How to Quickly Start a Campfire While Hiking in the Mountains of Kyrgyzstan
The Mystical Flame of the Fire…
One can gaze into it forever and read prophetic signs of fate in the wonderful dance of its tongues… It warms us with its heat, dries our belongings, fills even the simplest food with a delightful aroma, and gives a sense of coziness and safety to travelers far from home. But what do we really know about campfires? Modern people rarely encounter the primal element of fire, and have lost the skills of making and maintaining it in the wild. But let’s recall the basics of this wise endeavor.
Mastering the technique of building a fire is very important for tourists. It is often seen how people burn several newspapers, use up a whole box of matches, trying to ignite wet or rotten branches. A true traveler should be able to start a fire in any weather with just one match.
What Firewood is Best for a Fire
Dry! This answer is obvious to anyone who has ever made a fire in nature.
The top spot is shared by oak and birch. These types of wood provide excellent heat. The burning temperature is 900°C and 816°C. Oak burns well and for a long time, producing little smoke. However, finding, chopping, and igniting it is very difficult. Oak firewood is a hardwood, and only small splinters are suitable for kindling; logs should be added to an already established fire. Birch is softer, provides almost as much heat, and is considered the optimal choice.
Most deciduous trees in our latitudes (ash, beech, maple, chestnut…) can be used without hesitation. It’s great if you can throw in a couple of branches of pear or cherry, which provide a pleasant aroma. The worst options are “swamp” trees (for example, willow), whose smoke smells terrible and clings to hair and clothing.
Coniferous trees (spruce, pine, larch) are like matches: they burn well but not for long. They produce a lot of heat and smoke.
Conifers often shoot burning sparks, burning through fashionable membrane jackets and fleeces, leaving behind “pleasant” memories in the form of holes in clothing (at best). When sitting by a pine fire, be careful and move away when plasma appears (then the sparking intensifies). Do not leave your things unattended to dry—they have a non-zero probability of burning.
High-altitude shrub conifers (for example, mountain pine or "alpine" juniper) are almost useless for a fire. They are incredibly difficult to chop, impossible to break, and even dry branches resist ignition for hours. Even if you manage to start a fire, the flame will constantly go out and provide minimal heat. In contrast, tree-like juniper is an excellent choice for firewood. It has characteristics similar to birch, and its smoke has a pleasant aroma, repels insects, and even has medicinal properties.
The technique of building a fire consists of the following steps:
1) choosing a location;
2) preparing the site for the fire;
3) gathering firewood and kindling;
4) laying the material for ignition;
5) igniting;
6) adding combustible material;
7) choosing the type of fire.
It’s best to gather kindling while on the way, rather than at the campsite (rest stop), where it may not be available.
The actual process of building a fire begins with igniting the kindling.
Kindling is any material that can provide a sufficiently large flame for a short time so that very thin dry branches the thickness of a match can catch fire.
Then, thicker branches, approaching the thickness of a pencil, are added. Once these catch fire, the next ones, about the thickness of a finger, are added. Gradually, thicker and thicker firewood is placed in the fire. It is clear that all firewood must be dry.
Typically, paper is used for kindling, and less often, birch bark. It is important to remember that taking birch bark from birch trees growing near the campsite is unacceptable. Birch bark is usually collected in advance when finding rotten or fallen trees during the hike. Experienced tourists often do without paper or birch bark. As kindling, they use either very thin splinters (almost shavings) taken from the center of a dry log split lengthwise, or what tourists call “spider web”—small dry twigs of spruce. These can almost always be found on large spruces by looking under the hanging branches at the trunk.
Kindling is usually placed directly on the ground, and on top of it, small twigs or splinters from the first batch of fuel are laid, but not all of the collected “spider web” or splinters, only a portion, so that the kindling is not completely covered by them.
The kindling should be ignited from below—this way, it will burn completely. If the kindling is ignited from above, often only the top part burns, and then the flame goes out: fire spreads poorly downward. Kindling in the form of bundles of “spider web” or splinters is best ignited while held in the air. The thinner the splinter or twig, the easier it ignites, but the faster it also burns out. Those used for kindling or the first batch of fuel are comparable in thickness to a match and often burn no longer than a match. Therefore, for the first two to three minutes, it is necessary to continuously add new fuel to the fire very quickly. It is important not to just throw it into the fire haphazardly. The fuel should be placed in the fire in such a way that there are gaps between the branches, splinters, or logs for air access. This way, the fire will catch well.
When the “spider web” has caught fire, the remaining supply of “spider web” can be used. A few branches from the next batch of fuel (say, pencil thickness) are placed on the burning “spider web.” Once they catch fire, they will serve as a starter for the entire batch of firewood.
Gradually, the thickness of the branches and logs placed in the fire increases.
The fire can be considered established when a small pile of hot glowing coals has formed. Until coals have formed in the fire, it can easily go out.
A fire can be quickly started by placing paper (or a cloth) soaked in fat or diesel fuel in an empty tin can surrounded by branches arranged in a pyramid and lighting it.
Using gasoline for kindling is dangerous and ineffective—it ignites instantly, like an explosion, and burns quickly without having time to dry and ignite the firewood.
While the flame is not yet blazing, shield it from rain and wind—let, for example, someone hold a tent tarp or raincoat over it, or make a wall of stones or sticks. The fire from the kindling should touch the still unburned splinters. Then gradually add thicker firewood. Don’t rush to add a large log—it won’t catch fire and will extinguish the flame.
