If you’re planning on spending time in the great outdoors, knowing how to start a fire should be at the top of your priority list. While it’s great to be able to start a campfire while car camping or in your backyard so you can roast hot dogs and marshmallows, you should also know how to build an emergency fire. If you are ever in a dire situation, such as stranded in the mountains or out in the elements and unable to get back to a place of warmth and safety, you’ll be glad you have the ability.

Fire needs three things, called the fire triangle: 

• Fuel
• Heat
• Oxygen

Remove one of these, and you have no fire. Combined, these cause a chemical reaction that creates fire, often referred to as the fourth element. To build a fire, you will need all three in some form or another.

Starting a fire outside is different from starting one inside. There are factors at play, like wind and natural elements you don’t have to contend with when starting a fire in your fireplace. 

This article is intended to offer tips on fire starting for outdoor survival for beginners, but more experienced people may pick up a nugget or two as well. 

Start a Fire Basics

1. Gather your fire starter, fuel, and a method for lighting your fire.
2. Put the fire starter on the bottom, add kindling or sticks over it, and ensure plenty of air space for oxygen flow. 
3. Ignite the starter using a lighter, matches, or flint fire starter. 
4. If your fire starts dwindling before the kindling is fully lit, try blowing on the embers to provide additional oxygen. 
5. As your fire gets hotter and bigger, add larger branches and logs.

The point that you may have the most problems is getting the kindling or sticks to ignite. Common mistakes include not using enough fire starter. The initial fire needs to burn long enough and hot enough to ignite the slightly larger fuels.

A second mistake is not providing enough space for oxygen to circulate. Physically blowing on the embers may give it enough oxygen to reignite the flame and get it going again, but try to provide enough space for oxygen to begin. 

Sometimes conditions just don’t make for easy fire starting. That’s why it’s essential to have several tools so you can troubleshoot and try a few different methods, especially if your life depends on it. 

Fuel to Start a Fire

When starting a fire, this is obviously a critical element, and there are many types of fuels, both for getting a fire started but then keeping it going. 

Fire Starter

To build a fire, you almost always need to start with fuels that are easily combustible and light easily.

Fuel and Fire Starter

• Newspaper, or paper towels or office paper in a pinch
• Dead branches and pine needles (the ones that have turned red; this is the best outdoor survival fire starter if dry)
• Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly
• Various fire starters on the market are designed to burn long enough to ignite larger fuels.
• Gasoline or diesel fuel

Whether I’m car camping, backpacking, horseback camping, or just building a fire in the backyard will depend on the type of fire starter I use. For example, if I’m at home, it’s far more likely I’ll use newspapers, and I have been known to use paper towels or office paper when there was no newspaper around. However, if I’m backpacking, I typically carry cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly for a good emergency fire starter, although I always start by trying dead branches with red pine needles. This is usually sufficient. If I’m car camping, I’ll start with the dead pine needles, but I also carry various commercial fire starters.

One type I’ve found to work particularly well is FIREFLAME Quick Instant Fire Starter. These come in a 12-pack, so you can divvy them up in plastic baggies for your car and backpack. They have a 30-year shelf life and will light even when frozen or in rain and snow. They burn for 10 minutes up to 750 degrees, usually enough to even start a fire with wet wood. 

I carry these in my truck and have used them most often when it has been rainy or wet out, and I’m starting a fire with wet wood, branches, and needles. I use this to get enough heat to get the branches to ignite.

Stoking the Fire

Starting a fire with sticks or kindling works when you have a fire starter to provide enough heat to allow them to start burning. These usually won’t light on their own using a match or lighter directly on them. They do require something more combustible to get them started. Begin with the smaller ones laid over the fire starter. Once these are burning good, gradually add larger fuels until you can put on entire logs. 

Types of Logs

• For backyard use or car/RV camping, the firewood you use in your house fireplace is usually most convenient. Most people find it easier to just take what they’ve already cut with them since it’s already dried out and split. 
• If you’re in an area with downed, dried trees, and it’s allowed, you can cut firewood with a chainsaw, handsaw, or crosscut saw on the spot. The second two are preferable if you’re camping around people since chainsaws are noisy. 
• You can also purchase firewood bundles at most gas stations or stores in areas of the country where camping is popular to build a fire with. 

If you’re doing anything in the backcountry away from mechanized travel, you won’t be able to pack firewood. However, if you’re horse packing or rafting, you may have the ability to pack a handsaw or crosscut, but chainsaws are not allowed in true Wilderness. If you’re backpacking, chances are you won’t have a saw, and you’ll have to make do with smaller branches and sticks you can break into pieces manually. While these don’t burn as long, you can still get a hot fire going. 

If you’re in an emergency situation and physically capable of doing so, and there isn’t a risk of starting an enormous wildfire, pile on as many sticks and logs as you’re able to get the fire nice and hot. You’ll have to keep adding to it, but it’s better than freezing and may make your odds of survival exponentially better. 

Heat

The next component of starting a fire is heat: how you will light your fuel. Again, there are several methods for doing this, and in my experience, it’s always best to have a backup plan, especially if you’re in the backcountry away from quick help or access out. 

Several options for starting a fire include:

• Household matches
• Waterproof matches
• Cigarette Lighters
• Long-stem lighters
• Flint Firestarter 

If I’m starting a fire at home in the backyard, I almost always use a long-stem lighter. These produce a more significant flame than a cigarette lighter, stay lit longer than a match, and don’t burn your hand because the flame is too close.

When I’m recreating outdoors, I always carry several methods with me. I keep waterproof matches in a small waterproof container alongside the petroleum jelly-soaked cotton balls. I take a cigarette lighter in my pocket with me at all times, and I also carry one in a plastic baggy in my pack (side note: I also wrap these with electrical tape in case I ever need it for repairs or other things). 

The one thing I haven’t carried is a flint fire starter. If you choose to use this method, make sure you practice, practice, practice, as it’s not as easy to use as it seems, at least until you get the hang of it. Many people are very skilled in using these to start a fire, but that is because they’ve practiced and had experience. If you are spending an excessive amount of time in the backcountry, out of service, and in higher-risk activities, it may pay off to be able to effectively use one.

Oxygen

Oxygen is the third component of starting a fire. As stated in the beginning, there must be ample airspace amongst your fire starter and small fuels for oxygen to circulate. If your initial flame goes out, you may find it helpful to blow on the embers. You’ll see them glow brighter, and sometimes this is enough to get a renewed flame. This works because by blowing on it, you’re providing more oxygen. 

Final Thoughts on How to Start a Fire

As with so many things, learning to start a fire takes practice and practice makes perfect. Building a campfire is pretty straightforward. While it does take some trial and error to get the hang of it, the consequences of not being able to are usually minimal. It’s a great way to practice and experiment. 

However, don’t go venturing into the mountains without knowing outdoor survival fire starting. Getting caught out in the elements without the ability to start a fire can be the difference between life and death. 

Make sure you always have several ways to light a fire and a few fire starter options. Think through how you’ll use each alternative if one doesn’t work. Again, practice makes perfect. And don’t be afraid to ask other people for advice. 

Let me know if you have any questions, and I’d love to hear of other methods you’ve had success with that I didn’t mention!

Also learn how to prevent a wildfire!