DISCLAIMER: Starting a fire is illegal in most places. If a permit can be obtained in the area you are trying to start a fire, please do so before starting a camp fire. You are solely responsible for any damage you cause or any fines you may incur by starting a fire, and it is not my responsibility nor will I be held liable for your actions.
Just because you have a lighter, it doesn’t mean you can build a proper fire quickly. Notice I didn’t say matches as I am not a fan of them. Here are steps and techniques I have used to start a camp fire fast.
Step 1 – Gather materials for the fire
If you don’t have paper or newspaper or something to burn, you will need to seek for materials in nature to start the fire. You should find or make a tinder bundle. This could be a bird’s nest, some very small dry twigs and dry leaves. Here are some natural tinder you can gather. You will also need larger twigs and a couple large logs for the longer burn time. As I hike in to find my base camp location, I tend to collect small and large twigs and sticks, and then at the campsite, I usually find the larger logs or use an axe or saw to create my logs.
Step 2 – Prepare the tinder bundle
I gather all of my tinder materials and place it on a bark sheet or even a large leaf (maple leaves or larger).
Step 3 – Create a twig teepee
I take the smaller sticks I have gathered and make a twig teepee. Stand them in an upside down cone fashion but leave a little space on one side so the burning tinder can go inside. I also start with about 4-5 larger sticks that go over the teepee.
Step 4 – Light the tinder bundle
I light the tinder bundle and gently blow on it to create a flame. Immediately but carefully place it inside the twig teepee and continue gently blowing to increate the flame.
Step 5 – Feed the fire
After the twig teepee is catching a good flame, I start to slowly add larger pieces of wood to keep the flame going.
Step 6 – (Optional) Create a fire ring
If there was already a fire ring in place (say at a campsite managed by the park), this step can be ignored. But if there is not a fire ring, I start to find rocks and start placing the rocks around the fire to create a ring. The flatter the rocks the better and you can start to stack them in a brick like pattern. I would get mud and mortar around the stacked rocks to keep them in place. The fire will dry out the mud and will create a nice fire ring.
