Three Campfire Building Techniques

If you plan to take a family camping vacation trip this year then it's a good bet you and everyone else in the family are really looking forward to building a fantastic campfire. Not everyone knows the best ways to build a campfire though, so here are three simple and easy techniques that will make your campfire a raging success.

Keeping your campfire safe should always be your first priority when taking a family camping trip. This is particularly important if you are camping in remote or disbursed campground areas, and it is critical when camping in high fire areas such as those scattered across the desert southwestern area of the United States.

To ensure staying safe with your campfire, be sure to clear a wide area of any dry brush that might easily catch fire from a stray ember. Being a small pit to put your fire and will help it stay safe, as will surrounding it with rocks and stones.

Once you're ready to build your campfire, it helps to know the most effective techniques for both getting it lit, and keeping it going long into the night.

The first type of campfire you can build is often referred to as a teepee fire. This type of campfire got its name because you will be arranging the sticks and firewood in a pointed teepee type structure. First you need to make a small pile of kindling in the center of your fire circle. Then stand up numerous sticks in a circular pattern all leaning against each other at the top similar to the tepee. Like the kindling that is in the middle at the bottom and as it catches fire to flames will rise up and like the sticks that are arranged around it to.

Another excellent way to create a campfire is by building a blog cabin type structure with your sticks instead. To make a log cabin style campfire, you also start with a small bit of kindling in the middle of your fire circle. Make sure you have enough to get a good strong flame burning. Now lay out your sticks and small branches in a square shape surrounding the kindling pile. This creates a box like structure, which sort of resembles an old-fashioned log cabin. When you light the kindling pile in the center, the flames from that will extend to the small walls of twigs and branches you have created.

A third way to make an excellent campfire is to create a wagon wheel shape. Just like the previous two methods, you will first create a pile of small flammable kindling in the center of your fire pit. With this campfire design you will lay your larger sticks and twigs across the top and center of kindling pile. Continue adding additional twigs and branches all the way around so that you have a spoked wheel type shape in the center of your fire pit.

These are all simple, easy, and very effective ways to build a campfire very quickly. Not only will your fire light easily, but it will also get the right mixture of wood and oxygen to continue burning nicely as long as you would like.