To have fire, elementally, you must have 3 things: Heat, fuel and oxygen.
The heat may come from the spark of a firesteel or flint, from a match struck soundly or a regular old disposable butane lighter. I usually have all three available and I will refer to any of these methods as “ignition”. Fuel covers a wide range of materials, but for the scope of this article, we’ll stick to wood. Wood suitable for building campfires is literally all around us, at least in the Southeast where I stomp around the most. The third and most important element to a fire is Oxygen. Fortunately, Earth Air at most altitudes humans frequent contains enough oxygen to readily support the combustion of wood. So much so that we’ll just call it air for the sake of this exercise.
There are many ways to combine these 3 to create a flame. However, to safely have a dependable campfire, there are 5 things you must know.
1.This first part of building a fire doesn’t even involve ignition. You’ve got to prepare a spot.
Fire is dangerous. It’s only safe when contained in the proper manner. If we just build a fire on top of a pile of dry leaves or pine straw, soon we may be in a very dangerous situation. Always clear a spot larger than you intend your fire to be. Next, if available, do attempt to ring the area with rocks large enough to not be easily brushed aside.
2. Now, you’ve got your “firepit” situated. It’s time to gather wood.
A good fire requires a range of sizes of wood. We can’t just hold a lighter to a chunk of cordwood and expect to have a fire. It’s easiest to start with very small twigs and sticks and build up in size. Gather enough ahead of time to allow your fire to be self sustaining long enough to gather more. I recommend a pile of sticks roughly the size of a busy students’ book bag ranging in size from toothpick(kindling) to about as big as your thumb. Be sure to break them down into similar lengths with the thickest being the longest, just able to fit inside the firepit and the thinnest being about the length of your hand.
3. Once you have enough to get started, choose your “build”.
There are different ways to make the initial layout. Common methods include the “log cabin”, “pyramid”, lean-to, star or cross, and “teepee”. These more or less look like they sound, with the log cabin being a flat build with sticks lain atop one another in a square grid with an open middle. The teepee is a tall arrangement with the sticks standing up and leaning on each other with a circular base and open middle. The star/cross is where you butt larger sticks together on the ground in an X or star patter and place the tinder and kindling in the center. The lean-to involves leaning smaller sticks/twigs against a larger chunk of wood and placing the tinder under the leaning stick/twigs. My favorite is the pyramid because I have achieved the quickest heat with this method. Lay about 6 of the largest, longest sticks you gathered next to each other on the ground in the middle of the firepit. Then make a layer of smaller, shorter sticks perpendicular to the first layer, alternating each layer perpendicular to the last. Now, we’ll create a space for the tinder
by doing a layer with a gap in the middle at least third the width of the layer, repeating this at least 3 layers until you have a well into which to place the tinder once it’s ignited. Have a few more layers of some of the smallest sticks(kindling) ready to on the top of the tinder.
4. Let’s discuss starting the fire.
Somehow, we must convert the ignition into a flame that will last. First, you must have reliable ignition. Second, you must have tinder that will catch easily with even just a spark to produce a flame. Finally, you must have kindling to capture the first flame to allow for a lasting heat.
Ignition must be achieved first. There are many ways to do this. I have had great success with lighters, ferrocerium rods and plain old matches. My favorite form of ignition is the UCO “STORMPROOF MATCHES”. These are extremely reliable, even in the wettest, windiest weather and burn long enough to almost be their own tinder. However, I always try have additional tinder. Some good examples of tinder you can find in the wilds include dead, dried grasses, leaves and pine needles. The inner layer of certain tree barks can also provide good tinder if it’s dry and can be stripped into thin fibers. Wood shavings are good forms of tinder, especially from old pine logs. If you can find some “fatwood”, you’re in good shape. Look for another story on this topic in more detail soon. While all of these are great, readily available and can even work in damp weather, I still tend to bring my own tinder. There are many artificial tinders that can be bought or made at home that I like. Cotton balls dunked in petroleum jelly, cotton makeup pads soaked in melted parrafin, dryer lint balls, and even 000 steel wool. I will usually have some combination of theses My favorite form of artificial tinder is WETFIRE BY UST. It’s safe, compact, lightweight and is completely consumed in the fire. Just one little block will get a fire going, even in awful conditions.
5. putting it all together.
Now that you have your firepit prepped and your pyramid stacked, let’s strike a match. Lay that bit of tinder that you’ve selected in the spot you made for it and set it alight with your form of ignition. Once it’s alight, begin layering twigs over it, waiting for each new layer to take up the flame so you don’t cut off the air flow, or smother, the tiny fire. Eventually you will see a glowing blossom of orange light coming up from the middle of your pyramid. Once you’ve got a few layers of twigs alight, add a layer or two of some larger sticks, remember to alternate at right angles as you build, waiting for each layer to begin burning. Soon, you’ll be able to add a layer of your larger sticks without fear of smothering your now growing heat source. In a few minutes, you should have a significant level of warmth and orange-red glow emanating from the heart of your campfire.
Add a layer of your largest sticks and enjoy.
Now you can enjoy the warmth and maybe gather some larger fuel for an all night burn!
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