Fire-Starting Checklist
A camp fire works in four stages - build, light, maintain, extinguish. Skip the last one and you're how a wildfire starts. Run all four every time.
The three-tier stack
1 · Tinder
Anything that catches a flame in seconds: dryer lint, birch bark, wax-coated cotton balls, fire-starter cubes, fatwood shavings.
Quantity: a baseball-sized bundle.
2 · Kindling
Pencil-to-thumb-thick dry sticks. Snap, don't bend. Splits of seasoned firewood work too.
Quantity: a forearm-thick bundle.
3 · Fuelwood
Wrist- to forearm-thick split logs. Buy bundled at the camp store - never transport from home.
Quantity: 2-3 bundles per evening.
4 · Lighter / matches
Bic lighter, stormproof matches, or a ferro rod. Bring two redundant sources - at least one waterproof.
Quantity: 2 sources, kept dry.
Build & light
- Confirm no fire ban. Build only inside an established ring. Clear a 3-foot radius down to mineral soil.
- Lay the tinder bundle in the center.
- Build a teepee of kindling around the tinder, with a 2-finger gap on the windward side as the door.
- Light the tinder bundle from underneath through that windward gap. Never light from above.
- Once the kindling is burning steadily, add small fuelwood pieces to the structure - don't smother the kindling.
- Add larger fuelwood as the fire establishes. Maintain airflow; small adjustments only.
Teepee vs log cabin
Teepee
Best for: starting fast, smaller fires, dry conditions. Burns hot and quick, collapses inward.
Log cabin
Best for: long-burn evenings, cooking grates, wet conditions. Slower to start but steadier.
Extinguish protocol - drown · stir · drown
- Drown. Pour water across the entire fire bed, not just the visible flames. Listen for hissing - keep going until it stops.
- Stir. Use a stick or shovel to mix ashes, embers, and unburned wood. Embers buried under ash can stay alive for days.
- Drown again. A second full pour. Touch the back of your hand to the ashes - if it's warm, the fire is not out.
Never: burn trash, plastic, foil, or pressure-treated wood · use accelerants · leave a fire unattended · trust the rain to put it out · build a fire in burn-ban country.