To complete the image of camping and make it a real experience, a campfire is always needed. It’s such an integral part of camping that you can’t picture a camp without a campfire. Looking at a campfire, enjoying its warmth and bonding with friends or family around it is one thing, but actually making one is a different matter altogether. Making a campfire is also ne of the most frustrating things to do when camping. But this is frustrating only because most people don’t really know how to make a campfire properly.
If you’re going camping, you can brush up on your campfire making skills by following the handy tips below.
The first thing you should remember if you’re planning on building a campfire is to prepare. The worst thing you can do is to go out camping and realizing that you didn’t bring the necessary tools you need to build a campfire. No, rubbing two sticks together may look very Bear Grylls of you, but even the experts know how difficult it is to produce fire from this method. You should prepare the necessary items for campfire-making: kindling, matches, newspapers and even firewood if you are camping in an area where it is not easy to get wood for campfires (or if it is illegal to get wood). Usually, when you buy firewood in a store, the bundles will already include some kindling but double-check nonetheless because there are some who really don’t put some in.
The techniques you’re used to when making a fire in a fireplace will not work for a campfire. The usual method when starting a fireplace fire is the log cabin, where you basically create a box from logs placed parallel to each other and building it up. The kindling and the newspaper is then placed in the middle of this box. But in a campfire this method will not work. The tried and tested method is what the boy scouts know so well – the teepee method. To make a campfire using this method arrange the largest logs to create a kind of tent – the logs will lean inward towards each other and meeting at the center. Place your newspaper at the center of the campfire pit and within it create a smaller teepee made from kindling. To light everything up, set fire to the newspaper. The burning newspaper will ignite the kindling that surrounds it and if there is enough kindling and the fire is large enough will allow the large logs to catch fire as well. When the burning teepee collapses you can add more logs.
Photo from americasfinestsummercamps.com