Pro tip alert! Check out these four fire variations to impress friends with your wilderness skills with these helpful tips.
1. Find a fire ring.
Whoa there, buster, put that trowel down. Most wilderness areas provide fire rings and require that campers use them. Keep the forest creatures safe.
2. Gather wood.
Tinder and kindling are small pieces of material that help start a fire. Tinder consists of twigs, dry leaves or needles, while kindling are small sticks.
Don’t forget the firewood to keep the fire going.
3. Try these campfire variations.
With the gathered wood, consider building the fire in a teepee, log cabin or Swedish flame structure.
Teepee campfire.
Log cabin campfire.
Upside down (or pyramid) campfire.
Learn how to build a campfire by REI experts.
4. Now light your fire.
A good fire starter will cut down on the cursing here. Seriously, there are kids around. Leave space between the logs so your fire can breathe.
Now, it’s time for s’mores!
Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Be smart with your campfires and make sure they’re 100% out. Pour on water, stir the ashes, and then add more water. Repeat as much as you need to, until everything is out. And no one likes finding a fire ring full of trash. Only burn what can be burned, and if it’s not completely gone, pack it out.