Camping 101: How to Start a Fire

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Do you love spending time in the outdoors? If so, join the club!

After all, there’s really nothing better than hiking or camping, exploring Mother Nature, and enjoying everything the wilderness has to offer. This is especially true as everyday life in the city becomes more and more hectic. 

When it comes to camping, you’ll need to stay warm and cook your meals. That means you’ll need to understand how to start a fire. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place for help.

This article takes a look at the basics of building a campfire and fire starting with no matches so that you’ll never have to worry about being unprepared. Keep reading to get the inside scoop.

Preparing Your Fire Pit

First of all, always check the wilderness guidelines in the area where you’ll be camping before building a campfire. This is especially true during the summer months when the environment will be dryer and more prone to forest fires. You might even need to purchase a permit so that you don’t end getting fined for breaking forestry management protocols in the area.

When you’re out in the woods, safety should always be your top priority. This means preparing a specific spot to build your fire so that it’s contained. After all, you need to be careful to protect the surrounding wildness.

Building a fire pit or fire ring is a great way of containing the fire so that you won’t have to worry about it getting out of control or spreading beyond your campsite.

The way to establish your fire ring is to gather some stones for creating a boundary. These don’t have to be too large, but big enough to contain the campfire. 

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Make the ring large enough so that you’ll have plenty of room to stack the wood and to allow for seating around the fire and any cookery you might plan to use.

Gathering Your Supplies

Once you’ve prepared your fire pit/ fire ring, you’ll need to gather the supplies and tools needed to build a campfire.

These include tinder, kindling, firewood, and waterproof matches. 

Tinder is the smallest of the burning materials you’ll need to use and is used as a source of ignition for the rest of the fire-starting materials. The tinder material can include such things as dryer lint, crumpled paper, small twigs, pine needles, and leaves. Basically, anything very small and highly flammable so that it’s easy to light with a flame.

Next, you’ll need kindling. This is a small step up from tinder. Kindling can include small branches that can easily ignite when exposed to the flames created by your tinder. Typically, the material used as kindling will need to be less than 1-inch in diameter. Once you’ve lit the tinder, gently place a few pieces of kindling on the burning tinder so that the flames can catch.

Now you’re going to need some dry firewood. The best plan is to bring your own firewood with you from home so that you won’t need to disturb the wood supply from the natural surroundings. But if you’ve hiked in or not brought a supply of firewood, you will have to gather it from woods near your campsite. The key is to find some smallish pieces that are dry enough to burn. 

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Keep in mind that you should never break branches off trees for building your fire. This wood will be too green to burn efficiently, and this type of behavior is typically frowned upon by most forest service agencies and could result in fines or other penalties.

It’s also very helpful to bring a small camp hatchet along for splitting your firewood and chopping up branches for kindling.

You’ll also need some matches, preferably waterproof. These are typically wooden matches with tips that have been dipped in wax so that they will still light even when exposed to water. Keep them in a sealed container and always bring more than you think you’ll need. After all, there’s nothing worse than running out of matches, especially when it’s cold and wet outside.

In case of an emergency, here are some tips on how to start a fire without matches

Building a Campfire

Once you’ve gathered the necessary supplies, you’re ready to get started.

It’s important to keep in mind that you should never wait until dark to start your fire if possible. After all, once it’s dark out, you’ll have a more difficult time gathering what you need and it’s always harder to work when visibility is limited.

First, make a small nest with your tinder, and form a teepee over it with kindling, leaving enough space for proper airflow. 

Always start as small as possible so that the flame can catch and grow. As the flame grows, continue adding larger pieces of kindling. Once the structure is lit and burning, add small pieces of firewood that you’ve split with your camp hatchet.

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If your firewood is soggy, it won’t burn well until it dries out in the heat.

Another great trick for preparing your tinder is to soak cotton balls in Vaseline. This will make them easy to ignite and is an ideal material for quality campfire tinder.

Start Small and Be Patient

One of the keys to building a successful campfire is to be patient. After all, it’s easy to be impatient when it’s cold out or your hungry and ready to cook dinner.

But you need to remember that a big warm fire requires time and patience. Campfires have to start small, using smaller wood before adding larger pieces as the flames grow.

When it’s wet out, protect your fire from the rain as much as possible, otherwise, you might find the challenge nearly impossible. Also, keep in mind that a quality fire ring will help shield your campfire from the wind.

The Complete Camping Guide to How to Start a Fire in the Wilderness

Camping during the fall and winter months can be a lot of fun. Fortunately, these tips for how to start a fire will help your next camping trip be the best experience possible.

Keep scrolling to discover more great camping and travel tips on this blog.