How To Build A Campfire - Without A Lighter

How To Build a Roaring Campfire - There is a primal link between man and fire. For ancient man, fire provided warmth, protection from wild animals, light in the dark wilderness, and a place to cook food. While fire is no longer vital to most men’s existence, it still has a magnetic power that attracts us. The flames of fire can inspire legendary stories, generate uplifting discussion, and build camaraderie among the men circled around them. Also, there’s nothing more romantic than cuddling up to your gal next to a warm fire. And I’d take some manly campfire-cooked grub over the food of a four-star restaurant any day. Thus every man should know how to start one and be well-practiced in doing so.
Create Your Fire Bed

When building a fire, always think about safety first. You don’t want to be that guy who starts a raging wildfire in a national park. If your camping site has a designated fire area, use it. If you’re camping in a more rugged area that lacks fire sites, you’ll need to make your own. Select a site away from trees, bushes, and other plant material. Your fire bed should be on bare earth, not grass (especially dead grass). If you can’t find a bare area, make your own by digging and raking away plant material, taking particular care in clearing away all dry plant material. Dry grass, branches, and bark catch fire easily.

After you’ve cleared the area, it’s time to make your bed. Gather in dirt and place it in the center of your cleared area. Form the dirt into a “platform” that’s about 3-4 inches thick.
Time to Gather Your Wood

You’ll need three basics types of materials to build your roaring campfire: tinder, kindling, and fuel wood.

Tinder. Every good campfire starts with good tinder. Tinder catches fire easily, but burns fast. Material like dry leaves, dry bark, wood shavings, dry grass, and some fluffy fungi make for good tinder. If you’re a smart camper, you’ll bring your own tinder in the form of dryer lint or homemade char cloth. Bringing your own tinder is especially important when everything outside is wet. Believe it or not, wet tinder does not catch on fire.

Kindling. Tinder burns fast, so you’ll need something with more substance to keep your flame going. You can’t move directly to big logs. You’ll just smother your little flame. That’s where kindling comes in. Kindling usually consists of small twigs and branches. Go for something that’s about the width of a pencil. Like tinder, kindling needs to be dry or else it won’t burn as easily. If all you have are wet twigs and branches, try whittling away the damp bark with your pocket knife.

Fuel wood. Fuel wood is what keeps your fire hot and burning. Contrary to popular belief, fuel wood doesn’t have to look like the huge logs you use in a fireplace. If you go too big, it’s going to take a long time for the wood to catch fire. Look for branches that are about as wide as your wrist or your forearm.

General tips. When gathering wood for a fire, collect wood that snaps and breaks easily. Dry wood burns the best. If your wood bends, it’s too wet or “green.” If your try to make a fire with this sort of wood, you’ll just get a lot of smoke. Unlike tinder and kindling, fuel wood can be a little damp. The fire will dry it out, but it’s still not ideal.

Collect twice as much tinder, kindling, and fuel wood as you think you’ll need. You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll go through tinder and kindling when you’re starting your fire.

Teepee Fire Lay

Place your tinder bundle in the middle of your campfire site.
Above your tinder bundle, form a teepee with some kindling. Leave an opening in your teepee on the side the wind is blowing against. This will ensure that your fire gets the air it needs and will blow the flames onto the kindling.
Continue adding kindling to the teepee, working your way up to pencil sized twigs.
Create a larger teepee structure around your kindling teepee with your fuel wood.
Place a match under your tinder. Because this lay directs the flame up, the flame should rise to the kindling and then on to the fuel wood.
The teepee structure will eventually fall, and at this point you can simply add some fuel logs to the fire.

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