Nearly every camping adventure has a campfire
Whenever you start thinking about camping second only to the tent is thoughts of sitting around the campfire, making s’mores, singing, telling stories, etc. The central part of your gathering area is almost always the campfire. But how do you start one? What does it take? What are the shortcuts? Well we have some answers for you below!
You need campfire materials
First you need to gather or assemble the items you need for you campfire. Note that many campgrounds no will not permit you to bring in your own firewood due to the spread of invasive insects. The rule now is buy it where you burn it. Most state park and national park campgrounds have wood available for purchase when you check in or at their camp store. Ask ahead of time when you are making your reservation what the rules are. Also your fire making materials must be dry! Never cut down trees or break off limbs to get materials! Know the Difference between Tinder, Kindling and Fuel when it comes to gathering your firewood!
You need spark to start a fire
Start with dry matches , make sure they are stored in a waterproof container. We found this hack to be very handy. Do not store matches in their flimsy cardboard box. Instead put them in a small waterproof plastic container. You can then cut out the striker side of the box (or a piece of fine grain sandpaper and glue to the inside of the lid to stay dry and to guarantee a spark.
Campfire Hack
Corn chips make great kindling if you can’t find small sticks
There are cases when you just can’t find the kindling you need to get your fire going., or if you can it is too damp from recent rains.
Did into your camp snacks and pull out a bag of corn chips – yes you read this right…
Corn chips are loaded with, chemicals, oils, and flavors making it a perfect fire starter. Just touch your lighter or match to the edge and you will start a nice solid lasting flame. Bonus you can make a nice skillet of campfire nachos (NOTE we can hyperink the campfire nacho article ) with the rest of the bag.
DYI Firestarters
Create your own Campfire Fire Firestarters with some of the scraps you have laying around at home. These are fun and easy to make and they are a great activity for all ages. Take a bit of cotton dryer lint and pack lightly in a left over toilet paper cardboard tube wrap tube in newspaper and you are all set.
Build your fire upside down
One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is trying to load up too many materials on the fire that they just started, smothering it before it has a chance to start well. There is a fix for that, build you fire upside down! For this fire set up you will start with your larger split wood on the bottom of you fire pit. Then you will alternately start stacking the firewood larger pieces to smaller leaving space for airflow. The top few layers should be your kindling and tinder then your fire starter on top. This type of fire is also called a self feeding fire. You fire will burn slowly down into the center and provide a nice bed of coals for those tasty pudgy pies or smores!
Enjoy your fire
Now that you have your fire started take the time to enjoy your evening. If you gathered 3 times the materials you think you needed, you probably will not have to get out of your chair much the rest of the evening. We hope that you have learned a few new tricks to help you enjoy your time outdoors more and that you become the king or queen of the fire pit!
