Campfire Starter Gadget

[rb56]

also know that simple cotton balls smeared in vaseline make good quick starters and don't forget the fritos. both make good trail pack items.

[SteveBingham52]

I use the self starting Kingsford charcoal. Put 3 pieces in and light it and lay a couple logs on.

[chiefly1]

Any of the suggestions will work but if it is cold and wet I like the gel. Just makes for quicker heat unless you have a spare flame thrower!

[psrujak]

I carry a five gal bucket of wood chips soaked with kerosene. Dump a small pile in the bottom of your fire pit, pile your wood on top and light. In minutes you have a blazing fire. Works great on the wood that is a little damp.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by F and E Damp

We grew up in the UK in the 1950's, where home heating was by coal fires. It's relatively easy to start a fire if you have the right stuff, even if it's coal. Wood is a LOT easier.

We carry wood kindling - sticks of dry wood that have been cut to length (about 12") and split to be fairly slender (maybe 3/4 " square or so. We make up starters out of last Sunday's newspaper by rolling about 8 of the double pages and tying them into a loose knot.

Put the paper starters in the fireplace, lay the kindling in a "tent" shape over them and light the paper. Once the kindling starts to burn, add your logs, initially also in a pyramid shape. Within 10 minutes you'll have a good fire and can rearrange the logs for best effect.

It doesn't take any dangerous flammables and it's very reliable. Since the method will light a coal fire, wood doesn't present a problem. I've always wondered what the rangers would say if I started a coal fire in a CG fire pit! The initial smoke is pretty obnoxious for the first 10 minutes (lots of sulfur), but once it's going, it's pretty clean. It also burns for about 90 minutes on a single load of coal and doesn't need a lot of rearranging like a log fire does.

Nothing better than a (2in thick-20.00$ Steak) cooked over a (Coal Fire)? Youroo!!