This year has been very difficult for everyone and everyone deserves a vacation, even if it’s short. Hotel prices are known, but why do you have to spend a holiday in a hotel? Take the bags on your back and camp in the heart of nature. But camping is not an easy task as we see in the movies. You need a campfire to cook, boil water, keep other creatures out of the campsite, and perhaps most importantly, to warm up in the evening and create a nice ambiance.
If you haven’t had this experience before, you may not know how to make a campfire. Don’t worry, camping fires is a specialist business and not everyone is expected to be a master. However, one must be very careful while burning. That’s why you need to know some basic steps. Let’s take a closer look at how to light a campfire and see the safest ways to start a fire.
How to light a campfire?
Step #1: Create a special circle for the campfire:
As the first condition for making a campfire, you must make sure that the area is suitable for making a fire. If you are in a special area for camping, you can get information from the authorities here. If you are not in a private camping area, you can find out whether it is suitable for making a fire by researching the area online. Because in some regions, it is forbidden to start a fire, especially in summer, as it is extremely dangerous.
If a fire has been lit in the area where you are camping, you can find ready-made fire rings or there may be special areas prepared by the authorities. If this is not the case, dig a light hole in a dry leafless area to make your own circle soon. Surround the pit with large stones. Here is your camping circle for making a campfire. The arrangement of these stones does not need to be exactly like a wall. It is also extremely important that there is some space between them so that the fire can breathe.
Make sure that the place where you create the camp circle, that is, where you will start the fire, is not close to the tents. Likewise, it should be an area away from trees and especially bushes. The stone circle will keep the fire under control, but you should be careful to keep it away from objects that are likely to ignite, as even a small wind will quickly change the direction of the flame.
Step #2: Gather wood and similar firewood:
The first rule when collecting fuel for the campfire; never, ever cut down live trees, and never cut off branches, even if the tree looks dry. A dry tree may seem insignificant, but forests have their own system. Even seemingly insignificant dry branches can become a home for birds and similar creatures. Therefore, never touch them.
To start a campfire, you need three basic types of fuel; tinder, kindling and firewood. For kava, you can use small branches, dry leaves and dry needles. For kindling, you can use thin long sticks as thick as your index finger. For wood, you should use wood of that thickness for how long you want your campfire to burn.
If you are in a camper-only area, you may not find this type of fuel there. Therefore, you may need to bring it with you or buy it from there. However, if you are not in a special camping area, it is possible to find plenty of firewood around. However, you may want to consider procuring basic fuels such as tinder and kindling in advance to ensure your business.
Step #3: Arrange the woods properly for the campfire:
After forming the fire circle and collecting the firewood, it is not easy to make a fire by stacking them on top of each other. not possible. As we said, making a fire requires skill. The arbor, kindling and wood must be arranged in the correct order, in a ventilated manner and by safe methods. You can arrange the woods in the form of cones, cabinets or pyramids.
Stack the tinder and kindling in the middle for the cone shape. Arrange the wood around them in the form of a tent where they will meet at the top. When the woods and kindlings catch fire, the woods will start to burn slowly. If there are large logs after it is well lit, you can put it on it.
For the cabinet shape, again stack the tinder and kindling in the middle. Arrange the wood horizontally on top of them, but with a wood gap between them. Arrange another row of wood vertically on top of this row, again with a wooden space between them. Line up two more rows this way. You can adjust the gaps according to the width of the wood.
For the pyramid shape, arrange the largest wood and logs horizontally at the bottom. Arrange the smaller wood vertically on top of it. In this way, create a pyramid shape that shrinks upwards and piles the tinder and kindling on the top. When you burn this pile from above, you will see the flame slowly progressing downwards.
Step #4: Make a fire:
Of course, there are countless fire-lighters nowadays, so always have a few matches and lighters with you instead of using rough methods. Light the tin and kindling in the row of wood you have laid using matches or lighters. Monitor the spread of fire in a controlled manner. With a long piece of wood you can make arrangements to keep the fire under control.
Step #5: Put out the campfire:
You lit your fire, made your camp, and it’s time to leave. Do not leave the fire unattended, even if it appears to be extinguished. Extinguish by pouring copious amounts of water over the campfire. You should pour water on the remaining area of the campfire until it is cold enough to touch your hand comfortably. In some areas it is not recommended to put out fires with earth. You can find out about this by doing a special research on the region.
Step #6: Cleanse the area where you lit the campfire:
Even if you put out the campfire, some traces will inevitably remain behind. Especially if you throw some things that are not completely destroyed into the fire for fun, there will definitely be traces behind. Even if you only burned wood, some may remain in large chunks, which can serve as fuel in a forest fire. For this reason, do not forget to clean the area where you light the campfire and throw away leftover objects.
Answering the question of how to light a campfire for cooking, warming up at night or creating a pleasant ambiance, we talked about the safest methods you can use to start a campfire. Let us remind you again that even if you are experienced, you should be extremely careful when lighting and extinguishing the campfire.
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