Camping is exciting, fun, healthy, and one of the best ways to spend your holiday, and the campfire is among the best camping. While spending a night under the stars around the fire in the great outdoors can be a pleasant experience, things can get a little bit tricky if you are new to this.
A campfire is what keeps you cozy and comfortable, and in a survival situation, alive. Here are a few of the best campfire hacks to get started.
Hacks for Building your Campfire
Have a fire bed
While a campfire is fun, not adhering to safety precautions can lead to some unpleasant issues. A fire bed is the first thing to do in your journey to creating a campfire. Most camping sites have designated areas you can use for your campfire, and however, if your site doesn’t have a fire area, this is how to make a fire bed.
Pick a site far from trees, bushes, and any plant material. Then medium size rocks create a circle surrounding the chosen fire area. This creates a barrier and prevents sparks and hot embers from escaping your fire.
Type of wood
When it comes to fuel for your fire, every wood isn’t “wood”. There are three basic types you’ll require for your campfire;
- Tinder,
- Kindling, and
- Fuelwood
Tinder encompasses materials like wood shavings, dry leaves, dry grass, etc. It is advisable to bring a char cloth from home during the wet seasons as your tinder.
The next type of campfire wood is kindling. This keeps your campfire going and consists of materials like small twigs and branches. Anything that’s the width of a pencil.
Fuelwood is the wood you probably think all campfire is made of, and it keeps your fire burning hot. You do not have to get big logs used in the fireplace, the best wood to use are medium-sized tree branches. Use the best camping saw to saw off dried branches for your campfire.
A hack for gathering wood for your campfire is to pick wood that breaks easily and isn’t green. Wet wood wouldn’t burn, and greenwood would produce an annoying amount of smoke.
Putting out your fire
Once it is morning and you are ready to leave your campsite, you must thoroughly prepare the campfire. Do not simply dump water on the fire and think that’s it, and there is a guideline for putting out a campfire.
First, sprinkle the campfire with water until you know that all the embers and charcoal are wet and have lost all warmth.
Stir the embers with a stick while you sprinkle, stopping only when you do not see any steam. This makes sure all the ashes get wet, and you do not miss any spot.
Finally, the touch test, run your hands a little above the ashes, stopping if you feel any heat. If you do, the fire isn’t extinguished, and you should sprinkle some more water in that spot.
Never actually put your hands into the ashes, as you might get burned.
The hacks above ensure you properly set your fire and then keep it safe afterward. Following them would ensure a safe campfire while ensuring you get the most out of your experience. Visit campingspark.com for more tips on safe and fun camping.
