How to Build a Campfire

Man's oldest foe can be tamed. What once only caused forest fires can now bring light, warmth and hot beans.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Camp-stove Fuels
• Camping Stoves
• Lighter Or Matches
• Hatchets & Axes

1. 

   Situate your fire at least 10 feet away from tents, trees, roots and other flammable items if there's no fire ring available. Clear a space 24 to 32 inches across.

2. 

   Don't make a ring of rocks if one isn't already there, and don't build against a boulder or other rocks. This will needlessly char the rocks without adding any significant containment to the fire.

3. 

   Gather firewood and kindling if necessary, using only fallen branches. Note that many parks and wilderness areas even forbid gathering fallen material, which plays an important role in the ecosystem.

4. 

   Build a small, loose pile of kindling, making sure to allow space for air to feed the fire. Include paper scraps, dry plant matter and other small, flammable items.

5. 

   Construct a pyramid of dry twigs and small sticks around and above the kindling pile.

6. Light the kindling with a match.

7. Add increasingly larger sticks and then logs as the fire grows in strength, always leaving enough space between them for the fire to breathe.

Tips & Warnings

• Using a gas stove instead of a campfire to cook food in the wilderness is recommended - it's easier to use, cleaner and better for the environment.
• Always have someone watching your campfire - don't leave it unattended.
• Be sure to familiarize yourself with the fire regulations of the area you're camping in before starting a fire.

[renf8742]

on 6/30/2008 Everyone should put a handful of dryer lint in there bug out bag, dryer lint is highly flamable and will add ease to creating your fire.

on 8/8/2006 Whenever you go camping you should always be prepared. Bringing matches in a old film case and with the striker that can easily fit in there, could save your life if you get cold. Waterproof matches are a plus....and so is a lighter for that matter!
Another thing you can do is use a piece of 00 steel wool and place it under your fire that is already built tee-pee style or whichever way you choose. Take a 9-Volt battery and touch both the negative and positive to the steel wool. In a second or two it should light up and start your fire.

on 8/8/2006 First, get small pieces of dry grass some twigs, and anything else that can start a fire and put it in the center of the campfire site. Then find or get two large sturdy pieces of wood. Put them parallel to each other in the campfire site, then add to others on top of them, but this time put them on so that it looks like a Tic-Tac-Toe, game board. Then take a match and light the kindling. Remember, do not use wood or plants or grass that is wet, because it will not burn, you must use only dead grass, twigs, weeds and wood. You will usually find dead wood on the forest floor, the same with grass weeds and twigs. It is easier to get logs from a store that sells them, but use kindling from the woods.

on 6/30/2006 Although using accelerants to start a fire is all well and good, gasoline is a poor, and dangerous, accelerant. Gasoline in its liquid state is not very flammable; it's the vapors that are. And, the vapors are more explosive than flammable.
Instead, use common grill lighter fluid, Coleman-type white gas, or kerosene. They all burn instead of exploding, which is why they're sold as fire-starters and gasoline is not.

Definitely keep the can away from the fire, and don't squirt directly from the can onto the flame. I have actually seen the flame follow the stream up to a can of white gas. It was then thrown out of fear, resulting in a spiraling shower of flaming death. The flame never reached the can, since the stream got interrupted in the throw, but it spread a lot of burning fuel around. Funny, but scary. Thankfully it rained that day, or all the grass would've gone up in flames.

A suggestion if you need to pour more fuel onto a lit fire: put it into a cup first, so it can't follow the flame up to the can. Just make sure no one drinks from that cup, or you'll see how fire-breathers do their tricks.

Remember, fuel poured directly onto the flames will usually put them out. It's best to build the fire well and douse it before lighting.
One last tip: fires need air. Once your fire has taken hold and coals are starting, a Frisbee or paper plate makes a great fan to add air to the fire. This will accelerate your coals, and usually brings flames back as well. Don't do it too early, obviously, as it will put a fire without any coals right out.

on 6/30/2006 In the 40's and 50's we used to save the cardboard toilet paper rolls. Take a bunch of sawdust from your shop or your neighbors shop, and some paraffin. Melt the paraffin and mix in the sawdust and fill the tubes with the mixture. You can even coat the outside of the tubes with some paraffin. When you get ready to start a fire, just slice of a piece of the tube and light.