Building a Campfire
SITTING AROUND A CAMPFIRE is probably one of the oldest human activities. Nowadays, unless you’re on a solo wilderness hike, a campfire is less a tool of survival than a social event—a chance to sing songs and tell stories and be out in the dark in nature with friends.
A fire needs three things: fuel, heat, and air. The most common fuel is wood—main fuel such as logs cut from trees, and smaller fuel like tinder (twigs, strips of paper, or anything small that burns well) and kindling (branches and twigs about the size of a pencil and no thicker than a finger). Heat, which comes in the form of a flame or spark generated from matches, lighters, friction, or even focused sunlight, should be generated from the smaller fuel, which will then ignite the larger fuel. And of course, fire needs oxygen, so make sure that your fuel is packed loosely enough to allow for air circulation. When there’s not enough oxygen present, the fire goes out, which is why dousing flames with water or smothering a small fire with sand extinguishes the flames.
What you’ll need to build your own campfire
A fire ring, a fire pit, a fire pan, or other temporary fire site
BUILDING THE FIRE
The first item of business when building a fire is deciding where to make it. Find a spot away from tents, trees with low-hanging branches, or other flammable elements. Once you’ve determined your location, you can begin to assemble your fire. Ideally, you can use an existing fire pit or fire ring. If there isn’t one handy, you can create a fire site yourself. One way is to clear away a space on the ground, dig a pit, line it with small rocks, and then cover that area about half an inch deep with sand or aluminum foil. Otherwise you can use a fire pan, either a store-bought metal pan for the purpose of making fires, or any round metal surface, such as a pizza pan or a trash can lid.
Once you have your site established, place your tinder (the small pieces you collected) in a small pile in the middle of the fire site. Around that, place the kindling, taking care not to pack it too tightly, as your fire will need air in order to burn. Arrange the kindling in a kind of “teepee” format, as though you are creating a small tent around your tinder. Leave an opening so that you can light the tinder, and keep some of your kindling in reserve, so you can add more to the fire as it takes hold.
Using a match, lighter, or your preferred method of ignition, light the tinder and gently fan or blow on it until it becomes a strong flame and ignites the kindling around it. Once the kindling is burning, you can add your main fuel—those large, thick logs that will burn long and bright. Add more kindling to the fire to keep the fire burning, but take care to keep the fire manageable. Also make sure to place your wood carefully, and not just throw it onto the fire.
Once the fire is dwindling and it’s time to put it out, use water to douse the flames completely. You can also use sand, if that is available, to smother the fire. Water is the most thorough method of putting out a fire, and when it comes to extinguishing fires, you definitely want to be thorough. Check to make sure there’s nothing still smoldering, even when it seems like the fire is out. Everything—the fire site, the burned fuel, the area around the fire—should be cool to the touch before you leave. A fire that is carelessly put out, or not put out thoroughly enough, can flare up again.
WHAT TO DO AROUND THE FIRE
If you have some long sticks or branches handy, and a bag full of marshmallows or a pack of hotdogs, you can use them to cook over the open fire. Skewer a marshmallow and hold it over the flames to toast it—if you have some handy, graham crackers and a chocolate bar can turn toasty marshmallows into delicious s’mores. Or break out the hotdogs and buns, spear a dog with your branch, and roast it to perfection. A campfire is also the perfect setting for singing songs and telling ghost stories. Once you’ve had your fill of s’mores and hotdogs, crack open your copy of this book (which you of course packed with you on your camping trip) and check out the following pages for campfire song lyrics. Also, see our tips on telling spooky ghost stories later in this book.
Precautions and tips
