Next time you are in the great outdoors during high winds, try building a lean-to fire. If you’ve camped in breezy conditions, you have experienced the frustration of trying to start or maintain a fire in high winds- it can feel as though you are constantly battling the elements, trying to sustain a blaze long enough to cook food and keep warm. As they burn, push the logs closer to the center to replace what has already been consumed. The tepee fire in the center will ignite the ends of the logs. Build a small tepee fire with kindling, and drag the logs around it - one end should face the fire, and the other should lead away from it, like the points of a star or the spokes of a wheel. To begin, gather four or five logs of any length. It uses whole, un-split logs and burns them slowly at the ends to create a long-lasting and efficient fire. When you are low on wood supplies, the star fire may be the perfect solution. Keep adding wood until the fire is at least three levels high, and then set tinder and kindling on top of the platform. Place three or more on top, perpendicular to the first layer. To build a platform campfire, start by laying three or more pieces of firewood on the ground. This creates a solid, flat platform of hot coals, perfect for cooking - you can set pots or pans directly on the coals, and the fire will sustain itself as it burns. The main difference between the two styles is that the logs of a platform fire are stacked closer together, and you start the fire at the top instead of the bottom.īecause you start a fire at the top of the wood, the fire burns down the logs instead of up. Similar to the log cabin type, the platform fire was designed to cook food. Because of this, a log cabin fire tends to burn more slowly than a tepee, making it a good choice for the evenings when you want to spend a few hours around a crackling blaze. You can also experiment with tapering the shape as it grows taller, creating more of a pyramid shape than a cabin.Īs they burn, the logs fall in on one another, constantly feeding new wood to the coals. Use your broader pieces of wood for the bottom and add thinner, lighter pieces for the top. Repeat the process until your fire reaches the desired height, then place tinder and kindling in the center square and ignite. Log Cabinįor a fire that is long-lasting and easy to maintain, try a log cabin arrangement.īegin by stacking wood as if you were building a cabin - place two pieces of wood parallel on the bottom, then stack two on top, perpendicular. Set a small pan or pot on the coal bed and feed the fire with small sticks or twigs to keep it going. If you want to use a tepee fire to cook a meal, wait until the wood burns through, and the cone collapses. Because a tepee fire burns through wood fast, it is generally used to warm up quickly or for small cooking tasks such as boiling water. One of the benefits of a tepee fire is its easy maintenance - simply lean more sticks against the frame to feed the fire as it burns. As the fire grows, continue to add larger sticks to the tepee structure. Next, use small pieces of kindling to form a tepee shape above the kindling. To build a tepee fire, begin by laying down a large bundle of tinder. One of the classic fire shapes, the tepee or cone fire gets its name from the shelter it resembles.Ī tepee fire has a circular base with a wide diameter, letting in plenty of oxygen. Here are five of the most common campfire types - experiment with a few different ones on your next camping trip. Various types and styles of campfires will provide different effects, including heat output, cooking potential and length of burn. However, not all fires are created equal. In many ways, a fire is a fire - they keep you warm, help you cook and create a cozy atmosphere. Creating a good campfire is an art, and like any art, it requires patience, experience, good supplies and the right knowledge. However, building the perfect campfire isn’t as simple as tossing a few logs in a pit and lighting a match. Whether we come to warm our hands, roast some s’mores, sing a few songs or share stories, a campfire gathers people close together. People seem to be naturally drawn to them. After a day spent outside, nothing is as comforting as a warm, crackling campfire.Ĭampfires are the heart of a campsite.
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