Learning how to build a fire is an important skill to tackle. If you love the wilderness,knowing how to make a campfire can even be a life-saving skill! It’s not rocket science, but there are definitely some ‘do’s’ to quickly build a fire, even if it’s wet. Learn how to build a fire for your next adventure into the wild with the tips below!
How to Start a Campfire
There are four components for building a campfire:
1. Tinder
This is the tiny, easiest to burn materials such as wood shavings, dryer lint, wax, wadded up paper, strips of cardboard, fire sticks, pine straw, pine cones, leaves, birch bark, etc. You will need to collect a nice pile of these materials. This is what you use to ‘catch’ the flame for a quick start fire.
2. Kindling
This is large twigs of about 1/8 – 1/2″ in diameter.
3. Firewood
Branches and logs from 1″ – 5″ in diameter. DO NOT break off green branches from trees. Use fallen, dead (preferably dry) branches. To prevent bringing in unwanted pests, be sure to source your wood locally, either from the ground or buy at a local store. Collect enough to keep your fire going as long as you’ll need it. Softwoods like pine burn quickly. If you need the fire to keep you warm all night, seek hardwoods, like oak.
4. Fire Starter
You will need something to start the fire. Options include a cigarette or stick ligher, matches (preferably waterproof), or flint. While you could also use friction (remember turning a stick to generate smoke?), this is super difficult and unnecessary when you have such easy alternatives. If car camping, I prefer a BBQ gas stick lighter. If backpacking, where space is a premium, I use a mini cigarette lighter plus I bring some birthday candles. It makes it easy to light one of those to use as safe long flame to start up the tinder in multiple places. I always keep a backup firestarter, usually dryer lint wadded with petroleum jelly in a small zip bag, or waterproof matches and a firestick. A firestick is a man-made easily combustible mini log about 4″ long. I would recommend ALWAYS keeping a small zip bag with the dryer lint/petroleum jelly mix so that you have a reliable, long lasting fire starter – especially helpful in damp weather!
Where to Build Your Campfire
As the wilderness becomes more and more crowded, it’s important that we minimize our impact. Afterall, isn’t it the pristine nature that calls us to the wild anyway? Let’s do our part to Leave No Trace when it comes to building a camp fire. Here’s how:
- Use existing fire rings or previous camp fire spots rather than building a new one.
- Get down to the bare dirt. Ideally you want no vegetation 8-10′ from the fire. If you clear away dirt, keep it close to the fire in case you need to use it to quickly douse your flame.
- Make sure BEFORE YOU ENTER THE WOODS that campfires are even allowed! Check with the Rangers and even if allowed, ask about current conditions and what the rules are. The wildfires we’ve seen these last few years are heartbreaking and none of us wants to be the cause of one. Embers can travel as far as a mile, according to a Forestry billboard near my home – WOW! Also ask if you need to get a permit.
How to Build the Fire
There are several popular techniques folks use to build their campfires. Experiment to find your favorite. In all cases, you’ll want to start with building a pile of tinder about a foot in diameter. Next choose your style:
Teepee Fire
Like the name sounds, you build a teepee looking structure. Put kindling over your tinder in a teepee like fashion and then put your firewood over the timber also in a teepee fashion.
Lean To Fire
This method can be helpful is there is a small breeze (but don’t make a fire if it is windy to prevent causing a forest fire!). Mkae your pile of tinder and then add your kindling on top allowing plenty of air. Then to make your lean to, place a stick of wood in the dirt and angle it up in the direction of the wind at around a thirty degree angle. If you have a large rock or squatty log, you can rest the other end on that, if need be. You will use this spine to rest your firewood on, so add the firewood to each side of the ‘spine’.
Criss Cross Fire
Place two fire logs the width of your planned fire. Then add your tinder and kindling. Add more logs by adding them in the opposite direction of your base layer. And then alternate layers by adding logs/branches in opposite directions to make a bit of a log cabin effect.
Starting your Camp Fire
Once you’ve built your fire structure, it’s time to light it. Using one of the fire starter methods mentioned earlier, light your tinder in several places. Sometimes you need to blow on your fire to help it grow. It is important that your fire had plenty of air. If you put your firewood too close, take a stick and let in more air.
- You don’t want a really tall fire – remember how ashes can travel! Keep it under control.
- Keep dirt, water and a shovel nearby in case you need to put out the fire quickly.
- While tempting, DON’T use charcoal lighter fluid or gasoline to start your fire. It’s dangerous!
- Add more firewood every 45 minutes or so to keep the fire going.
- Stoke the fire with a long stick to push embers to the surface and expose new wood to the flame. Your goal is to create embers.
Putting Out your Camp Fire
Obviously, never leave your fire unattended. Before you move on, make sure that your fire is COMPLETELY out!!!
Sprinkle it with water rather than dousing it – you’ll make things easier for the next camper if the fire site is not drenched.
Place your hand over the fire : do you feel any heat? Stir the coals up and check again.
If you built a fire ring or otherwise disturbed the area, try to put things back the way you found them.
How to Start a Fire When it’s Wet
While challenging, it’s not impossible to get a fire going when it’s wet outside. Here’s how:
You need to choose a location out of the rain. This might be in a cave or under a large fallen tree. If the rain has passed, you can build wherever you need to, but will still have to deal with finding some dry material to get the fire going.
- While you are hiking in the rain, be on the lookout for good tinder. You’ll be glad you did!
- If all the wood on the ground is soaked, look up for dead branches caught in trees. Often they will be dry on the inside. If this is an emergency, you can push over a dead tree. Often the root core is still dry and filled with turpentine. You can also make larger kindling by using a 4-5″ branch as a hammer with your knife to cut off fat wood.
- You are going to need a lot more kindling and tinder, so collect accordingly. Look for dry thistles. Pine resin/sap also works great. Look under dense canopies and other protected areas for supplies.
- If you can’t find enough tinder, you can peel the bark off a dead branch and then use your knife to make shavings. This is tedious, but effective.
- Make a hardwood platform over the damp soil, then add your tinder and kindling, then firewood.
- Use the perimeter of the platform to put wet logs to dry them out as the fire burns. Your goal is to evaporate as much of the moisture as possible.
- You will need to keep adding small sticks to rekindle the fire as needed and keep the embers going.
- Try to make a shelter for your materials to keep them out of the elements.
- Backpackers generally don’t have this luxury, but if you are car camping, pack along a shovel, hatchet, good knife and folding saw. If you are lucky enough to have these tools, you can find a downed dead tree and look for branches the width of your arm. Cut it off and hold the cut end to your cheek. It should feel dry on the inside. If it’s wet discard the branch, and do so as well as if it smells rank. Saw your chosen branch into 12″ logs and split each into kindling, remove the bark with your knife and then split into kindling. You can use your hatchet as a splitting wedge. Hold the hatchet where you want it to split and then have a friend pound it with a log (you might have to finagle this yourself). You can also make shavings for tinder with your knife.
Learning how to build a fire is one of the most important outdoor skills you can learn. I recommend practicing at home so you’ll have the knowledge and confidence to build a fire when you are in the wild.
(C) Active Travel Adventures, LLC – All Rights Reserved
