A big part of prepping is not only having the right equipment to survive, but also knowing the proper skills as well. One skill that’s critical to survival in the outdoors is building a proper fire. We’re not talking an emergency fire that you have to start with what’s on hand, but a good, solid campfire that can be set up properly to give you maximum efficiency.
The trick to building an impressive fire is making sure the flames have ready access to oxygen. Building your fire in a way that easily feeds air to it will ensure success. Ready to learn how to build the perfect campfire? Let’s get started.
Step 1: Safety First
The first step in building any fire, emergency or not, is making sure the area around where you’re building the fire is clear of anything flammable for about 8 feet in any direction. This means leaves, garbage, kindling, and of course any fuels should be outside the 8-foot range.
Once the fire is established, you can return items like logs or camp chairs to sit on, but for now take the time to clear them out.
Step 2: Build a Cabin
Building a good fire starts with the base. You want the base to be larger logs to give the fire a solid base while pre-feeding in the fuel that’ll keep the fire going once the smaller wood burns off.
Three logs will form the base of the fire. Lay them with space between each, but not much. The logs should be about as big around as your forearm, and the space between them should be about half of that. Next, stack two more logs on top of this, with two more crisscrossed on top. When done it should look like the start of a
Finally, fill the inside of your new log cabin with kindling and tinder before topping it with a “roof” of small to medium-sized sticks. Make sure the roof isn’t too tight or air won’t flow.
Step 3: Top it with a Tepee
Make a mound of fire starter, like dryer lint or some other flammable material, on the roof of the log cabin and top it with very small twigs and tinder. This will be your spot to light the fire.
Inverse Campfire
Next, take 7–10 small- to medium-sized sticks and build a tepee of sorts on the roof of your cabin. Make sure there’s enough space between the sticks to allow for air flow. We’re trying to protect the fire from wind while still allowing air to flow to the new flame.
Alternatively, you can also build the teepee in the middle of your log cabin setup, placing the bottom of the teepee on the ground.
The other big reason for using the tepee method is to give your fire the medium-sized fuel it needs after burning through the kindling without smothering the fire. This allows the medium-sized wood to automatically add itself to the fire when it’s ready.
Step 4: Light My Fire
When you’re all built and ready to start your fire, light the kindling inside the tepee and let it burn. The tepee will eventually collapse and fall into your log cabin. This will take the fire from burning the small kindling to burning the medium-sized wood from the tepee.
Once the tepee wood burns through, the inside of the cabin should be burning very well, and the side of the cabin should start to burn evenly. Once these start to darken and burn, the fire is fully established and you can increase the size of wood added to it incrementally if you’d like.
Wrap-Up
Knowing how to start a successful fire is important to survival, not only for warmth and cooking, but for peace of mind. Having a fire helps to keep spirits up, animals away, and give an overall better feeling to the camp.
Practice your fire building skills on your next camping trip and perfect your log cabin before you need to use it in an emergency.