How To Build A Camp Fire

If you plan to go camping this season, you will have to know how to build a campfire. A good camp fire is not only needed for warmth or s'mores, it is the soul of your nighttime experience in the woods. You cannot simply dump wood on the ground, toss in some matches and expect it to burn. A good fire must be coaxed to life.

To build a campfire, you will need:

• Tinder (three or four handfuls)
• Kindling (three or four handfuls)
• Wood
• Matches
• Knife or axe
• Bucket of water

1. Wood basics. To build a campfire, you will need three types of fuel; tinder, kindling and wood. Tinder is fuel made from dried pine needles, wood shavings, dry grass and small twigs. It should be very dry and very flammable. Kindling is dried sticks with diameters less than an inch. Purchase the wood from your campsite or a nearby store. If you have to gather it yourself, find a long dead tree and look for dried branches. Use an axe to split the wood into manageable pieces.  
2. The spot. Most campsites already have a spot designated for campfires. If not, find an area with no overhanging branches and lay a circle of stones for your fire. Clear all the flammable debris around your stones in a three foot radius. For safety, fill your bucket with water.
3. Construction. Place two handfuls of tinder in the center of your fire circle. Loosely pile a handful or two of kindling on top. Now arrange some of the smaller pieces of your wood in a teepee design over this. You want to build in layers with the smaller, more flammable pieces below to stoke the larger pieces up top.
4. Prometheus time. Keep your back to the wind and light the tinder. As the kindling catches fire, slowly add more. You may have to blow gently on your flame to encourage them to burn. Keep adding kindling until the wood catches fire. As the smaller pieces of wood start burning well, add larger and larger pieces.

Warnings:

Never leave a fire unattended.

Do not build a campfire near your tent.

Make sure your fire is extinguished when you are done. Sprinkle water, scatter the ashes and repeat until it is dead. Make sure to pour water on charred logs. When you think you are done, touch the ashes to make sure they are out.