[mailfire99]

Ok eveyone, lets hear your campfire building strategies. I know everyone has their own whether it be using tinder, kindling, fuel :shocked:, fire starter log etc..

I generally go with the teepee method. I gather up some small branches or shave some slivers off my large wood, and if some nearby pine needles are available I will grab a couple of handfuls of that too. If not I will use some newspaper instead.

I make a pile of that, and then teepee style stack 3 or 4 good size split logs around it. Light it and watch it burn. If you have good seasoned wood, it works everytime.

How do you build yours?

 

[happiestcamper]

I cheat - a few matchvlight briquettes and wood stacked around.

 

[terri01p]

We have camped going on 26 years and it's a well known fact that my dh can't make a good campfire or grill good :icon_smile_bbq:.

There should be some sort of law against that after 26 years he can't even get a grill going hot and staying that way . He trys every year but fails. :bang:

 

[l2l]

I too use the Tee Pee method, works EVERY time.

Small branches that graduate into bigger ones and then at the outer edge your main wood.

The smaller wood lights first which graduates to the bigger stuff all the while the big logs are getting heated and lit.

Someone on here mentioned cutting up those logs you buy for your home fireplace and using that as a starter, I think I will be doing that myself this year as it safes me looking around for paper and cardboard!

 

[ctfortner]

We have camped going on 26 years and it's a well known fact that my dh can't make a good campfire or grill good :icon_smile_bbq:.

There should be some sort of law against that after 26 years he can't even get a grill going hot and staying that way . He trys every year but fails. :bang:

Hey, thats alright, you know he means well. My wife says the same thing, only about laundry. We have been together for 8 years and you cant wash clothes :shrug:. Heck no, why would I learn now?

I always build the teepee too. Never fails. I usually scrounge up some pine needles and branches as kindling, but lately I have been using this fire starter stuff, works pretty well. I forget the name of it, but it looks like little wood shavings and they have a wax texture to them. My guess is thats exactly what it is, wax on wood shavings.

Found them a wally world on clearance last year for a $1 a bag, so I bought about 6 of them.

 

[antigua]

I too use the tee pee method. It works well for me. I like to use a little dry cedar (Cedar fence board cut offs work great) to get it going quick and it smells so good too.

 

[roadhouse]

I use the log cabin design with some smaller split logs. In the middle use pine needles, bark, newspaper, whatever helps it start. After it gets going then I start throwing some larger logs in it.

I can't wait for a campfire:10001:

 

[mikey]

I have found the best approach is to sort your wood in various sizes to gradually build the fire. I always put the wood in a tee pee shape to allow for good airflow. Add increasingly larger sticks and then logs as the fire grows in strength, always leaving enough space between them for the fire to breathe.


The type of wood is also important. Evergreens for instance are not a good choice. So I always use hardwoods when for building the campfire.

 

[glfortner]

I like the idea of the log cabin style--something new to try. That is if my pyro husband will let me near the fire pit! My daughter and I built a fire when he wasn't at the campsite this weekend and we did a great job if I do say so myself!

 

[mikey]

I like the idea of the log cabin style--something new to try. That is if my pyro husband will let me near the fire pit! My daughter and I built a fire when he wasn't at the campsite this weekend and we did a great job if I do say so myself!

I kind of understand that pyro situation. I tend to enjoy the campfire too much sometimes too.

 

[primitivecamper]

I generally go with the teepee method.

+1 ^

1st never gather wood in direct contact with the ground.( It wicks moister from the ground even if it feels dry)
Teepee is they way to go. I start with tiny little twigs And build a teepee over tiny little pile of leaves or pine needles. Once started I build slightly bigger teepee over it, and continue to do this until desired size fire. I use a lighter of corse, but can do the stick method as well. Ceder works best.:thumbup1:

 

[fred]

The best fire starters are lint from dryers that you save in a zip-lock bag or steelwool as they both start very easy.

 

[coolerinsulator]

Tee Pee method all the way......but I use a torch to start :thumbup1:

 

[dnk030851]

I too have used the teepee method successfully. Be sure the kindling pine needles and small twigs inside the teepee are dead and not partially green. I use a Weber Grill for bbq and an electric starter to get the charcoal hot.

 

[johnnymac]

Tee Pee method all the way......but I use a torch to start :thumbup1:

Kudos to that!

 

[xisle]

Building and starting the fire is big ceremony in my camp. It is akin to placing the angel on top of the Christmas tree. Since I am a bit of a survivalist, I pass on rudimentary methods to my boys, and I let one of them build the fire and start it. But even when I am alone, I never use a lighter or flame. We always use a dry grass bed, or a cotton ball, and a swiss striker or combustion blast match or magnesium starter. It keeps the skills honed, and striking a match is just too easy some how. I find the harder I work on something, the more I appreciate it. The teepee method is the most commonly used, as it allows the heavier sticks to collapse in on the fire as they are needed. Kind of like a self feeding fire. What I stress to my kids in the woods, is to only build and burn what you need. I always snicker at people with raging bon fires. I've literally seen people melt their own tents, they've gotten the fire so hot. lol. I like a small to medium sized fire that can be easily manipulated and stirred. I love to stoke the fire. X

 

[kev]

Gasoline and lots of it!!!!!!! <--- Not really



I'll either use some strike anywhere matches of my swiss army fire steel. Use a stick about 1/2 the size of my arm and build a ling to with smaller twigs.

 

[jetpilot]

Starting a fire.

:thumbup1:My Grandpa taught me to make a fire starter by mixing wood ashes and kerosene into a soupy paste. Keep it in a plastic jar with a tight fitting lid. A spoon full of this will burn for several minutes even in wet conditions. It beats any thing else I've used. I keep a jar of it in my camper. I've found that charcoal lighter mixed with cat litter works almost as well. I recently used some that I had mixed two years ago and it worked great. This is also good to use as a fireplace starter. Mix up a coffee can full and it will last all winter.

 

[mark]

One good method I've found is to save your dryer lint in a coffee can, squirt a little zippo type lighter fluid in when you add fresh lint every week. Before I head to the woods, I throw some in a zip-lock bag, I've used this to start fires with wet wood with great results.

 

[bighabsfan11]

I use a hybrid of the tipi/log cabin methods. For some reason, my sticks like to fall in on each other, and choke the fire right out. That's where the log cabin comes in, tipi to start, log cabin for the 2nd stage, tipi with 3rd stage wood. Works well!

Always use dry woods that haven't been on the ground - poplar works well. Birch.

Another good starter is wood shavings (from a planer or the like) or sawdust, with a little bit of "firestarter" or lighter fluid like Ronsonol or whatever. Keeps in a coffee can for about a year. Burns incredibly hot...but quick. Gets the kindling going well.

Ahh, campfire. With any luck, I'll even have time to use the fire pit in my backyard this year, too.