Starting a fire

It is Friday May 21st, I am leaving for my first camping trip of 2010, when my phone rings. "How do I start a campfire?" "You know how." "No, I don't think I do" "but..you have been camping as long as I have" " But you always start the fire"

Following you will find my take on starting a camp fire.

1) gather your equipment

firepit matches tinder wood

2) a hatchet comes in handy to chop off small pieces of wood/tinder to start the fire. It is also handy to bring a store bought or home made fire starter. A favorite tool of mine is called the "fire dragon". A simple plastic tubing with a brass spout on one end and a wooden bead to blow into. It directs the air you are blowing to a specific spot and allows you to remain a safer distance away from the fire.

3) construct your fire. building small to large. allowing the fire to catch before you add more wood. If the ground the fire is being built upon is mucky, I often lay a flat piece of wood down to build off off. see above picture.

4) There are three very important ingrediants to making a good fire. Memorize these and you will not only be able to build a successful fire but on those occasions when the fire just doesn't seem to get going you can use that knowledge to trouble shoot solutions.

temperature + fuel + oxygen

Fire start at about 570 degrees f. The fuel is most often wood. and oxygen. A match is often the tool used to increase the temperature. Lack of oxygen is why if you stack too much wood at one time the fire starting sometimes doesn't go well. You are most likely suffocating the fire. When it is raining, the water absorbs the temperature faster than the wood, again making it harder to start a fire.

Now you know what I know!

good luck!