How To Start A Campfire

A campfire is probably the first thing you imagine when you close your eyes and envision your upcoming camping trip. You can see its glow from under the veil of the night sky. You can imagine the heat radiating from the pit you’ve constructed. You can smell the smoke emitting from the embers as the firewood cooks the night away. A campfire can be the most relaxing and most enjoyable parts of your camping trip. However, it is also one of the most essential things to your survival in the wilderness. In this article, we will examine the details and the strategies for building a good campfire.

Where to build your campfire

Far too often do people get wrapped up in the construction of their campfire that they forget the most important aspect of campfire construction: the location of your campfire. Contrary to what you might think, you cannot just start a fire any old place. You have to employ some strategy when selecting a location for your campfire. Not only that, but many campsites and parks have regulations on open-air burning. Be sure to check with your local authorities for any restrictions on fires where you plan to camp.

Once you have determined that you are legally able to have a campfire at your campsite, you will need to determine the optimal location for your campfire. Generally speaking, you will need to keep a 10-foot perimeter of clearance around your fire. This means that you shouldn’t be constructing a campfire unnecessarily close to your tent. A campfire is not meant to heat the inside of your dwelling. This is what proper clothing and a sleeping bag are for. Additionally, it should go without saying that leaving a campfire unattended is one of the worst things you can do in terms of safety. That means that leaving your fire burning while you sleep in your tent is not something you should consider. Therefore, build your campfire far enough away from your tent in order to minimize your risk of catching the tent on fire.

In addition to being mindful of your campfire’s position in relation to your tent, you should also be mindful of the fire’s placement in relation to anything flammable. This means that the 10-foot clearance perimeter applies to grass and shrubbery that could potentially catch fire if an ember were to break off and make contact. Furthermore, don’t just think of the perimeter in terms of flammable things at ground level. You also need to be mindful of low-hanging tree branches and anything overhead that can potentially catch fire. Remember that heat rises and if you build your campfire under a tree with dry leaves or dead branches, you run the risk of igniting these.

Once you’ve selected the proper distance for building your campfire in relation to its surroundings, you will then have to determine the best spot to actually place the fire. This is determined by locating a patch of ground that isn’t littered with flammable materials. For example, you wouldn’t want to build your campfire in an area that contains dead grass or any ground-level debris that could potentially spread the fire. For this reason, an area of heavy dirt is preferable over a grassy patch of land. Additionally, if you find an area of heavy gravel or sheets of rock, these can be optimal for building your fire.

If you cannot find a non-grassy area, you can always dig out the grass for an intended campfire location with a tool or even a rock or some tree branches. Anything that can get the job done will be sufficient. The main thing is to be in complete control of your campfire at all times. There should be nothing under or around the campfire that can catch fire.

The Fire Pit –

Now that you have located the perfect spot for your campfire, you will need to construct the area that will enclose the flame. It isn’t enough to just start stacking logs and setting them on fire. You will need a containment structure to corral the flame. This can be done by collecting large stones and placing them in a circle that is big enough to enclose the campfire. The stones should serve as a wall around the fire that is at least six inches high. This wall will keep you burning embers contained and it will serve as a barrier against any unwanted wind that can compromise the fire or inhibit your ability to get it started.

In addition to using stones to build the wall around your campfire, you can also line the bottom of your fire pit with thin rocks. In essence, you are creating a large bowl made from rocks to enclose your campfire. Having rocks lining the bottom of your pit will help to elevate your firewood. This allows oxygen to circulate underneath the wood as it burns which will allow it to catch fire more successfully and it will also burn longer. Remember, a lack of airflow can be detrimental to your campfire. Always make sure the fire can breathe for as long and you hope to keep it lit.

How To Construct The Firewood –

You might be thinking that starting a campfire is as simple as throwing some branches into your fire pit and throwing a match on them. If that is what you were hoping to do on your camping trip then go ahead an try that strategy. Seriously. Go ahead… we’ll wait. Now that you’ve seen that starting a campfire isn’t quite so simple, let’s discuss some strategies for constructing a successful campfire.

