Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Some Good Tips On How You Can Build Your Own Campfire

By Thomas Cerret

There are certain procedural steps to take when building a campfire, which will make it easier and safer for you to enjoy. It is good to know these simple procedures before you begin building a campfire.

Wood is what you will be burning in the campfire. However, there are three types of wood that you will need so make sure you know what to get.

The first thing you will want to do is collect some kindling. This kindling must be very dry and light. Anything can fit under this description but common kindling materials include tree bark, dry leaves or paper, dry pine needles, or twigs.

Next, gather some sticks to evenly align in your fire pit for your conflagration to get oxygen. The sticks you are using should have a one to two inch diameter and be broken in even lengths.

Lastly, you will be burning large chunks of wood no bigger than three feet.

Now, take some of your kindling and crunch it into a form resembling a large softball. Place the ball of kindling in the middle of the fire ring.

Next, begin building a campfire by aligning your sticks into a tee pee formation over the kindling ball. You should be building your campfire with the sticks set at about a forty-five degree angle to the ground, leaving gaps for oxygen to pass to the center, at the kindling ball.

The next process in building a campfire is to construct a cabin, or box, around the teepee you have just made. Do this by piling larger sticks to construct a four-sided square.

Now, add the chunks of large wood. Continue building a campfire by adding two of the wood chunks on the inside of two sides of the cabin. Place a few dry sticks over the top of the cabin, making a roof. The roof should be touching the sides of the cabin and the chunks of wood. As you continue building your campfire, do not place too many sticks for the roof, as you want oxygen to get inside of the square easily.

The final step of building a campfire is to ignite it. Let a match and stick the flame between a gap in your tee pee or at the base of your cabin. The idea at this stage of building a campfire is to set alight your kindling ball. One the kindling ball is lit, it should set the teepee, the cabin, and the chunks of firewood alight in succession. If it does, you have been building a campfire correctly. If ii stutters or stops, you can add kindling to get it fully ablaze. As long as your kindling is light and dry, there should be no problem in using it as a good fire starter.

Keep a cleared area of about three feet around the fire as a safety perimeter so that when building your campfire, you don't inadvertently add to its capacity by igniting tents, clothing, or backpacks.

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