Fire Lays
The Most Popular Fire Lays and their Uses
Teepee
Arrange kindling in a sort of cone shape, some people tie the top. Arrange fuel around that and light your tinder in the middle. The fire will soon collapse, at which point you can keep adding fuel as needed.
+Makes use of the fact that fire burns up. Looks cool, easy to build and offers good airflow.
-High maintenance.
Cross Ditch
Dig two intersecting trenches in the shape of a letter x. For larger fires you may need a spade or a trowel but for smaller ones you’ll get away with a stick. You can then lay your tinder inside and your kindling and fuel on top. Many choose a log cabin lay. Alternatively, you can do a regular lay and just use the trench as ventilation.
+The ditch allows for plenty of air flow and makes the fire easy to light, even in windier conditions.
Hunter
Lay two reasonably large green logs in a v shape, and dig a little hole in the middle. Light your tinder in the hole, and add kindling and progressively larger sticks as your fire develops.
+Very easy to set up, and great for protecting from the wind.
Log Cabin
This isn’t the most practical fire in that it takes a little longer to set up. Looks great, though. Lay your fuel logs in a sort of latticed square, making sure to keep a nice chimney type hole in the middle.
+A nice looking fire that’s fun to set up.
Pyramid
Arrange your fuel logs in a sort of pyramid shape, with the largest logs at the bottom and each layer of logs smaller in diameter. Light a bunch of kindling at the top of the pyramid, and this will fall through, and the logs below will catch.
+Low maintenance, in that you set and forget. The fire burns downwards. Good when the ground’s very wet.
Star
Lay about five logs in a star shape, and build a teepee fire in the middle. It’ll light the inside sides of your logs, and you just keep pushing thgem inwards.
+A great fire for if you don’t want to use too much fuel, want your fire to last a long time, and there’s little wind.
Lean To
Get a large log, and lean your kindling on top of it in a sort of slope shape. Easy!
+Really simple, with great wind protection.
Swedish Candle
+Because the fire’s raised, you can make this fire on pretty much any terrain.
-It does require some skills and tools, though.
Get a log, and split it in 4 vertically. Baton out a section of the middle so that you have a sort of thick tube, with some sticks in the gaps for ventilation. Fill it with kindling and light the top.