There are many survival experts who will preach techniques for staring a fire with two sticks or a single log, etc. For the purposes of this portion of the article, we will be focusing on sound strategies for high success rates of fire ignition. In order to successfully start a campfire, you will need three types of burning material.

1) Brush – This is going to be what you initially light with your math or light. This can be a pile of dry, dead grass or some dry leaves. Basically, you are looking for material that is very easily combustible and can catch fire rapidly at the touch of a match or flame source. This material will burn up rather quickly so you will need kindling to catch the flame before the brush burns out.

2) Kindling – This is your small twigs and splinters of wood that will ignite from the burning brush. If you have ever lit a match and laid it on a wood log you will notice that the log doesn’t catch fire. A large piece of wood requires longer exposure to intense heat before it reaches its flashpoint and catches fire. This is why you need smaller twigs (kindling) to catch fire first and maintain a steady flame that can ignite larger pieces of wood.

3) Wood – this will be your primary fuel source for the fire. You will need thick branches and logs that can burn for hours on end to keep your campfire going. These will need to be very dry in order to catch fire and you will likely have to cut them to a length that can fit within your fire pit.

Once you have acquired these materials, it is time to construct them in a way that is conducive to burning and sustaining a flame. There are a number of ways to do this.

Teepee –

Just as the name implies, you can construct your kindling in the form of a teepee. Position the twigs in an upright fashion so that each twig’s weight counterbalances the weight of the adjacent twigs. For convenience, you can secure the teepee structure with a piece of string. You can construct the teepee of kindling over top of your brush of dead grass and/or leaves. That way, once you introduce your flame to the brush, the flame will rise and ignite the teepee of kindling. Once your kindling is burning, you will need to take your actual firewood and assemble a larger teepee over top of the burning teepee of kindling. The flame from the kindling will rise and ignite the firewood. Once you have accomplished this, you simply need to feed the fire with more wood for as long as needed.

Log Cabin –

Similar to the teepee, you will construct your kindling in the form of a housing structure. This time, however, instead of building a triangle shaped teepee, you will stack your kindling she shape of a square that is similar to that of a log cabin. You will alternate levels of sticks to form a square-shaped stack of kindling sticks. Once you have done this, you will place your brush within the center of the structure. Once you set fire to the brush, the flame will spread and ignite the kindling. Assemble your firewood in a similar log cabin fashion only this time you will lay longer pieces of wood over the top of the structure. This will serve as a sort of “roof” for the log cabin and will be situated over top of the burning kindling log cabin. The flame from the kindling will burn and be in direct contact with the firewood positioned over the top of it. This will all the firewood time to heat and to be ignited by the kindling flame. Once your firewood is burning, you can add more logs as needed.

The purpose of these structures (either the teepee or the log cabin) is to allow airflow to circulate and feed the flames needed to ignite the firewood. If you simply drop a thick piece of firewood on top of some burning grass, the log will smother the flame and you will never get a good campfire started. The key to a successful campfire is to start your flame small and gradually increase the size by progressively adding larger pieces of wood.

Techniques For Starting A Fire –

Now that we have covered the details for constructing your firewood, we need to discuss how to actually light your fire. There are a number of ways to do this. Of course, the easiest way to light the fire is a direct flame. This can be done with a lighter or torch of some sort. If you are planning for a simple camping trip, you need to be sure to bring some sort of flame generating device.

If for some reason you forget to bring a lighter on your camping trip, or if you lose your lighter, there are other ways to start a campfire.

Glass – you can use any sort of magnifying glass to focus the light from the sun on a central point and ignite a flame. If you are someone who wears glasses, these can be used to concentrate the sun’s rays and start a campfire.

Friction Bow – This is a method of using a device that resembles a bow for shooting arrows but instead of firing projectiles, the string rotates a cylinder of wood to create friction and generate heat. Here is a helpful video that describes how to accomplish this.

Foil and battery technique – Just like it sounds, this method uses an AA battery and some foil to conduct a current that will serve as your flame source.

So there you have it. With these simple techniques and a little planning, you will be able to successfully build a campfire and survive your trip.