Tips to Building a Campfire

A quintessential part of camping with your friends or family is that roaring campfire. Avoid disappointment by gathering the right materials and using them at the right times so that you can sit around the campfire, roast marshmallows and revel in camaraderie.

Materials

The first thing you need is very dry, lightweight fire-starting material. Newspaper works great, as does dry, crackling grass or another very light plant material. Next comes very fine twigs and sticks, and then gradually larger sticks. Finally, you need some large pieces of timber.

Technique

Start by building a fluffy nest of your starter material. If it is newspaper, then shred a few pieces and bundle them together, keeping lots of air space in the bundle, and place it in the center of the fire pit. If the pit is very damp or does not have much ash, then you may want to place a few sticks down first to allow the air to get to the bottom of the fire as you are starting it. On top of your starter bundle place your smallest twigs in a loose bundle. Next, use some of the smaller sticks to create a tepee shape over the starting materials by leaning the sticks against each other. At this point you can start your fire with a match or lighter by holding it to the nest of light materials. Once the tepee starts catching you can keep adding sticks. Add gradually larger sticks until the fire is going strong, and then place your biggest firewood into the flames.

When starting your campfire always use dry materials, do not add too much too fast and always keep an eye on it. Bring extra materials with you so you can try again if your fire does not catch the first time.