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"Few acts are so immediately indicative of an individual's woodsmanship as the way he goes about lighting a fire."
~ Bradford Angier in How To Stay Alive In The Woods
Introduction:
Humorously enough, many websites and self-proclaimed experts claim that one fire is "the best" because of some quality that it holds over another fire. It should be noted that EVERY fire has some advantages, and some disadvantages. A teepee is great for lighting up the darkness, but can you imagine trying to dutch over cook with one? There are many different types of campfires - some varieties of fire are more likely to survive a rain storm, some are easier to build, and some provide better heating for those around you. Choosing the appropriate fire for the right situation is a sign of outdoor skills and wilderness savy.
The Teepee:
If you were to imagine the classic campfire, it would surely be a mid-sized teepee. These fires have some advantages. This is probably the most basic of fire designs. It is often used as a starter upon which bigger, longer-lasting fires are founded. It's also a great fire for a quick warm-up or water-boiling snack break. This fire uses mostly kindling, but larger teepees can be created by adding larger logs vertically to the fire. If you are planning to boil water or hang something from a tripod over a fire, this fire provides great vertical heat for cooking. This fire usually falls inward, so it's unlikely to start a forest fire.
The teepee doesn't do well in a rain storm - all of the coals are exposed to the rain. It doesn't generate nearly the outward heat of some other types of campfire, as much of the heat tends to shoot upward. It takes a long time for this fire to be ready for bigger logs, so it consumes a large amount of kindling and smaller fuel to get the fire going. Most teepee fires eventually "implode" by falling into themselves. When this occurs it can send sparks flying and burning wood rolling so be sure to have a solid fire ring and not grow too sleepy as you sit around your fire. This fire is high-maintenance, so expect to spend quite a bit of time getting wood.
The Log Cabin:
Some years back there was an attempt to rename this classic fire type as a "Friendship House Fire", but the name never really stuck (thank goodness - if it were any sweeter it would give us all diabetes). The log cabin provides good outward heat and is a great coal-producing fire (essential if you plan to do some dutch oven cooking and didn't bring a bag of charcoal). It burns for quite a bit longer than the teepee, so it takes less maintenance to keep this fire going. It builds best if you use moderately-sized logs at the bottom of your teepee, and get a bit smaller as you build. If you want your fire to burn a bit longer and have better rain survivability then "fill in the floor" of each layer of your log cabin with fuel wood placed parrallel to wood in it's layer (and perpindicular to the wood in the layer above and below it). Light the log cabin on the top if you want it to be a slow-burning fire, and on the bottom if you'd like it to burn through the wood a bit quicker.
The largest disadvantage of the log cabin is that you need to have a good portion of your wood before lighting your fire (whereas, for example, the teepee can be built with a few handfuls of kindling and added to as needed with increasingly larger wood) and you need to plan out your log cabin in advance. If lit from the top the log cabin has very little rain survivability, but it does moderately well when lit from the bottom with its miniature "roofs" over each layer. Beware of the bottom collapsing resulting in one side of the fire tipping - the result will be layers of burning logs at the top dumped in whatever direction the fire chooses. I have witnessed this happen on many occasions, often to the apparent surprise of the Scouts sitting around it. This is a medium-maintenance fire.
The Lean-To:
The classical lean-to fire is created by placing our tinder at the base of the middle of a log. We then lean our kindling against the log (and over our tinder). This fire builds quickly and does not require much planning to get it going. It survives a rain storm pretty well, as coals tend to hide under our large log. The Lean-To has the advantage of channelling the wind on a calm day by laying it in the direction of the predominant wind. On a windy day we can use the large log as a windbreak so that we can get our fire started easily and keep it at a safer size. Because our fire begins with a large log, about the time it is burning through we can often place a few more logs onto the top and create an oversized teepee.
The primary disadvantage of a lean-to is that it doesn't really radiate in all directions - if you're unfortunate enough to be on the log-side of the fire don't expect to get any heat. This fire also takes a long time to produce coals, so don't expect to cook over it in the short term. This fire lacks the good looks of the log cabin or the teepee - it doesn't provide much brightness and it looks lopsided. As a result, this fire is rarely built in my experience despite its utility and flexibility. This is a medium-maintenance fire.
A long version of a lean-to is often used in survival situations or in extreme cold. A lean-to is built along the entire length of a large log (downed tree) and the entire log is set ablaze. We put our shelter (or our bed) parallel to the length of the log on the same side as our tinder. If we make our bed between the fire and a cliff wall (or reflector or shelter) then the heat will radiate over us repeatedly. It is a powerful way to stay warm, listed in nearly all survival books that I have read. Click HERE to see an image clarifying this scenario.
