Spent 3 hours trying to figure out why my smoke wasn't thin and blue

Turns out I was using damp wood chunks from a rainy week in Atlanta and it took my buddy walking over and pointing at the pile for me to finally get it, has anyone else chased a simple problem for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_hill2315d agoMost Upvoted

Are you really telling me you spent 3 hours on damp wood and didn't think to check the pile first? That's not a mystery, that's just not paying attention. I mean, how long does it take to look at your wood? A minute, tops. Smoke's supposed to be thin and blue, sure, but wet wood gives off thick white stuff. That's like the first thing you learn. Your buddy probably could have saved you two hours and 45 minutes if he'd just walked over sooner.

kelly6115d ago

Man, you're absolutely right, "it's like the first thing you learn" - and I clearly slept through that lesson. I once spent an entire afternoon trying to light a fire with wood that was basically a swamp log, and I just kept blaming the matches. I think my brain just short-circuits when there's smoke involved, like I forget that wood shouldn't feel like a wet sponge. Your buddy comment hits close to home too, my neighbor watched me struggle for an hour before he finally yelled over, "That's not a fire, that's a steam bath." I guess some of us just need to learn the hard way, or in my case, the really damp way.