Building a Campfire

     Over the past few years I have made several campfires for the purpose of cooking, warmth, and lighting. Building a responsible campfire is easy to do with patience, preparation, and a bit of guidance. 

      In the steps below,  I will share easy step-by-step techniques on building a successful campfire. 

      Please be aware of your surroundings and build your fires only in appropriate fire zones and do not build during extremely dry conditions. Build 15 feet away from tent walls, shrubs, trees, or other flammable objects. 

You will need:

• Axe
• Matches or lighter
• Tinder - Two handfuls
• Kindling- Two armfuls
• Fuel wood - A pile knee high

If is important to use dead and dry wood. This means that your wood should not be green, and should snap when broken. It is also important to collect all wood prior to lighting. 

Step 1: Gather

1.  Starter- Dry Birch Bark (Do not peel from tree) or newspaper soaked in wax. 

2. Kindling- Thumb sized in width and from fingertips to elbow length

3.  Fuel Wood- Arm Sized, as big as you can carry

Step 2: Build

1. Place starter in the center of the fire pit. 
2. Loosely place a handful of tinder on top of the starter. 
3. Loosely pile kindling in tipi fashion approximately 6 pieces. 
4. In log cabin fashion pile fuel wood closely around the tipi.      

Step 3: Light

     Use a match or lighter to light the starter at the bottom of the wood structure. The flames will rise up from the starter and catch the tinder, kindling, and fuel wood. 

Sit back and relax!

     Now that you have your fire started simply add fuel wood to maintain it. Having a nice bed of coals is necessary for cooking. Next time we will discuss our favorite campfire recipes!