How to Start a Campfire

how to start a campfire

Making a campfire could be an enjoyable experience that can be shared with family, friends, or alone. You can use fire to stay warm, see at night, cook food, and keep away bugs, among other things. But also we must take some caution before, during, and after the activity. So learning how to start a campfire properly can help you not only to have a good time but also to avoid accidents and bad experiences.

Learning how to start a campfire is an essential camping skill, whether you are in the woods, on the beach, or in the snow. 

Here are the steps that you can follow to make the campfire a great experience. Get ready and hands-on!

Legal Issues Before Learn How to Start a Campfire

Always check the local fire restrictions before you intend to start a campfire. If the season or region is particularly dry, there might be restrictions on when, where, and why people can light fires. A fire can go out of control easily and dry weather can help to propagate it, becoming a big trouble and danger to any plant, animal, or people near.

Always follow the authority mandates on this topic to avoid any problems. All campfires must comply with local laws. 

Keep all this in mind when you are learning how to start a campfire.

Choosing a Place to Start a Campfire

Here depending on the situation, you have two options:

  1. Some places are enabled to build a campfire and have all the necessary things to start immediately (they have fire rings, grills, fireplaces, or similar), so you can directly go to gather firewood to start the campfire. 
  2. Other places don’t have it, so you will need to choose the right place before building the campfire. If you want to protect your fire from the wind, you should build the campfire on the ground lower than the land around it. Another option is to build the fire against a rock wall protecting the fire from wind. Always keep in mind safety, so be sure to choose a place where other trees or flammable objects aren’t near. 

Build a Fire Pit or Get a Fire Ring

If you are in the number two situation, you will need to dig a hole so that the fire is protected from the wind. Then build a protective perimeter with rocks around the hole (rocks as big as your hand). 

An option is to use a fire ring before the rocks if you have one in your hands. Using a fire ring will reduce your impact and keep your fire contained.

If you are in the number one situation then just go to the next step of how to start a campfire.

Gather Firewood to Start a Campfire

To start a successful campfire, you’ll need three types of fuel: tinder, kindling, and firewood. 

  • Tinder: these are small twigs, dry leaves, pine needles, or thin bark.
  • Kindling: these are small sticks, typically less than one inch around (about as thick as a thumb).
  • Firewood: any larger piece of wood. This is what will keep your fire going long into the night.

Make sure that they are completely dry. Then, when they are gathered, stack them in the center of the campfire. It’s common to put the firewood only when you have a good fire generated with the tinder and kindling, but this is up to your preferences. This is something you will learn with time, practicing how to start a campfire.

Light the Campfire

This is one of the critical steps when you are learning how to start a campfire.

Light the tinder with a match or lighter. The tinder will begin to burn. Use the same match to light the tinder in multiple places. 

After lighting the tinder, blow lightly at the base of the fire to provide oxygen, which will help increase the flame intensity and ignite the wood even more. Place yourself between the fire and the wind. This will stop the breeze from extinguishing your fire.

Put the larger firewood in the fire and always keep an eye on the flame to make sure it doesn’t get out of control. Be aware of where the wind is blowing.

Know How to Extinguish the Campfire

We have learned how to start a campfire, but after we used it we need to extinguish it.

Make sure to extinguish the flames before abandoning the campfire, going to sleep, or leaving the fire unattended. Ideally, wait until the fire burns down to embers. Also, if you are in a place similar to a campground, check the managers’ recommendations. Follow their steps if they provide them. 

There are different methods to extinguish a fire. Some people use sand or dirt and then water and others use just water. There are two important things about this. If you use water, avoid pouring it directly over a blazing fire. This will extinguish the flames quickly, but it will also throw up a large cloud of dust and steam. If you use sand, beware because it can insulate coals, which can become uncovered later, igniting a wildfire.

Clean Up the Campfire

Now that you’ve learned how to start a campfire and extinguish it, you have to know how to clean it.

Burn trash items only if they can be fully consumed by fire and turned to ash (don’t burn plastic or cans). If something is not fully consumed by fire, collect the remains and put them in a trash receptacle.

If you are in a campground, consider scattering the stones, rearranging the leaves, and returning the place to the way it was when you found it.

Ok, now that you know how to start a campfire, go out and practice!

Have a good campfire!