $2 a piece, not alot of light per each one, but if its a dark night would be a big help.
Ebay some glow sticks - generaly our choice for in tent lighting, got 100 of them for about $28 off ebay

Now question for anyone else- anyone have any good ideas about attracting people to come up and have a sit/drink/chat for abit?  Generaly me and my wife end up going alone build up a nice fire set out some extra chairs and within an hour weve got a nice group of people to chat with.  Always go and sit at the neighbors for abit to, but this year we are bringing as few as 4 to as many as 11 people who have never been to a renfaire before and want to give them a good first xp at the campground as well as the faire.

[crashbot]

I'm sure I'll figure something out. I made a wooden sign tonight that says "fire" and I have a bunch of red, yellow and orange chemlights...

[SolRac]

They have updated the allowed items at camp grounds

TRF will allow the use of:

·         Electric Lighting devices

·         Electric Heaters

·         Generators

·         Propane cooking and lighting devices

·         Smoking in designated areas


Still People we need to be careful im going to academy tomorrow to buy a fire exstinguisher

[DonaCatalina]

The no smoking is a big step for them. That goes way beyond no campfires. I suspect that the designated smoking area is probably in the Sea Devil.
But I don't blame them for being overly cautious considering how dry things have been. PK and Bastrop parks are not expected to recover for decades.
If you can imagine this, the ground was so dry and the fire so hot that seeds and roots in the ground were burned up.
I would hate to loose TRF over someone's accidently set fire.

[Bonny Pearl]

Okay the weather 'experts' are showing we should start seeing rain around 3 this afternoon.  Everyone go wash your cars lol!  

We are planning to go to Academy this afternoon too.  Seems to be on just about everyones To Do list.