The Parallel Fire:
The Lean-To
The Teepee
The Log Cabin
The Parallel Fire
To create a parallel fire we place two logs parallel to one another and place our tinder in between them. Our kindling can be teepeed over our kindling between the logs or placed across both logs if there is sufficient tinder. The parallel fire can be used with or without a trench - the trench requires extra work, though, and can scar the land; unless there are extremely high winds it's unnecessary. Much like the lean-to, we can use the logs to block strong winds or channel weak breezes. In the event of a rainstorm a parallel fire has a great advantage - just push the logs together and let your coals burn the large logs from underneath. If you have a good number of coals it will last out even heavy rains. Another nice advantage of this fire is that a cooking pot or grill can be placed between the logs and over the kindling, thus providing a natural level cooking surface. Because this fire takes a long time to get going and has two large logs to burn through once it takes hold, this is a low-maintenance fire.
One disadvantage of a parallel fire is that they don't radiate much outward heat. Much of the heat will go upward, and the rest mostly flows out either end. It takes quite some time for a parallel fire to take hold, so don't expect coals for dutch ovens for a long while. This fire doesn't produce much light at all, so it doesn't make for a pleasant late-night fire.
The Star Fire:
The star fire is created by placing long logs in a star-shaped design all meeting at a single area. In that area we place our tinder and kindling, often in the shape of teepee or a crisscrossing fashion. As the fire burns we push the logs toward the center point, thus feeding the fire a constant supply of wood. The advantage of this is that you can often get your firewood for the entire day and have it ready to burn throughout the day. In the event of a rainstorm all logs can be pushed together, thus providing some protection from the water. This fire will continue burning throughout the day and requires very little maintenance other than an occasional push; it is hard to imagine a lower-maintenance fire.
This fire has several disadvantages. It requires us to sit well away from the fire, thus eliminating it as a good fire choice in the winter. Having long logs doesn't work well with most established fire rings, so we should be cautious about starting a fire of this sort in any dry area lest we start a forest fire. The worth of this fire rests upon its ability to keep on burning overnight or when we are nowhere near the fire (as when we go hunting or fishing during the day), but Scouts ought not leave fires unwatched in the first place. I am of the opinion that this fire made a lot of sense for settlers who needed a cooking fire they could leave burning all day, but it doesn't make a lot of sense for the modern Scout.
The Council Fire:
The Star Fire
The Council Fire
The council fire is a combination of two previously discussed fire types - the teepee and the log cabin. We begin by creating a teepee with a break at one point to access our tinder. Unlike a normal teepee we are going to wait to light the fire until after building the majority of our fire. We continue to grow our teepee in size until it is several feet high, being sure to provide adequate tinder and small kindling to light each successive layer. Finally we build a hollow log cabin using large logs around our teepee. If the fire is to be lit at some point in the future it would be wise to lay a tarp over your carefully-constructed fire (and place some stakes or large rocks at the corners of the tarp).
This fire has the advantages of both aforementioned fires. It will burn hot and put off plenty of heat in all directions. The teepee portion of the fire will provide adequate lighting for a pleasant campfire program (like skits and songs). The log cabin portion will burn slowly, thus allowing the fire to burn for an hour or more without adding additional wood. If properly built it will fall inward as it burns, thus creating a safe and beautiful bed of coals. These fires are ideal for evening Troop campfires, as well as for large Summer Camp campfires with complete shows. It requires minimal maintenance if built properly, but that is harder than many would imagine.
The primary disadvantage of this fire is its difficulty and time of construction. Often there is insufficient tinder to start the teepee, or it's difficult to reach your strike point once the fire is constructed. Sometimes the tinder goes, but folks do not put in enough small kindling to light the larger kindling. If there is enough small kindling, it's easy to put insufficient large kindling to completely light the logs forming the log cabin. If the log cabin is built too small then the teepee will burn out quickly, resulting in a need for someone to add additional firewood. Creating the perfect council fire is tricky, but with experience and proper building materials it is very possible.
A Final Note About Lighting Your Fire:
It should be noted that I have witnessed MANY older Scouts reduce themselves to starting their fires with lighter fluid or kerosene (often with the excuse that they are too busy to take the time to build it properly). It takes at most fifteen to twenty minutes (and some knowledge) to construct one of these fires properly. I once had a 14 year old inform me, quite confidently, that he had learned on Boy Scout staff that the "proper way" to get a fire going was with kerosene, and that if I didn't use it then my fire probably wouldn't light. The dim-witted boy was wrong, and so were the role models that taught him such ugly habits. Allow yourself sufficient time to build your fire and be prepared with additional tinder and kindling if needed.
Always remember your five P's - Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
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