How to build the perfect campfire: a guide
Want to head out to build the perfect campfire? This guide can be downloaded and printed for easy offline access. Simply follow our easy steps and have your lighting, heating, and cooking facilities sorted in one go.
Want to head out to build the perfect campfire? This guide can be downloaded and printed for easy offline access. Simply follow our easy steps and have your lighting, heating, and cooking facilities sorted in one go.
What you will need
Tinder (or fire starter cubes)
Sawdust and Firewood
Matches (long or short)
Bushcraft knife
A bucket (with water)
How
1. Gather/cut tinder, or take out your fire starter cubes and kindling (6-inch sticks). Build a teepee structure with your kindling resting on top of a large bundle of tinder as a base.
2. Take the matches and light the tinder/lighter cubes. Help light the teepee structure in a few different places so that it burns faster. Add more tinder if the wood takes a while to catch fire. As it burns, you can add larger and larger sticks and then firewood.
3. Some people prefer to build large teepees with their firewood, while others build a square structure around their small teepee. In general, the square "log cabin" structure is better for letting heat escape, but a teepee is easier to turn into a large bonfire.
Remember: Only light fires where permitted and never (ever) when there is a fire ban or when it is windy. Place the fire on gravel or sandy soil, with stones and gravel underneath and a circle of stones around it. The fire should not be placed on or next to a rock wall, or on peat bogs or moss. Avoid lighting fires near trees, stumps, or dry grass.
