Fire Structures: Teepee & Log Cabin

When to use this

Pick teepee for quick heat or boiling; log cabin for steady coals to cook on.

• Cooking on coals (log cabin)
• Fast warmth or boiling water (teepee)
• Teaching kids the two basic shapes

What you need

• Tinder
• Kindling (pencil to thumb-thick)
• Fuel wood (split logs)

Step by step

1. 1.Teepee: place tinder in the center. Lean kindling sticks against each other in a cone shape over the tinder. Leave a small upwind opening to light through.
2. 2.Once the teepee is burning steadily, lean larger fuel sticks against the cone in the same shape.
3. 3.Log cabin: place two parallel split logs as the base, about a hand’s width apart.
4. 4.Lay two more logs across the first pair, perpendicular, forming a square frame.
5. 5.Fill the square center with tinder and a small teepee of kindling.
6. 6.Stack two more logs on top, perpendicular again. Light the tinder through a gap.

Pro tips

• Teepees collapse as they burn — that’s normal. When the cone falls, rebuild it briefly with the next sticks.
• A log cabin produces a flat, steady coal bed in 30–45 minutes. That’s your foil-pack timing.

Common mistakes

• Stacking logs touching each other in a log cabin — fire needs space between them to breathe.
• Building a teepee too tall before it’s burning — tall stacks tip over.