How to Keep a Fire Burning
Get tinder and kindling., Use dry firewood., Start with softwood, sustain with hardwood., Add oxygen to fan your flames.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Get tinder and kindling.
Tinder and kindling are small bits of wood, twine, or paper get your fire going easily.
Tinder is the material that will burn easily even with a small spark, making your fire start.
Kindling is more substantial and will sustain your fire.
You need both to make a good, durable fire.
Good tinder materials:
Newspaper, cotton swabs, and toilet paper work well if you have them at your campsite.
If you need more natural materials try dry leaves, Cattail fluff, and Birch bark.Good kindling materials:
Dried twigs, small, thin pieces of wood like sticks and broken tree branches.
Dried leaves also work well.
Keeping a fire burning is a cycle.
Start with tinder, then add kindling, and finally wood.
To keep your fire from going out, you’ll have to repeat the process throughout. -
Step 2: Use dry firewood.
All the wood you use to build your fire should be completely dry.
If there's any moisture left in the wood, it will be harder to keep a fire going.
Instead, you might end up with a pile of smoking wood.
If dry wood is not available, use extra kindling and tinder to combat any moisture.Stay away from recently chopped trees, as they have a lot of water still and won’t contribute to a sustaining fire.
Seasoned firewood is the best, because it has been left to dry out for months or even years.
If firewood has been seasoned properly, it will catch quickly and sustain a nice burn.
When outdoors at a campsite or in the woods, look for fallen logs, or find an older tree to chop down.
Oak and birch trees are abundant in the United states and are nice, hardwoods which can burn hot, but allow for a longer, sustained fire. , Weigh the options of using Hardwood vs.
Softwood.
Softwood is good for building up a fire, and hardwood will help you keep the fire going.
Softwoods like pines and firs are easier to light but burn down quickly.
If you’re trying to keep a fire going that’s burned down, add softwood to quickly draw a larger flame.
Hardwood is harder to light when starting a fire, but lasts for a very long time, and burns with more heat.A solution to keeping your fire burning is to start the fire with softwood and switch to hardwood when you have a good, stable flame with some embers. , Make sure the fire has enough ventilation, preferably from all sides.
This can be obtained by building your fire on top of a grate if you have one.
Put some paper product (such as newspaper) in the middle of your fire, on top of the grate before placing your wood.
Stack the new firewood with a lot of space between the logs to get proper ventilation.
Frequently add more tinder and kindling to the open spaces between your logs.
Blow on you fire.
This is especially useful when you are just lighting the fire, to make it bigger.
If you need to quickly restart a fire that’s gone out, gather up all your embers into a pile.
Use your embers as a bed to stack on more tinder and kindling.
Then, when you see a flame to start to rise, add more wood.
Use softwood if possible. -
Step 3: Start with softwood
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Step 4: sustain with hardwood.
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Step 5: Add oxygen to fan your flames.
Detailed Guide
Tinder and kindling are small bits of wood, twine, or paper get your fire going easily.
Tinder is the material that will burn easily even with a small spark, making your fire start.
Kindling is more substantial and will sustain your fire.
You need both to make a good, durable fire.
Good tinder materials:
Newspaper, cotton swabs, and toilet paper work well if you have them at your campsite.
If you need more natural materials try dry leaves, Cattail fluff, and Birch bark.Good kindling materials:
Dried twigs, small, thin pieces of wood like sticks and broken tree branches.
Dried leaves also work well.
Keeping a fire burning is a cycle.
Start with tinder, then add kindling, and finally wood.
To keep your fire from going out, you’ll have to repeat the process throughout.
All the wood you use to build your fire should be completely dry.
If there's any moisture left in the wood, it will be harder to keep a fire going.
Instead, you might end up with a pile of smoking wood.
If dry wood is not available, use extra kindling and tinder to combat any moisture.Stay away from recently chopped trees, as they have a lot of water still and won’t contribute to a sustaining fire.
Seasoned firewood is the best, because it has been left to dry out for months or even years.
If firewood has been seasoned properly, it will catch quickly and sustain a nice burn.
When outdoors at a campsite or in the woods, look for fallen logs, or find an older tree to chop down.
Oak and birch trees are abundant in the United states and are nice, hardwoods which can burn hot, but allow for a longer, sustained fire. , Weigh the options of using Hardwood vs.
Softwood.
Softwood is good for building up a fire, and hardwood will help you keep the fire going.
Softwoods like pines and firs are easier to light but burn down quickly.
If you’re trying to keep a fire going that’s burned down, add softwood to quickly draw a larger flame.
Hardwood is harder to light when starting a fire, but lasts for a very long time, and burns with more heat.A solution to keeping your fire burning is to start the fire with softwood and switch to hardwood when you have a good, stable flame with some embers. , Make sure the fire has enough ventilation, preferably from all sides.
This can be obtained by building your fire on top of a grate if you have one.
Put some paper product (such as newspaper) in the middle of your fire, on top of the grate before placing your wood.
Stack the new firewood with a lot of space between the logs to get proper ventilation.
Frequently add more tinder and kindling to the open spaces between your logs.
Blow on you fire.
This is especially useful when you are just lighting the fire, to make it bigger.
If you need to quickly restart a fire that’s gone out, gather up all your embers into a pile.
Use your embers as a bed to stack on more tinder and kindling.
Then, when you see a flame to start to rise, add more wood.
Use softwood if possible.
About the Author
Peter Thomas
Brings years of experience writing about creative arts and related subjects.
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