How To Start A Fire: 3 Proven Tips You Must Try!

credit: tombothetominator

1. Place sticks far enough apart on the fire base so there will be adequate ventilation for the developing flames. The most common reason for the fire failure is lack of oxygen.
2. Tinder should be no larger in diameter than the thickness of a match. Trying to ignite wood larger than that on a damp day is a waste of time.
3. Don’t heap the fire base high with wood during the developing stages of the flame. Unnecessary fuel just draws heat from the young fire and cools it. Preset pyramid-style fires (ala Boy Scouts) look nice in handbooks but burn inefficiently. Once you complete Step 3, wood should be added one stick at a time and placed strategically so you can see light between each one. Smoke is Nature’s way of telling you you’re suffocating the blaze.

Special Tip:

When the wood is really wet, a “tubular fire blower” can save the day. To make one, you’ll need a 6-inch long piece of narrow diameter copper or aluminum tubing and about 18 inches of plastic or rubber “Bunsen-burner” hose. Most hardware stores have these materials.

Use your “blower” to nurse a fickle flame and whenever wood is too thick or damp to burn well. The concentrated air turbocharges hot coals and turns them into willing flames.

Banking the fire to preserve fuel:

Use this procedure when you have a good, hot fire but little wood to maintain it. “Bank” you fire by setting small logs parallel to one another across the top. The rule of thumb for a smoke-free flame is to allow a radius width between parallel pieces of wood.

Thus, a pair of 2-inch thick logs should be separated by a full inch to ensure adequate ventilation. Banking will reduce this distance to a mere (though identifiable) slit, which will naturally diminish use of oxygen and slow combustion.

You should eliminate any breeze coming into the fire. A large, flat rock - don’t get one from a lake or river, contained moisture may cause it to explode - or tier of logs works fine.

Extinguishing the blaze:

It should go without saying that your fire must be dead when you leave your campsite. The rules are simple: When the smoke is gone and you have thoroughly doused everything with water, check the fire with your hands. If it’s hot enough to burn your fingers, it’s hot enough to burn a forest.

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