The first task is to find wood. If you’ve already got rounds or split logs, skip to the next step. Otherwise, start by following the four Ds: dispersed, dead, down, dinky. Get away from a campsite and look for small pieces of dry wood that are already on the ground. Emphasis on the dry.
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Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. To build a successful fire—i.e., one that stays lit—begin with the right ingredients: tinder, like newspaper, fire starter or wood shavings; a progression of kindling, from pinky-thick to wrist-circumference; bigger pieces of wood. Use a hatchet or axe to split logs into smaller pieces, getting a testosterone boost while you’re at it. For finger-sized stuff, use a knife. Rest it into the top of a piece of wood and hammer on it with the hatchet head, forcing the blade through the wood.
Whether log cabin, teepee or freestyle, engineering the structure of fire is all the same. The smallest pieces at the bottom and lots of air space throughout. Lay the tinder down first. Loosely pile the pinky-sized kindling around it—horizontally or vertically—ensuring there’s some overlap and that you have room to get a match or lighter into the tinder. Add a few more, progressively larger, pieces of kindling.
A fire striker works in a pinch. But in most instances, it’s just as simple to use a match or lighter, bringing flame against the tinder in several spots on all sides. Let the fire build, adding more kindling pieces as needed, laying them on top of the flames carefully to ensure lots of airflow. Once wrist-sized pieces have red hot coals, add bigger logs and rounds. Sit back, zone out and feel like a man.
