Ranger TV unites all who share it, ensuring that camping is more than just time in a tent. Any debate on the greater importance of beer or fire should not exist. Each is vital to the experience, but if there’s no fire, it’s just drinking beer around a tent, and might as well be called tenting.

Fire needs constant attention, a duty shared by all who are fortunate enough to gather around. I never heard the phrase Ranger TV until I was Army cold and Army starving in the middle of North Carolina’s pine forests, and it was made in passing. I took it in stride, pretending that was not the first I’d heard it called such. We were all grateful for the heat, and the fire to cook by, and that was the important thing. Once we had completed a land navigation course, the entire process would begin, and it ended when we passed out, warm, fat and happy.

Waiting with want, and feigned patience. A perfect gentleman.

As the channels cycle, there always seems to be plenty of time to reflect, to swap stories, and to laugh.

Though I don’t get to watch Ranger TV as much as I’d like, the smell, the crackling, the process all take me back to the times I’ve had and forward to the times I hope to have. Ranger TV is my favorite show, and as with all things, it’s better when shared.