Fire Building

[alltherage]

Just so you all know, fire needs oxygen. Piling gross amounts of wood is not going to build a good fire, nor save a dying one. Please, from this point on, use either a "teepee" or "log house" building style to build a fire. It needs to breathe, and you are one of five pyros at the scene, only just one knows how to make an actual fire.

/end camping/backyard fire rant.

[Jayems]

Piling gross amounts of wood + gross amounts of gasoline = awesome



/guy who can't build fire

[Buff]

I build a "teepee" and then throw in copious amounts of paper. Light the paper and it gets hot quick, with lots of flame and the wood starts nice and quick too. I also don't use thick wood when I build the teepee. Only when the flame goes do I begin to throw on thicker logs.

While I haven't tried it, I must say that I like Jayem's approach.

I once saw a guy try to kindle the fire by pouring gas onto it, right from a full can of gas. Everybody froze as they watched him do it, certain that he was going to blow up the can he was holding. Fortunately it was uneventful.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Tee-Pee system rules. That is all.

[Buff]

Since we're talking about fire. The best way to roast hot dogs is to build one huge ass fire. Get it super hot and let the fire die out. Roast the hot dogs over the smoking hot embers. Nicely cooked and you don't get burnt crap flying and sticking to your hotdogs.

[MrMastodonFarm]

The best thing about camp fires is somone doing the jumping jack flash and jumping over it.

in my youth I would go campnng alot south of edmonton at this camp ground, which has now long since been taken over by sprawl, close friends of my parents would come and me and my brother were friends with their son, she would leap over the fire with great agiliy and strenth . the real kicker is she was an officer in the salvation army.

now that my friends, kicks aasss.

[Russic]

I have a buddy who once spent about 20 minutes just getting ready for his fire. We couldn't tell what he was doing the whole time, nor did we care. When he lit it, not only did the insane amount of wood that he had stacked in the pit erupt, but it emitted a blinding light. Turns out his prep consisted of using a knife on a road flare to litter the base of the wood with magnesium shavings. Real hot real fast.

[HalifaxDrunk]

Back in 2003 we went camping and the daytime temperature was 36-37 in the shade, you didn't even dare enter the sunshine. Even cracking a beer was energy draining. Anyway because we couldn't do anything physical due to the heat I took about 4-5 hours building the greatest firepit Tee-pee ever.

When it was time to light it, I struck 1 match and instantly *whoosh* it was a thing of beauty I tell ya! It was bar none the greatest camp fire of my life. The unfortunate thing was even at night the outside temperature was around 28 so we had to sit about fifteen feet away to enjoy it.

[Resolute 14]

Teepee system + bacon grease = impressive.

[Boblobla]

The Teepee is great for heat and the log cabin gets you better cooking embers.

[Traditional_Ale]

This thread RULES!!!

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Teepee system + bacon grease = impressive.

Also, if you get a long Citronella Torch (can buy 'em at Can Tire) and use it as a fire poking stick...good times!

Like these.

[GrrlGoalie33]

The upside down fire is the best! Build with the large pieces of wood on the bottom, building up to your kindling on the top in the middle.

I've never had one of these fires even come close to going out!

[alltherage]

I just find the log house to be a more structurally sound fire, personally. I love the teepee, but I find that once one peice of wood gives out, it generally falls over in to a non breathing pile that smokes and whatnot. Log house, all the way.

[LChoy]

I can never never get my fire started with a fire bow as fast as that Survivorman guy could

[You Need a Thneed]

Liquid oxygen is where its at for starting fires.

[RedMan12]

I usually start with a log fire with kindling in the middle then as the fire grows stronger I turn it into a teepee. Thank you Boy Scouts!

[The Fonz]

I made a teepee with my buddy's couch inside a few weeks ago, it was impressive.






It was a very uncomfortable couch

[tete]

Originally Posted by alltherage

I just find the log house to be a more structurally sound fire, personally. I love the teepee, but I find that once one peice of wood gives out, it generally falls over in to a non breathing pile that smokes and whatnot. Log house, all the way.

Yup. I had to build a fire every day in the summer for four and a half years - I got good at it and found the log cabin worked best.

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Piling gross amounts of wood + gross amounts of gasoline = awesome



/guy who can't build fire

Truly. And I discovered something cool while winter camping as a kid. I found that if you make a ball of snow about two feet in diameter and soak if with diesel fuel it burns like a torch for ages. The ball of diesel-soaked snow melts down into a diesel-ice ball about a foot in diameter and provides a great instant heat source which you can use to build your fire around by adding wood. I don't know why the diesel/snow ball didn't just melt rather than turning into a diesel-ice ball, but that's what it did. The best part of this trick is that it provides an instant heat source ... that's kind of huge when crawling out of a sleeping bag in sub-zero temperatures.