Campfire: Basics

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Campfire: Basics

By Chris Townsend.

Sitting around a campfire on a cold evening is, for many people, the ideal way to end a day in the wilderness. However, many badly situated and constructed fires have left scars that will take decades to heal too many trees have been stripped of their branches, and even hacked down, for fuel. Evaluate whether or not a campfire is appropriate, then proceed with a Leave No Trace mindset.

Current thinking on backcountry campfires.

Campfire alternatives: An essential element of the wilderness experience would be lost if campfires could never be lit, but it is necessary to treat fires as a luxury and to ensure that they have minimum impact on the environment. The alternative to a campfire is using a stove for cooking and clothing and shelter for warmth.
When to burn and when not to burn: Fires, officially permitted or not, are inappropriate in some areas such as above the timberline (the slow growth rate of trees and woody plants, and the soils there need to be replenished by the nutrients from deadwood) and meadowland.
Best surfaces on which to burn: The ideal places for fires are below the high-water mark on the coast, and below the spring flood level along rivers on shingle rocks and sand. Alternatives are flat rocks, bare earth, or sparse vegetation. Use mineral surfaces whenever possible.
Campfires in heavily-used areas: If you camp at a well-used site with many rock-ringed fireplaces, use one of these rather than make a new one, even a minimum-impact one. If you have time, dismantle the least-used fire rings, scattering any ashes and charcoal, in the hope they won't be used again.
In pristine areas: If you have determined that it is appropriate to build a fire in your pristine area, consider building a minimum-impact mound or pan fire. (See Low-impact Fires)
Collecting fuel wood: If you collect fuel wood, do so with care. Do not remove wood - even deadwood - from living trees. In high-use areas, search for wood father afield than along the edges of the sites. Only collect what you will use, and use only small sticks that you can break by hand, as these are easily burned to ash.

Lighting and tending the fire.

Basically, the secret of fire lighting is simple: Start small, with dry tinder. Paper makes good tinder, but I wouldn't carry it just for this purpose. I lighten my load by burning pages from the books I read food wrappings work well, too. If you have no paper, then the finest twigs, tiny pine cones, dry leaves, moss, and any other dry plant material can be used. When the weather is wet, look for kindling in dry spots under logs and at the base of large trees. Good kindling can be created by half-slicing slivers off a dry twig to make a feather-stick. A candle stub or solid fuel tablet can help a fire start when you can find only damp kindling.
Once you have a small pile of kindling, build up a pyramid of small dry twigs around it, making sure that there is plenty of air space. Then light the kindling. When the twigs start to catch, slightly larger pieces of wood can be added.
If lighting the fire proves difficult, dismantle it and start again don't waste matches and kindling by pushing bits of paper into the fire and lighting them. People occasionally use stove fuel to get a fire going. This is highly dangerous and not recommended. Never throw fuel onto a smoldering fire that won't light properly.
Do not leave your fires unattended, and make sure the ashes are cold before you leave the next day - huge areas of forest have burned due to carelessness with campfires.