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Campfire & Stove Skills
6 min read
A fire is comfort, cooking, and morale — and the fastest way to start a wildfire or a rescue. Most of fire skill is judgment: whether to have one at all, keeping it small, and never walking away until it's cold.
Before you strike a match
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Check current fire restrictions — bans change daily in dry season and a violation can be a serious fine.
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In many alpine and desert areas, wood fires are prohibited or a bad idea; a stove is the answer.
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Have water and a way to smother the fire before you light it.
Where to build
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Use an existing fire ring whenever there is one.
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If there isn't, build on bare mineral soil, sand, or gravel — never on grass, roots, or deep forest duff, which can smolder underground.
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Keep well clear of tents, low branches, and dry brush; watch for wind.
Build it so it actually lights
Fire needs three sizes of fuel, added in order: tinder, kindling, then fuel wood.
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Tinder catches a spark: dry grass, birch bark, pine needles, cotton, or a commercial fire starter.
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Kindling is pencil- to thumb-thick dead twigs.
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Fuel wood is wrist-sized and up — dead and down, dry enough to snap.
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A teepee or log-cabin shape over the tinder gives airflow. Light low, and feed it gradually.
Keep it small and watched
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A small fire cooks and warms fine and is far easier to control and put out.
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Never leave a fire unattended, even for a few minutes.
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Don't burn trash, foil, or plastic — it doesn't fully combust and leaves a mess.
Put it dead out
This is where fires escape. 'Out' means cold to the touch.
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Let the wood burn down to ash if you can.
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Douse with water, stir the ashes and embers, and douse again.
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Feel for heat with the back of your hand. If it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to leave.
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Where required, pack out the cold ashes; otherwise scatter them widely.
Stoves — safer, and often the right call
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Canister stoves are simple and clean; liquid-fuel stoves work better in deep cold and at altitude.
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Always run a stove on a stable, level surface with good ventilation.
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Never cook inside a closed tent or vestibule — stoves produce carbon monoxide, and CO poisoning has killed campers.
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Shield the burner from wind to save fuel, and let canisters warm in your jacket on frigid mornings.