# Does smoke from the campfire follow you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917 "2006-04-09T03:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/1 "2006-04-09T03:27:23Z")
_sigh_ I know, I know… It’s my imagination. There’s no proof of this phenomenon. But it’s true. The smoke from ANY fire will find me. I can move as many times as I want, and it will always follow me. Campfire smoke always changes directions? Not if I remain still. It’s me affecting the microclimate? Then why don’t the other six or so people moving around affect it? It even works when I’m lighting the grill. Doesn’t matter who’s around, or where they stand. The smoke finds ME. It’s a good thing the draw in a chimney is so strong…I’d never be invited to anyone’s house during the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/2 "2006-04-09T03:29:42Z")
My mom always said that smoke follows beauty. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/3 "2006-04-09T03:30:06Z")
Yes, it is true. Even as I type, there is some sitting in a car across the street from my house. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/4 "2006-04-09T03:33:30Z")
Is this like that thing where streetlamps go out if you walk underneath them? (WAG, because I’m really not a scientist, but there might be particles in your clothes that attract particles in the smoke…?) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/5 "2006-04-09T04:27:48Z")
You really oughta invest in a universal smoke shifter. I think Camp-Mor carries them; if they’re out of stock, ask a sales clerk and I’m sure they’ll tell you who does have them on hand. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/6 "2006-04-09T04:36:45Z")
The story I heard was that smoke followed beauty, but Beauty was a horse. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/7 "2006-04-09T04:53:40Z")
Yes, I’ve heard the old Girl Scout chestnut. However, if smoke follows beauty, then why doesn’t Tony Stewart (Smoke) finish behind Kasey Kahne (beauty) in every NASCAR race? ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/8 "2006-04-09T04:53:59Z")
Smoke will always shift away from you if you simply say aloud the phrase “I hate rabbits.” You don’t actually have to hate rabbits for it to work. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/9 "2006-04-09T05:37:12Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > You really oughta invest in a universal smoke shifter. I think Camp-Mor carries them; if they’re out of stock, ask a sales clerk and I’m sure they’ll tell you who does have them on hand. Actually, I think we used a left handed smoke bender, but we needed 100’ of shore line to manage it. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/10 "2006-04-09T06:23:07Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Smoke will always shift away from you if you simply say aloud the phrase “I hate rabbits.” > > You don’t actually have to hate rabbits for it to work. That’s not for _smoke_. That’s to keep the ashes that sometimes fly out (‘white rabbits’) away from you. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/11 "2006-04-09T08:23:07Z")
The scientifically tried and true method to deflect smoke is to lick your pointer finger and then point it in the opposite direction to which the smoke is drifting. The only problem arises when the campfire is surrounded by people all doing the same thing. I have, however, seen smoke spiral into an upward vortex when this happens. See? It must be true. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/12 "2006-04-09T12:34:36Z")
Yeah, add me to the list. I rarely bother sitting during our annual camping trips, just because I’ll have to move my chair out of the smoke’s path after a minute anyway. Hey, here’s a thought – since the smoke follows all of us, we should all go camping together. Eight smoke-attractor-type people around a campfire? Heh…we’ll totally freak out the smoke 'til it don’t know what to do. ---
**Author:** ![everyone\_loves\_monkeys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9e5f3/32.png) [@everyone\_loves\_monkeys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everyone_loves_monkeys)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/13 "2006-04-09T13:27:21Z")
Your wrong, there is a scientific reason for this. Its a widely applicable formula known as ‘sods law’. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/14 "2006-04-09T14:55:14Z")
Next time, chant “I hate rabbits”. The smoke will magically change direction. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/15 "2006-04-09T15:26:40Z")
Our comedians notwithstanding, there is a reason for campfire smoke to blow toward you in a couple of cases. If you are generally downwind the reason is easy to see. If you are generally upwind you create a lee into which smioke will drift. Generally crosswind is the place to stand to avoid the smoke but even there your lee could fill with a bit of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/16 "2006-04-09T16:04:49Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Our comedians notwithstanding, there is a reason for campfire smoke to blow toward you in a couple of cases. > > If you are generally downwind the reason is easy to see. > > If you are generally upwind you create a lee into which smioke will drift. > > Generally crosswind is the place to stand to avoid the smoke but even there your lee could fill with a bit of the stuff. Bingo. The place to stand is not at the head of the smake drifting away from you (temporarily), but to the \*side \*of the smoke. Of course, inevitably some other schlub comes up and plops their chair down in the wrong spot, sending the smoke running to you like an outraged toddler. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/17 "2006-04-09T16:52:02Z")
In America, you go out for smoke. In Soviet Russia, smoke goes out for YOU! ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/18 "2006-04-09T18:01:22Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > Our comedians notwithstanding, there is a reason for campfire smoke to blow toward you in a couple of cases. > > If you are generally downwind the reason is easy to see. > > If you are generally upwind you create a lee into which smioke will drift. > > Generally crosswind is the place to stand to avoid the smoke but even there\*\* your lee could fill with a bit of the stuff\*\*. \ …and if you’ve ever had your lee fill with smioke you know how painful _that_ can be! “The place to stand is not at the head of the smake” This is of course the past-tense of smoke, yes? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/19 "2006-04-09T18:20:47Z")
I find swearing viciously at the smoke helps. This also works with wasps. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917/20 "2006-04-09T18:35:26Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > Actually, I think we used a left handed smoke bender, but we needed 100’ of shore line to manage it. That’s _so_ 1980s. You just need to keep it well-lubed with relative bearing grease. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-smoke-from-the-campfire-follow-you/351917.md?page=2)