Learning how to build a campfire is simple enough. However, the following things need to be accounted for to avoid mishaps and keep everyone safe.
Required Tools and Materials
Kindling
Sticks
Large pieces of wood
Step 1: Prepare the Kindling
Kindling will be the foundation of your campfire. You’ll need to use materials that burn rapidly. Use twigs, pine needles or dried leaves. You can also use dried grass, birch bark or small sticks.
Step 2: Prepare the Sticks
These will be used to hold the fire together. They are also employed to ignite the bigger wood pieces. You’ll need to use sticks a couple of inches in diameter. These will be cut and fitted in the fire.
When you build a campfire, you should always use dry sticks. Never pry sticks from live trees for use in campfires. Get some small and medium size sticks.
Step 3: Prepare the Large Wood Pieces
These need to be 3 ft long maximum. These should be dry. These are the last components to be added.
Step 4: Putting the Pieces Together
Take a couple of handfuls of kindling and place them in the middle of where you want to light your campfire (i.e., the fire pit you dug). If you want, you can gather and shape them into a ball. Take the small sticks; use them to make a tepee around the kindling.
Set the sticks at a 45 degree angle. When you build a campfire, make sure you create some gaps at the tepee. This is needed to allow oxygen to move around the tepee.
Put two medium sized sticks just outside the tepee. They need to be parallel to each other. Add two more sticks to make a square. Repeat this until the sticks are 6 layers high. Ensure that the sticks overlap.
Step 5: Adding the Large Wood Pieces
Put several large wood pieces on both sides of the square structure you built. Position three small branches so that they touch the square structure’s base and the large wood pieces. Don’t add too many sticks or the fire will be short lived.
Step 6: Light Your Fire
After you build a campfire, it’s time to light it. Light a match and place it at the bottom of the square or the gaps at the tepee. Properly made, the fire will start from the kindling, proceed to the square structure and to the large wood pieces. Add larger wood pieces or kindling if it won’t light. Blowing a little into the fire will also help spread the fire.
Tips and Warnings
Everyone should be at least 3 feet from the campfire. Keep clothes, tents and other camping materials several feet away. Besides a fire pit, you can also use a fire ring or a metal fire to manage the fire. To avoid accidents, place several stones at the three feet line.
It’s easy to learn how to build a campfire, so take the time to study it. This will save you a lot of trouble when you go camping.
