Whether you’re turning tales, taters or tunes, the humble campfire will provide warmth, light, a stove and the centre of your social circle, so you better ensure it will take you from sunset to sunrise. Here are our top two ways to stoke a fire – which sounds like an 80’s pop ballad, and will (hopefully) catch on like one too.

Building a campfire

Before we even begin, introductions are in order. There are three main parts to a fire: tinder, kindling and fuel wood.

Kindling is just thin twigs and branches. Think of straws, or a little longer – that’s what you want most of your kindling to look like.

Tinder is light, dry fuel like bark and wood chips that will set alight easily but, much like the app, isn’t necessarily designed for the long term. Avoid using leaves as they don’t burn and will only blanket your friends in smoke.

Fuelwood or squaw wood is thicker than kindling; fallen branches you can usually break to size for your fire. Only burn dead wood, and this will snap easier too. Bull firewood is large wood pieces you won’t be able to break without an axe or saw. Add this to your fire last when you have a healthy blaze, otherwise it will smother your hard-earned flames.

 

With any fire, your location should be chosen carefully. No overhanging branches, and clear from brush, dry grass and anything else (read: clothing, sleeping bags etc) that could easily catch alight by flying sparks. Most campsites will have designated fire pits, otherwise, you can dig one about 10 centimetres deep surrounded by a wide circle of rocks.

 

The Teepee Method

This is the classic boys and girls scout fire. Start with some loosely scrunched newspaper and tinder in the centre of your firepit and balance your kindling in a teepee around it. The easiest way to balance this is have one thick central stick, like a beach umbrella, lodged into the centre of your fire, then lean the rest of your kindling against it.

Light the paper and tinder in a few places around your fire. Gradually add more kindling in the same teepee formation. You can blow on the fire to oxygenate it more, and build your flames. Finally, you can add your fuelwood.

 

A few hot tips:

1. Pick up the paper before your trip. In a world of smartphones, laptops, iPads, you’re going to feel really silly when all you’ve got is a Liquorland receipt or that novel you’re finally getting around to …
2. Campsites themselves can be pretty bare bones from all of the campers before you, so stop over on the way to pick up sticks along the way.
3. Collect all your wood and kindling and start making your fire well before it gets dark. You don’t want to be searching around the undergrowth for likely logs, hoping they won’t slither away.

The Upside Down Method

This method throws everything you’ve ever known about building a fire out the window, and it surprisingly works really well!

As the name suggests, in this method you want to start with your larger logs first. Arrange them flat in your fire pit, side by side, nice and close. Cross hatch successively smaller logs in levels, exactly like the game Jenga, except using logs of smaller thickness each layer in.

Place your paper on top – weighted down with a little extra kindling. Set this top layer alight, and the heat will build travelling down.

The sturdier your base layers are the longer this one’s going to burn. Most fires start with a bang and crackle – plenty of red-hot flames which settle into white-hot smoulder. Although this mightn’t look too spectacular to begin with, the combustion will get going as your heat works through the thicker logs. Not to mention, this method will keep your smoke to a minimum, which is good for the environment, and far more comfortable for your own eyes and lungs.

 

Good fuel is the key to a good fire. Read our essential guide to chopping firewood.