Wouldn’t it be nice if, just once, you could get a campfire blazing nicely within the first ten minutes of setting up camp? After all, very few popular spots provide enough kindling let alone dry firewood. And of course, on arrival day, it’s usually too late to go searching, and most often any firewood you stumble across needs splitting and drying out.
So why not bring your firewood with you? No, I don’t mean enough for your entire stay, but that first fire -- always the most welcome -- can always do with a help-along.
Try this: Find yourself a handy-sized, sturdy box that, filled with dry, split firewood, becomes a permanent item on your camping checklist. It doesn’t need to be a huge supply, just sufficient to get that first fire established, getting your camping trip off to a pleasant start.
Well in advance of each trip, I cut and split enough dry wood to fill a milk-crate-size container. If the weather looks doubtful, I’ll pack in twice that amount. In fact we’ve reached the stage where, more often than not, we depart each campsite with sufficient firewood in our wood box to jump-start the next.
Getting your fire started on the first attempt can be made easier, too. I like to carry a compact fire-starting kit to avoid the need for scrambling about looking for matches, paper and kindling while still trying to set up tents and bedding.
Here’s how I put my kit together: In a large sheet of aluminium foil, (say, 40 cm square) I wrap a double-sheet of newspaper, 20-30 short lengths of kindling (about 1-2 cm thick), one firelighter (eg., Little Lucifers), and at least a half-dozen matches taped to a matchbox striker.
Once it’s all wrapped tightly, the bundle is placed in a zip lock bag and stowed in a permanent position in the rear of my 4x4. There’s always one tucked away in that same hidey-hole, ready for use. Of course, quite often we don’t need it.
And why the aluminium foil? Well, if the ground is wet, foil makes a handy foundation to set the fire on. In fact if it’s raining at the time, you can fold the foil to form a small, rough “lean-to” in which to get the fire going. Once a few larger pieces are burning well, the “roof” can be dispensed with.
By the way, some of the old hands have a secret rule about building a campfire: Kindling thickness, in the sequence of burning, should be “matchstick - finger - wrist.” Once flames are self-supporting, throw on a few “arms and legs.”
If you’re a regular camper, no doubt like me you particularly look forward to the first night’s fire. With all those other chores to attend to, life’s made so much easier if you have everything ready bar the flames.
Bill Revill is an Australian writer, fulltime RV traveller, and outdoor lifestyle specialist. His free e-book catalogue can be obtained from wrevill.iinet.net.au
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ã 2008 by W.V. Revill