Do not throw firewood in a pile; instead, place it with gaps to allow air access to the flame.
Firewood Not Suitable for a Fire
Rotten and decayed logs;
Willow, linden, poplar, and birch (burn poorly, provide little heat, but a lot of smoke);
Fruit trees (only used as supplementary material);
Rare species listed in the Red Book.
On a hike, no one will sort firewood, dividing it into good and not-so-good. Everything goes into the fire. In a well-blazing flame, even live wood will burn.
The Most Popular Types of Fires.
The “Lean-to” is usually used for kindling, cooking food in one pot, or in the rain. The “Well,” “Taiga,” and “Star” fires provide good heat and produce a lot of coals, making it convenient to cook food in 2-3 buckets simultaneously. The “Nodja” or “Three Logs” burns with an even hot flame for several hours without additional fuel (with logs of 25-40 cm in diameter—throughout the night), and you can also use the “Fireplace” and “Polynesian” types. It is most often used for heating during overnight stays without tents. The “Nodja” is easiest to set up in the following way. First, make numerous notches with an axe on three straight logs without branches. Then, rake out the already burning fire or coals along the length, place twigs, small logs, and when they ignite—place the two prepared logs at a sharp angle to the wind direction at a distance of about half their diameter, so that the coals are mainly between the logs. After they catch fire, place a third log on top. People sit on the windward side. As the logs burn down, they are turned (for example, using two axes driven into the ends of the logs) so that they again fit evenly against each other.
To build a fire on snow, you need to chop 6-7 raw sticks about 8-10 cm thick and 1.5 m long. In the desired location, the snow is packed down, and the sticks are laid tightly next to each other. The fire is then built on them.
This method can be used for short stops.
The group must have matches in waterproof packaging. Each participant in the hike should have their own box of fully sealed matches (in addition to the group supply and common matches). And these matches should not be kept somewhere in the backpack, but always on their person. If the tourist is wearing a storm jacket, they should be in the chest pocket; when removing the storm jacket, the matches should be immediately transferred to the pants or shirt pocket.
Various methods can be used to seal matches. You can place several matches along with the side wall from a matchbox in an empty hunting cartridge, which is then filled with paraffin. You can put a matchbox wrapped in paper into a metal box, and then seal the joint of the lid with wax.
Instead of wax, you can use electrical tape and adhesive bandages. This is simpler but less reliable. Good results can be achieved by combining several methods. For example, placing matches in a metal box, which is then placed in a plastic bag.
A simple and effective way to preserve matches is as follows: matches should be dipped in melted wax (paraffin). After such treatment, they are not afraid of moisture and ignite even in the rain.
Kindling can usually be found on-site; this includes birch bark and small dry spruce twigs from the lower, usually dried branches of the tree. Even in heavy rain, they ignite quickly.
To successfully start a fire in the rain, you need to bring along artificial kindling that is not afraid of moisture—dry alcohol tablets, a candle stub. It’s hard to say which is better: each traveler has their own preferences. Perhaps it’s more convenient to have a candle. Dry alcohol is not always available, and a candle is handy if you want it to last and be used later. Therefore, when starting a fire with a candle, cut a piece about one and a half centimeters high from its end (sometimes travelers take not the whole candle from home, but just a small piece), place this stub on the ground, light it, and then start placing the “spider web” or thin splinter on top, so that it touches the upper half of the flame tongue but not the wick (otherwise, the candle may easily go out). For this, the “spider web” is usually laid in a “lean-to” fashion or placed on a larger branch, similar to a taiga fire, but with only a few layers. The candle burns for a long time, the flame stays in one place, and the “spider web” or splinter gradually dries out and begins to ignite. In this case, the candle plays the same role as a pile of coals in relation to logs when building a large fire. Of course, at this point, one cannot expect to extract the candle stub at any moment to use it again, as it will burn in the fire.
It should be noted that even if thin twigs of “spider web” may be wet on the surface, thicker batches of fuel will be even wetter. To help them ignite faster, you can use an old taiga method. For this, take a sharp knife and shave shavings from these sticks, without completely separating them from the stick. Let a frizzy tuft form at one end. Such “ignition sticks” catch fire very quickly.
If the shavings are fine and dense enough, they can even be ignited directly from the kindling, along with the “spider web” and splinter. Prepare several such sticks, and make cuts on the remaining branches and twigs of the second and third batches of fuel as well. They don’t need to be as deep, but they should be spaced along the entire length and preferably from different sides. By the way, it can sometimes be useful to clean the splinters in this way.
When the fire is burning well enough to start adding larger firewood—thicker than a hand or more, similar cuts should also be made along their entire length, but now with an axe. Even better—split each log lengthwise. The inner layers of wood remain untouched by moisture, no matter how heavy the rain is, and ignite easily.
The structure of the fire also somewhat determines the success of the endeavor. Among the described structures, the “Taiga” fire, “Nodja” (“Three Logs”), and “Lean-to” are best suited for this. The “Taiga” fire will be especially good if it is made from logs split lengthwise and laid tightly or almost tightly against each other.
The logs are oriented towards the rain with their bark and have a slope, similar to a house roof. Water rolls down them, and only a very small portion reaches the fire.
Remember: no matter how difficult it may be, persistence and patience are the most important factors in starting a fire. And in the end, you will be fully rewarded with its warmth and beauty.
