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Four Tips for a Solid (And Safe) Campfire
Having a campfire ready at the end of a long day is great; you can lounge with friends, roast marshmellows, and fight off the cold. But how do you make sure you have a campfire that doesn’t constantly need to be poked and prodded – and how to make sure it doesn’t get out of control on you? Here are four tips for having a solid – and safe – campfire on your next trip outdoors.
Tip #1: Build a suitable fire pit. Don’t build a fire on the ground – dig into the earth so that your fire has less exposure to the outside world. The fire pit should leave room for the size of fire you plan on having so that the wood doesn’t “poke out” onto the area near the pit. Make sure the fire pit is in a well-protected area that’s separate from dry brush and other easy-burning materials.
Tip #2: Separate the fire and the surrounding terrain. If your fire gets big enough, it can start burning the grass and brush nearby – that’s a situation you don’t want to have. So make sure that your fire pit is separated from the surrounding terrain from objects that won’t burn: use rocks. Work to make sure the fire is contained within the rocks – if you see a piece of wood in the fire that sticks out over the rocks, keep in mind that embers can drop out of your fire pit.Tip #3: Avoid simply “piling” wood – plan your fire. Once you have a little fire going, avoid the “constant feeding” of your fire simply by piling wood on top of wood. Carefully place your wood to keep the fire contained and stably burning. A great fire that will burn strong and stable without the need for poking and prodding is the “upside-down” or pyramid-style fire. Don’t simply gather sticks and throw them in the pit – use some thought.
Tip #4: Be ready to put the fire out at a moment’s notice. Have some water nearby and be ready to use tools like shovels to contain a fire before it breaks loose. Remember that it’s best to nip a fire in the bud – once it gets large, it becomes very hot and will be harder to put out. You can always start another fire, but it’s hard to put a big one out. Don’t let the fire break through the fire pit.
The more stable and safe your fire is, the better you’ll feel about having a fun, friendly time lounging around it.
Photo Credits: codymcarlson
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How to Build an “Upside-Down” Fire
If you’ve always been a proponent of the tipi-style fire – you know, the type of fire with the tinder on the bottom and sticks and logs organized tipi-style overhead – but never enjoyed the constant prodding and poking necessary to keep the fire alive, this article is for you. Why? Because we’re going to be talking about how to build an “upside-down” or “self-feeding” fire, a fire that requires minimal effort while it’s burning to keep it alive. How can this be possible? Read on.
Forget What You Know About Campfires
An upside-down fire is called “upside-down” because it’s essentially the opposite of the tipi-style fire. In essence, you’ll want to place your biggest logs at the bottom and your tinder at the top. Doing so seems counter-intuitive, but once you build a fire that really lasts by itself, you’ll see how it works.
You start by placing the heaviest logs next to each other as tightly as possible. You take the next biggests sticks and logs and place them perpendicular to the layer beneath, slowly building this way upward until you have a complete “pyramid” style fire. Make sure that the longest sticks/logs are at the bottom, and that they decrease in length moving upwards.When you get to the top, you can use firesticks to get the fire going – firesticks are high-resin sticks that help to start fires. What happens next is how the art of the upside-down fire works: gravity pulls down embers and heats up the layer below, slowly kick-starting the entire fire itself. The result is a relatively slow-starting but long-lasting fire that you don’t need to poke or prod.
How to Practice an Upside-Down Fire
Now that you know the basics, it’s time to do some practicing. Gather plenty of firewood near your closes firepit. You can try building “mini-upside-down” fires in order to start practicing. As you practice, you’ll need to fill in the blanks between reality and this article, so don’t assume you’ll build a perfect fire the first time.
After you’ve built a small fire successfully, you’ll be ready to move onto the bigger ones. Once you’ve mastered these, you will be able to enjoy long-lasting fires that produce a consistent flame, ideal for campfires and the occasional marshmellow. These fires will also be great ways to consistently cook a breakfast skillet in the morning.
Photo Credits: mikemol
