How to Build a Better Campfire Everything you need to know about your fire-making-technique, including when you should use the tepee method versus a log cabin stack

Outside ^ | 8-17-23 | Wes Siler

[Pocketdoor]

Can you ad me to the ping list? Thanks

A quick spray of mosquito repellent on tinder gets it lit first try. Very helpful in damp conditions.

[Susquehanna Patriot]

Good tips.

I presume you use only one sheet of newspaper, how many times (how thick) around do you wrap? If you wrap more than once around, is it a loose wrap?

[fuzzylogic]

I usually carry a lighter (I don’t smoke) and a small lens. Even with an empty lighter you can rotate the sparker slowly and drop the dust onto toilet paper, then give it a good spark - you’ll usually get a flame...then have kindling ready. Of course the lens is only good with sunlight but it’s small enough for a wallet.

They’re just handy things to have on you...never know when they might be useful - like a small pocket knife.

[ansel12]

I wanted to look at the knife the article linked to, but the site covered it up with a pop-up so I skipped it.

I don’t know why sites hide the item you went to see about buying.

[FamiliarFace]

Sometimes we older folks have to teach the younguns how to do things. Isn’t that what wisdom from years of experience teaches us, just as we were taught by our elders?

[Yo-Yo]

I use diesel.

I prefer this:

[FamiliarFace]

I just use one side of the newspaper (so half of the foldout). It wraps a few times around a roll and then I twist tie the ends. Have your kindling ready though. It doesn’t last very long. Hubby likes to add more newspaper scrunched around it, which is fine. We have different ways of building fires, and each one is unique to the wood we have available.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

One of the most reliable ways to distinguish humans from baboons is that a human always carries a knife and a way to make fire.

[Yo-Yo]

I always thought the third requirement was ignition.

Ignition is heat.

[FamiliarFace]

I used to always have a small pocket knife on me until TSA kept taking them from me, so I’ve grown out of that habit. I should start up again though, it’s a handy tool, and I don’t fly as often as I once did. (Except this year I’ve flown more again. Lots of family events this year. I dislike flying, but I’m not afraid of it.)

[FamiliarFace]

Oh, and I would say it’s neither loose nor tight. Just roll up the tube with it and then twist those ends, again not necessarily tightly, but enough to give it shape and stay.

[Billthedrill]

Good stuff, although splitting wood with a knife - "batoning" is definitely a secondary option. Every YooToob "bushcrafter" does it, I suspect as a sign of masculinity, as well as starting the thing with a fire steel. It's why cave men invented Bic lighters. There are, of course, many options regarding ignition, as shown by Crazy Neighbor in camping with Steve. Personally I don't think you're really camping unless you have a flamethrower attached to a 20 lb propane bottle, but the 4th of July sparkler method was pretty impressive...

[Susquehanna Patriot]

Thanks for the additional info. Great tip, and now I have something useful with the dryer lint!

[FamiliarFace]

In a pinch, just use the lint inside the newspaper. That works, too! But it’s a great way to use up dryer lint and old tp rolls.

[sasquatch]

Not a bad choice. I have a fire in the stove most days in late fall, winter and early spring. Diesel is relatively cheap though Biden’s not helping. Rubbing alcohol works as well.

[sasquatch]

This works:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froe

[Yo-Yo]

I’d use diesel or kerosene, but I don’t have any need for either one apart from campfire starting, so charcoal lighter fluid suffices for the convenience, and I don’t use enough to worry about the difference in cost per ounce (or gallon...)

[GreenLanternCorps]

[redshawk]

Yeah, a small lens works and it is very light and compact. As long as the sun shines, you are good to go. It is great for a secondary fire starter. Another good one is steel wool and a nine volt battery. Very light weight and compact. Works in any weather conditions.