How to start a campfire

By How To (/journals/how-to)

Air and staged fuel size turn a spark into lasting flame. Every step keeps gaps for oxygen while moving from the finest dry stuff up to thick logs.

You'll need: a stick or small shovel, dry tinder such as leaves or bark shavings, pencil-thick kindling, wrist-thick fuel wood, matches or a lighter, bare dirt or a metal ring, and a full bucket of water.

1: CLEAR bare dirt in a circle three feet across and at least ten feet from tents, trees, or dry brush.

Scrape leaves and duff until only soil or gravel shows. You know the spot is ready when a sweep of your hand finds no needles or grass. Set the water bucket just outside the circle before any wood goes down.

2: LAY a loose fist-sized nest of tinder in the exact middle of the bare circle.

Crumple dry leaves, birch bark, or shavings so open pockets remain inside. Snap a piece; it should crackle, not bend. Swap any damp material for dry stuff found under a rock or inside a hollow log.

3: BUILD a teepee of eight to twelve pencil-thick sticks over the tinder with two-finger gaps between them.

Lean the sticks so tops touch and bases ring the nest. You can see the tinder clearly through the sides when gaps are right. Add one loose outer layer of slightly thicker sticks only if the first layer looks sparse.

4: LIGHT the tinder edge with one match held low and your body shielding it from wind.

Strike away from the pile, steady the flame one second, then touch three spots at the nest base. The fire is catching when white smoke turns to yellow flame climbing the kindling. Cup your free hand behind the match if breeze exceeds a light five-mile-per-hour drift.

5: FEED one wrist-thick fuel log at a time once kindling is fully ablaze.

Set each log so it touches flame on one side yet leaves space underneath. Wait until half the prior piece shows glowing coals before the next. If flames drop under six inches blow gently at the base three seconds; if they rise over two feet pause thirty seconds.

The most common mistake

Packing sticks tight against each other starves the fire of air. Leave gaps you can fit two fingers through so oxygen reaches every layer.

Pro tip

Gather twice the kindling you think you need; the first five minutes consume it faster than later stages.

Say it every time

Ring bare, nest loose, teepee gapped, touch three, add one