Comments on: How To Build a Roaring Campfire

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:31:59 +0000

If your fire is too smokey you have a few possible problems.

1) Wet wood. This has been stated before but it is the main cause. Wet wood also doesn’t burn as hot. If you are able, leave the wood to dry out for as long as possible.

2) Your fire is not hot enough. You can have a big fire that is not as hot as a small fire. Basically, the wood is burning at a lower combustion rate meaning less of the solid matter is converted to gasses before being sent up in the air by the updraft. Keep the fire contained in a smaller area (especially smaller vertical area) and tend it to be sure there is a good heat base on the bottom and it is really hot. This takes a lot more work, but in the end you have a much more effective fire. It will be warmer AND you can sit closer because you don’t have loose flames jumping around pushing you back.

Most likely, it is both of these. You can have a fire with wet wood, but if you get it hot enough the smoke will be minimized and it will not need too much moving around. A good dry wood fire still has some smoke, so try to enjoy it. There are few things in this world that smell better than a good campfire.

By: Brett

Brett — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:56:48 +0000

I should add that an always essential principle for effective firebuilding is adequate and concentrated stacking of tinder and kindling. As long as your fire is compact yet with enough ‘breathing room’ for the young flame, you will produce a warm, radiant, and long-lasting fire. You can also even start a fire with wet wood if you stack your kindling and tinder tightly.

All the best -

By: cbosarge

cbosarge — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:24:16 +0000

A really good firestarter found in the wild is pine sap, you can find it running down evergreen trees where branches have broken off. Also, if you happen to have some hand sanitizer on you, it works REAL good!!

By: gus

gus — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:14:22 +0000

Use your knife to whittle away the wet outer layers and make dry tinder and kindling.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:43:33 +0000

Regarding the stripping of birch bark. Please, please do not take whole strips from around the tree. Taking off the upper dried layer is fine but you risk serious damage to the tree by stripping a ring of its bark. Also if it doesn’t peel easily by hand it’s not going to be good tinder anyway!

I don’t like spending too much time looking around for branches and so on for kindling might have something to do with growing up camping in damper areas. Generally if there was nothing immediately obvious near the campsite to be used, we would make due by splitting a piece of dried wood up into finger width kindling and using the axe to shave off tinder. Anyone who uses a wood stove at home or the cabin has likely done this hundreds of times as well.