Tips for Lighting a Campfire

Everybody loves to sit at around a campfire at night to sing songs, cook, or just enjoy the warmth it brings. The snap, crackle, and pop of the burning firewood are also pretty pleasant to listen to.

lighting campfireBut while starting a campfire seems to be a pretty easy task, it can often be harder than you think. There are a few things that can make it simpler though:

  • The first thing to remember is you have to be responsible and know what you’re doing. Hundreds of forest fires have been started because campers let fires get out of control or didn’t contain them properly.
  • The best thing to do is collect all of the firewood first. Don’t just gather enough to get the fire started. Have enough on hand to keep it going as well. Green wood isn’t going to do you much good and you should gather a mixture of branches, logs, and twigs.
  • The wrinkled bark on dry wood burns very well and is excellent for starting a fire if you peel it from the wood.
  • Feed the fire with dry grass and dry wood flakes. Once it’s going, you can add some small twigs, then larger twigs, small branches, large branches, and then the logs.
  • It’s not a good idea to take wood that’s still connected to a tree. Even though the wood may look dead, it might not be. If you take the wood from the tree it could cause it to die. Only take wood from a tree if it’s absolutely necessary. Wood from a tree might also have sap still in it, which will make it more difficult to burn.
  • Make sure you have something on hand to put the fire out with. Water is ideal, but you can also use sand and loose dirt. If you have to light a fire on a grassy area you should dig a pit. When you’re finished you can place the sod back in the area and stamp it in the ground.