How to Build a Fire That Actually Lights

Dan Beard opens his fire chapter with a party of twenty-odd grown men heaping up arm-thick logs in a drizzle and holding a match to them, match after match: “It won’t light, sir.” Big wood doesn’t catch from a match. Fire is built from the smallest pieces up, and that is what most failed fires get wrong.

1. Gather everything first

Before you strike anything, collect three piles, and twice as much as you think you need:

• Tinder: material that lights from a spark or match. Dry grass, birch bark, cedar bark shredded fine, pine pitch, cattail fluff, cotton balls with petroleum jelly from your kit.
• Kindling: dead, dry twigs and splinters from match-thin up to thumb-thick. The ones that snap cleanly are dry; the ones that bend aren’t.
• Fuel: wrist-thick and larger pieces. Split wood burns far better than round: the inside of a log stays dry even in rain.

2. Make feather sticks in wet weather

Beard’s Pennsylvania backwoodsmen split dry pine from the center of a log into foot-long, thumb-thick sticks, then shaved curls down each one, leaving the curls attached at the bottom until the stick looked like a little toy tree. Three of these stood up wigwam-fashion light from a single match. Have plenty of small splinters ready to feed in as it catches.

Resinous pine is excellent for starting a fire, but Beard notes that its heavy smoke blackens pots and spoils the taste of food, so cook over hardwood once the fire is going.

3. Build up and feed it

Put the tinder in the middle, lean kindling over it in a teepee (wigwam) or lay it log-cabin style, leaving gaps for air. Light it from the upwind side, at the bottom. Add slightly larger pieces only as each size catches. Don’t smother it: fire needs air as much as fuel.

4. Keep it safe and small

Clear the ground to bare soil, keep it away from overhanging branches and tents, and watch the wind. Nessmuk’s campfire chapter argues for small, well-built fires over the wasteful bonfires most campers make. Drown it, stir it, and drown it again before you leave. Check local fire restrictions, too.