u/Coffee81379

Hi everyone,

I’m from Germany and will likely have the chance to add a short overnight trip at the end of a work visit to the US (possibly around the Great Lakes region, but not 100% sure yet).

I’ve camped quite a bit in Europe, but open campfires are heavily restricted here, which is one reason why I’m really excited about the possibility of experiencing camping in the US.

From what I understand so far, campfires are generally allowed on public land as long as there is no active fire ban, but the exact rules seem to vary depending on the managing agency (BLM, National Forest, State land, etc.).

I always try to strictly follow Leave No Trace principles and local regulations. I’m also involved in small cleanup activities in my area, as irresponsible outdoor use unfortunately causes increasing restrictions here.

I attached a few photos from recent trips to give an idea of the kind of simple trips I enjoy:

• winter camping in Montenegro (snow cave)

•hike and camping near a medieval castle ruin here in Germany

• small river cleanup project

My main questions:

Where do you usually check the exact fire regulations for a specific area?

Is it really as simple as checking current restrictions and then heading onto public land, or are there common pitfalls to be aware of?

Unfortunately I don’t yet know exactly where I will be, but I wanted to get a general sense of how people approach this responsibly in the US.

Side note: the photos are taken with a long selfie stick and an action cam. I don’t use drones - I’m personally not a fan of flying them in natural areas and try to keep my footprint as small as possible.

Thanks a lot - really excited to experience camping in your country.

Quick context: I recently started a project where I’m building a larger number of nest boxes for local bird species that are under pressure here.

One thing I want to better understand is how vulnerable different designs are to predators like martens and especially raccoons, which are an invasive species here and very efficient nest raiders.

I set up one test box with a trailcam and a bit of bait inside (closed so no birds can nest there) to observe how predators approach and interact with the entrance.

So far no raccoon, but I keep getting images of an animal passing behind the setup. Unfortunately most frames only show legs or partial body.

One image seems to show part of the head and snout, which made me wonder if this could be a juvenile red fox – but I’m really not sure.

Habitat: transition zone with woodland and water nearby. I’ve already had beaver and muskrat on camera in the same area.

Location: Southern Germany (Bavaria).

Curious what you think – fox or something else?

Had to improvise a pair of snowshoes recently and thought this community might appreciate the roughness of the result.

I was traveling through the Balkans on my way to Greece and had packed some winter camping gear, but didn’t expect to run into this much snow in the mountains of Montenegro.

To be able to move at all in deeper snow, I ended up quickly rigging a very simple pair of snowshoes from branches, zip ties and a bit of paracord I had in my repair kit.

The idea was loosely inspired by traditional Japanese snowshoes (kanjiki-style), which I always found interesting because of how simple and minimal they are. With cold fingers and limited time the result definitely turned out a bit rougher than intended.

Surprisingly though, they worked well enough to cover a few kilometers and made the trip possible in the first place.

Now that I’m back home with access to proper tools, I’m tempted to try building a cleaner version, possibly closer to the traditional Japanese approach.

Curious if anyone here has experimented with similar minimal snowshoe designs or has experience with kanjiki-style setups?

I included one reference photo of the traditional design that inspired the idea.