Camping 101: Light My Fire Matches And Beyond

To this day, after decades of building campfires of all sorts and sizes, I still try to start each fire with just one match. Yup, it's a Boy Scout thing. After all, one match may be all that I have some day and the practicing of such economy may come in handy. But even for that one lone match scenario, there is a survival technique where one splits the match lengthwise between layers to carefully create two matches from one!

There are several ways to start a campfire these days; some are traditional with the addition of a liquid prompt (lantern gas), up through electric matches, and other fire-starting gizmos. Here are the basic ways one gets a fire going all judgments aside.

The Match

Matches are readily accessible and so cheap one is usually very cavalier with matchbooks stashed everywhere around the house and shirt pocket. For outdoor use, those that are water-resistant are best. Remember, too, that you must have a striker strip to get most matches, even the environmentally tough ones, to light.

Friction/Sparkers

These are basically the flint and steel offsprings that our forefathers used before matches were even invented. Modern striker starters use a magnesium strip and a shard of steel which, when rubbed together, produce ample sparks to start a fire. The trick most often is finding the right tinder; tinder that is dry and readily ignited by those sparks. A polymer plastic substance that looks like white soap is a chemical tinder that will turn a spark into a flame at the wink of an eye.

Self-Starting Charcoal

Charcoal impregnated with lighter fluid is a handy fire starter. All these flammable briquettes need is a flame and they are lit. I use self-starting charcoal as a flammable seed for a regular, wood-fueled fire. A bed of self-starting coals lit beneath the dry wood replaces tinder and gets most fires going right away. Add enough briquettes initially and you have an early lead on cooking coals sooner than waiting for the wood to turn to charcoal.

Fire sticks and other burnable materials that aid in getting a flame going also work. There's everything from the wood fiber fire sticks to other inflammables.

In an emergency, you can also use lantern fuel and other highly combustibles to start a fire. This can be very dangerous use this as a last resort or in a critical situation where you need a fire immediately.

Of course, there are the friction methods used by cave men and native tribesmen to start fires. It's as hard as it looks to get these fires going, and it's not all muscle, either. Combing the heat of friction with tinder, all at the right time, is more an art form in my mind. Whether you use the friction bow or the friction trough method of generating heat to light the fire, it will take practice to become proficient at this method.

Personally, I like the finesse of one match held to a perfectly structured fire to add that ultimate touch to the campsite.

Tom Watson is an award-winning writer who lived in Alaska for 16 years, 12 of which were on Kodiak Island. He is a frequent contributor to Camping Life, Canoe & Kayak magazines, author of three books: Sixty Hikes within Sixty Miles of Minneapolis, Best Tent Camping-Minnesota, both by Menasha Ridge Press, and How to Think Like a Survivor, by Creative Publishing International. He's also an avid kayaker, camper, naturalist, writer, and photographer residing in western Minnesota. He will write a weekly column on camping tips for sportsmansguide.com.