How to start a campfire (and when not to)
Every experienced camper has failed to light a fire in front of an audience. The difference between success and failure is rarely the spark — it's preparation. Fires light easily when the materials are dry, graded, and staged before the first match.
This guide covers the fire lays that work, how to manage wet conditions, and the increasingly common situations where the right answer is no fire at all.
Gather three sizes before you strike anything
You need tinder (catches a flame instantly — dry grass, birch bark, commercial fire starter), kindling (pencil-thickness dry sticks), and fuel (wrist-thickness and larger). The classic beginner mistake is lighting great tinder and having nothing ready to feed it.
Collect twice what you think you need, and stage it in piles by size within arm's reach of the fire ring. Dead wood still on the tree or standing is drier than anything off the ground.
Two fire lays that work
The teepee: lean kindling in a cone over a loose ball of tinder, leaving a gap on the windward side to light it. Fast, bright, and forgiving — the best lay for getting a fire going.
The log cabin: stack fuel logs in alternating pairs around your kindling like a tiny cabin. Slower to start but burns long and steady — better for cooking and all-evening fires once you have flame.
- Light the tinder at its base so flame rises through it
- Add kindling only when the tinder is genuinely burning — smothering kills more fires than wind
- Feed bigger wood gradually; a fire that needs blowing every 30 seconds isn't established
Wet weather: find dry inside wet wood
After rain, the outside of everything is wet and the inside of standing deadwood is dry. Split wrist-thickness dead branches with a knife or hatchet — the pale inner wood lights readily. Shave thin curls ('feather sticks') off the dry interior for kindling.
A commercial fire starter cube or a cotton ball in petroleum jelly from your kit is not cheating — it's the difference between a fire and no fire when everything is damp. Carry one even if you're good at this.
When not to build a fire
Fire bans exist because one escaped ember can burn a forest, and they are absolute — 'just a small one' during a ban is how wildfires start. Check current restrictions before every trip; they change weekly in fire season.
Even when legal, skip the fire when it's windy, when there's no established fire ring, above treeline, or in pristine backcountry where fire scars last decades. A camp stove does the cooking job with none of the risk.
- Drown the fire with water, stir, drown again — it should be cold enough to touch before you leave it
- Never leave a fire unattended, even to walk to the car
- Pack out any unburned trash — foil and cans don't burn
Last updated September 16, 2026. Questions or a correction? Get in touch.