Listening to a campfire pierce the silence of the night with every pop and crackle can almost hypnotize you. As the firelight tickles the tree tops above we can’t help but drift away in the beauty. Feeling the warmth against your skin brings life to a tired body.
From the earliest times of man, fire has been the source of survival. Our ancestors used it for warmth against the weather, protection against wild prey, heat for cooking, and light in the darkness. Fire was a necessity for life.
Today, through technological advancements, we no longer need fire to maintain life. We can flip on the light switch, turn the thermostat on our electric furnace, or use a microwave to warm up our meals. In most parts of the world, an open fire just isn’t needed to live anymore. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t need to know how to build a fire.
This article is part of a series on how to backpack. See more on Backpacking 101
How to Build a Campfire
Building a campfire is a skill that is easy to learn and will enhance your backpacking experience. After all who doesn’t enjoy a campfire after a long day on the trail? But we must respect the power fire has and perform this skill with our safety and the surrounding wilderness in mind. Before building a fire, always check with the local regulations concerning fire bans and distance from trails and rock formations.
1. Build a Fire Ring
A fire ring is should be built to constrain the campfire and keep it from spreading into a wildfire. Campfire rings are used for fires built directly on the ground. If possible use existing fire rings to prevent further footprint in the wild.
To construct a proper fire ring, first clear an area of all leaves and needles away from any low-hanging tree branches. Gather rocks and form a circle around where the fire will burn. Make sure it is big enough for the fire to be contained. If the ring is too small a piece of firewood could burn in half and fall outside of the ring, potentially causing an unwanted fire outside the containment.
You do not need an engineering degree to construct a safe fire ring but common sense does help. Too small of rocks will not contain the fire, but we don’t need to hurt ourselves carrying 50lb rocks for our ring.
2. Gather Firewood
Gather firewood from downed or dead trees away from the campsite. Never cut down live trees or branches from them. Please follow the Leave No Trace rules for Campfires.
Collect these three types of firewood (fuel) to be used in building the fire.
- Tinder – easily combustible material such as pine needles, dry leaves, wood shavings, small twigs, and more. Tinder will burn easily and quickly, so have enough gathered to keep the initial flame burning.
- Kindling – dry sticks or pieces of chopped wood no bigger than 1″ in diameter, used as the medium between the fire starter (tinder) and the bigger firewood. The majority of the wood collected should be kindling to keep the fire fed and not smoking out.
- Firewood – dry logs or pieces of wood no bigger than 3″ in diameter. Big pieces of wood may not burn all the way down to white ash by morning, leaving charred remains in the fire ring. The duration of your fire depends on how much you collect
3. Build the Campfire
Everyone has their go-to style of fire they like to build and there are many different ways to build one. The two easiest ways to build a campfire are the Tepee and the Log Cabin styles. Using the gathered firewood you can assemble them into a sure light fire, with a little attention to detail.
The Tepee-style campfire is going to be built in the shape of a cone. With a wide circular base, allowing for enough air to feed the campfire. Start with a bunch of tinder on a dry surface. Add small pieces of kindling over top of the tinder in the shape of a tepee. Continue with another layer of bigger kindling around over the top of the first layer. Using the smaller pieces of firewood, construct the third and final layer of the tepee.
The Log Cabin-style campfire is going to be built in the shape of a log cabin. Built in a criss-cross fashion allowing air to flow through the middle of the “cabin”. Start with smaller pieces of firewood, two directly on the ground, and build each layer higher by crisscrossing each layer. Use bigger kindling for layers 3-6. Inside the “cabin”, place a bunch of tinder on a dry surface. Place small kindling over the tinder in a pyramid shape.
4. Light the Campfire
There are many kinds of fire sources available to use when lighting a campfire. Different fire sources used to light a fire need different amounts of “care” for the fire. Regardless of which type you use, lighting the campfire is the same.
Use your fire source to ignite the tinder in the middle of your constructed campfire. Your initial flame needs to light the fire starter so the flame will spread to the rest of the tinder. The fire will grow and start burning the small kindling around the tinder. Adding more tinder to fuel the small flames can help, but make sure it does not smother the flame.
Do not get in a hurry or get frustrated with this process. A lot of variables are involved when lighting the campfire in the wilderness. Temperature, wind, moisture, type of wood, and wet ground, are just some examples of things that can affect your fire when lighting it.
Once the kindling is burning, add small kindling to the fire to help get a solid core of small coals built up. With sufficient air, a small base of coals will heat the fire and start to burn on its own. Maintain the fire by policing any logs or sticks that are burning outside the fire ring. Keep adding firewood as needed.
Before lighting the fire you want to have additional tinder and kindling available to add to your fire until it can burn unassisted. Keep all combustibles and firewood at a safe distance from the fire and do not light if the wind is blowing steadily. Embers can be carried farther than the cleared area and potentially lead to wildfires.
Campfires are a nostalgic part of camping or backpacking and a contributor to the memories we make. But fire safety needs to be first and foremost for our safety and the safety of all the surrounding areas.
Backpacking is an experience all should have in their life. If you are looking for great tips and information about backpacking, check out the recent articles on this site. Remember to research, plan, and prepare so you can answer the call to adventure.