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A campsite without a campfire is a desolate sight. Granted you can camp without a campfire, but the experience is totally different. I guess you could substitute it by lighting up the old propane stove and watch it's regimented flame. But, nothing can take the place of the bright warm glow from the wood fueled fire. Of course, there are those campgrounds that do not allow campfires, due to the high susceptibility of their grounds and/or forest to fire. Some states may also restrict campfires during times of drought or in areas where the vegetation has dried out at certain times of the year. My suggestion would be to check this out before you head out. You can always go to another place.
Campfires are not only used for romantic rendezvous, keeping warm, drying cloths or as conversation place. There are many campers who have learned or still trying to learn the art of cooking by the open flame. I don't think there is much that can't be cooked using the campfire.  In order to have a successful fire; you first need to have something to burn. Firewood can usually be found in abundance in or around the campground if you just look around. Of course, you may find this difficult in the desert or beach campgrounds. In this case, you may have to haul it in or purchase it at a local store near the campground. We always start by looking around our campsite. We gather up all the dead and fallen branches and twigs. These make for great fire starters. Sometimes you may even find good size pieces. Check out the sites where no one is staying. After we exhaust the woods around our campsite, we head out in the car to forest areas away from the campground. We look for 1 to 4 inches in diameter pieces. Any bigger, we usually will chop it up. We have found that size plenty big and one to two loads in the back of our car will usually last us 5 to 6 days, with fires built in the morning and at night. The larger the wood the longer it will burn, the longer you have to wait for it to burn out when it is bed time or you want to leave. Forest areas will usually have trees that have fallen from the wind, snow or other means. Many of these fallen trees will be rotten or rotting. You can find a lot of useful wood in these and it is easy to break up. The dead, not rotten trees that are lying around may need to be chopped with an ax or cut by a hand saw. Where there are fallen trees, you will find many good size broken branches that can also be collected.
Downing trees and the use of a chainsaw has never been necessary for us and I do not recommend their use for collecting campfire wood. Besides that, it just might be illegal in some places. When starting a fire, softwood is best. It tends to light and burn faster. It is great as a fire starter and for the quick morning warm ups and breakfast cooking. At night, when you want to have a longer burning fire. It will take a lot more wood if you use softwood exclusively. Sometimes you may not have a choice. Hardwood is sometimes hard to come by. Softwood also produces more of the traditional snap crackle and pop you come to expect with a campfire than hardwood does. Hardwood can also be used to start fires, but you will find it a little more difficult to get going. Hardwoods burn slower and longer. It makes for a good long lasting night fire.
When building your fire. Generously, use dried twigs and/or thinly cut up pieces of kindling. If you have paper, crumble it up and lay it down first. Then stack the twigs and/or kindling on top in a crisscross fashion so as to allow the flame to work its way upward. Next, light the paper. Once the fire gets going start to feed it with a few larger pieces of wood in the same crisscross fashion. If you do not have paper, cut up a lot of kindling into pencil size pieces placing them in crisscross fashion. Light them as close to the ground as possible. Feed the fire slowly using larger pieces of kindling first until it gets going good. Fires can be built in any weather if you know how. I did not say I could do it, but it can happen. I plan to be in my tent or my car if it gets too bad. There are alot of books on the subject. Knowing how to start and maintain a fire in all sorts of weather could not hurt to know incase you ever get stranded somewhere and need heat to survive. One of the most common sources for starting failure is the heaping of too much wood. This cuts off the oxygen to the fire and fire needs oxygen. The use of unseasoned or green wood can be successful, but for most people it is very hard or impossible to use. Burning pinecones can be hazardous. They have been known to explode due to their sap content. The burning of green pine needles is not recommended in large volumes. Dried pine needles can act like paper when starting a fire. The use of fluids to start a fire: |
Always use extreme caution when using fire. Be aware of your surroundings. Never leave a fire unattended. Even if it is burning in a well designed campground fireplace. It does not hurt to bring along a small extinguisher. Smokey the Bear has been a great Champaign in the educating the camping public about fire safety.
