How to build a campfire, part two

A bonfire is typically big and tall, and usually fairly short-lived. What if you want a campfire that's steadier and lasts longer? You'd want this for camp ceremonies and programs, for instance. You construct a different arrangement of wood for this.

As always with firebuilding, gather your wood ahead of time (I'll wax polemic about that when I talk about cooking fires). But read on to see what to gather.

Start with several fairly straight, large diameter logs. The biggest you're likely to need are a foot in diameter and a yard long. The more alike they are, the better. Snuggle them side by side in the middle of your fire pit.

Now arrange several slightly smaller-diameter logs crosswise on top of your bottom layer. They should be about the same length as your bottom logs, but slightly smaller diameter. Since they're smaller diameter, you'll need more of them to cover the bottom logs.

Layer three: crosswise to layer two, slightly smaller diameter, still the same length, and enough of them to cover layer two.

Repeat until your pile is a table about waist high. This makes a fairly large, long-lasting fire that'll still be smoldering in the morning. Scale it down to suit your group. Don't give in to the temptation to make the layers shorter as you go up. That'll create a pyramid effect. You want nice straight sides. Something knee high and two feet across will last as long as most campfires need to last.

The photo shows a small one I made for the photo, so the teepee igniter on top looks disproportionately large. I let my top layer hang over, too. If you trim their length, your pile will look nicer, but the fire doesn't care either way. I'll also never light this one because it's on a concrete slab in front of our house, not in the fire pit. It's pieces are destined for our wood burning stove that we heat our house with. (Total heating bill so far this year: zero.)

The top layer is a nice fairly flat surface of sticks maybe an inch in diameter. On the center of this put a pile of tinder and build a teepee of small sticks over it, then larger sticks, then larger sticks.  You should have a space between the sticks somewhere so you can get to the tinder with your torch match. Make the teepee fire stack a good foot high. You want a fire that will catch the top layer underneath it.

When you light this, the teepee fire will get going nicely, and the fire will work its way down the pile of wood, burning steadily the whole time.

When you conduct the campfire ceremony, try to get most of the people on one side of the fire, and you stand on the far side of the fire as you lead the singing or tell stories. That way the light from the fire makes you visible. If you're on the same side as the group, you're silhouetted and hard to see. You can also scorch your backside.

Next time: how to build a cooking fire.