View Full Version : Campfire Method
(Note: Not interested in hearing from the "Hike my own hike" crowd when it comes to Not Starting Fires. There's plenty of threads on that.)
Me and a couple friends were talking efficacy of campfire making whilst section/thru hiking. We rounded it down to 5 choices.
Box Method - Lincoln-Log style house with =< fingerwidth twigs, tinder in the middle, then put larger stuff up top in box-format
Teepee Method - Kindling in the center, small tinder Tipi'd around it, then larger stuff
Longhouse Method - smaller tinder lean-to'ed against a big log or two.
Stuff Method - Just throwing the lighter stuff on the bottom, larger stuff on the top... tons of it... huffing and puffing and getting a fire going.
Big Stuff Chemical Method - Just getting a heaping pile of big stuff together, throwing some sort of chemical on it and throwing a match in from a distance.
What do you find serves ye best?
I've used the Tee Pee method for years, however, I find a variation of the box method much more reliable, especially with wood that may be a bit damp.
Lay down two good size sticks, larger than your thumb but no larger than twice your wrist or so, parallell to each other.
Build a small platform on top of these two sticks by running twigs about finger diameter accross these two large sticks, using those two as supports to keep the platform above the two larger sticks.
build a box type fire of tinder sized twigs on top of the platform made up of multiple layers of twigs. Leave a hollow well in the top two layers.
Build a box fire around the outside of and around this platform firestarter, using the original two sticks as the first layer of the box. Taper the box inwards as you get smaller.
There are two ways to start this fire ... on dry ground you can push a small bit of tinder under the platform and let the fire catch upwards, or, if the wood is a bit damp, you can light tinder in the well in the top of the tinder platform, and then can keep adding small twigs as necessary untill the platform catches.
Once the platform starts it will draw air in from the bottom of the platform and burn downwards or upwards through the stacked twigs on the platform. It will eventually collapse into the well made by the original two larger sticks used to support the platform. The two larger sticks should have caught fire by that time, giving you a hot bed of coals in the middle and a hot enough fire to add wrist sized pieces of wood, then larger wood as you are able.
sherrill
10-29-2009, 13:17
Teepee method - dig small trench, put two thumb sized sticks down, then find what we called "bramble briar" (dead thorn bushes) laying across the two sticks, gradually building up to twigs, etc, in a teepee.
Usually one match will do it. No chemicals. The trench allows for the match as well as air flow.
faarside
10-29-2009, 14:06
I'm with Captn on this - a variation on the Box Method (when I have the setup time available). However, I might use the Teepee Method if I am in a hurry.
beakerman
10-29-2009, 14:52
I've used them all. It depends on what mood I'm in. My wife always comments on the fact that I never build the same fire twice.
Lumburg54
10-29-2009, 15:29
Box Fire Variation. Works everytime.
Cannibal
10-29-2009, 15:45
Yep, I'm with Captn too! Almost identical to what has become my fire building standard.
But, on a dry day with little wind, the good ole teepee method is just too quick and easy to get away from. :sun
I usually build the alcohol stove method, just pour in a little and light!
Iv' e not met a hiker yet who can produce a great fire via with no match or lighter, or F&S. Some ok fires out there but, not much in ways of mine.... :sun
PEACE LOVE AND GREAT FIRES ALL ~ KTR
On the rare times I start one (I stealth camp A LOT) I like the long house type. I think because that is how I always do it, so that's how I always do it. :-?
I think I actuall prefer the tepee method, seems to start faster,,, but I still don't do it that way, weird ain't it.
Oh, BTW, I often cheat & "help" with a dab or so of some form of accelerant (alcohol, esbit, whatever).
For me, the method isn't all that important, I start so few anymore that I often even just do a halfhearted attempt at it. If the fire catches on first try, I have a fire, if not, I wasn't meant to have a fire, so I make it disappear if not in a fire pit. I REALLY like a campfire, but after over 50 years of camping, I pretty much have "been there done that". But you build a fire while I'm around, I'll stare at it for hours :p
However the fire is made, I suggest some brandy, wine, whiskey or hot chocolate with schnapps....
Ditto on the staring at it for hours. Nature's television indeed!
However the fire is made, I suggest some brandy, wine, whiskey or hot chocolate with schnapps....
Ditto on the starting at it for hours. Nature's television indeed!
what the ....? throw some wood down, stuff some birch bark or esbit tab under and light. who cares how the tv gets started, there is only one channel... well, maybe two or three after the brandy, wine, whiskey take hold... oh, i see this is a totem pole :)
Esbit Fuel Tab Method.
Start with the Teepee Method, then strategically place those leftover portions of Esbit so they act as a fire starter. Works even when the wood is damp.
what the ....? throw some wood down, stuff some birch bark or esbit tab under and light. who cares how the tv gets started, there is only one channel... well, maybe two or three after the brandy, wine, whiskey take hold... oh, i see this is a totem pole :)
Meant to say "STARING"'; my bad. :o
I love to stare in the fire all evening. That's why it is often called "Nature's Television" or "Cowboy TV"
My favorite part is when the embers are dying and it is getting towards the end of the night. The conversation is flowing (fueled by the whiskey perhaps), the intimacy of the fire, the stars above and the chill in the night air seems to invoke something special.
(Be it special conversation or something else special. ;))
I'm with the teepee group, unless the wood is wet and it's still raining then I use a modified lean-to method with a few larger pieces of wood as the lean-to sticks to dry them out and dryer lint as the starter. Scotch or Tequila is usually a good channel changer. ;)
DaveJohns
10-30-2009, 01:45
The last time I was out in wet weather, I tried a variation of the Tipi style. I put a platform of wet sticks (about 1" - 2" diameter) down first, then another layer across that. Finally I built a regular tipi on top of all that mess. It worked pretty well, the fire on top slowly dried the wood underneath, which then caught and burned down nicely. I got about 90 minutes of fire without having to do much at all to it.
This sounds like a great idea ... I'm going to try this one out next time I'm on the trail ... goodness knows, I'm always looking for ways to save effort.
The last time I was out in wet weather, I tried a variation of the Tipi style. I put a platform of wet sticks (about 1" - 2" diameter) down first, then another layer across that. Finally I built a regular tipi on top of all that mess. It worked pretty well, the fire on top slowly dried the wood underneath, which then caught and burned down nicely. I got about 90 minutes of fire without having to do much at all to it.
If things are reasonably dry and I have the time/patience to do it, I like to make a layered tipi, with smaller tipis of kindling on the inside and ever-larger tipis of ever-larger wood on the outside. I like just being able to stick a match in the tipi "door" at the bottom and then watching it all go up. On a group trip I made a man-tall version which was pretty exciting.
But usually I just make a kind of bird's nest out of tiny twigs, shredded bark, etc. and get that burning, then add larger and larger sticks in a more or less haphazard fashion on top of the burning pile. This is better for wet conditions because you control how much wetness you put on the fire at once, and you can capatilize if one side of the fire burns more than the other.
Once I have decent coals from the smaller stuff I usually put the bigger fuel logs on in a log cabin style; its dead easy and stable, and it seems to capture more heat from the coals to catch the larger pieces.