When I was in scouts we exclusively used firewood gathered on the spot and we’re only allowed to do a minimal of chopping (never allowed to chop down a tree, only break up fallen logs into smaller pieces), and we made log cabin fires most often.
There’s different fires for different purposes. Just internet search “types of campfires” and you can see. There’s one where you dig for airflow. One is better for cooking, one for windy conditions, and so on.
Oh, I know. Fire was my hobby as a preteen/young teen, to the point that my mom let me bury a grill so I could burn stuff in it. I was also in the scouts, and won every “start a fire with a single match” competition I was part of.
Last month she had me over to burn a burn pile for her, and she had a 5 gallon canister of diesel that she expected to use all of to start it. I walked around the pile, took 4oz of it, poured it in one spot, then lit a match. The pile was ablaze in about 15 seconds flat and burned out within 2 hours. The diesel wasn’t even necessary, I just used it because she had already poured it.
Building fires is my specialty, and there has never been a fire that I’ve built that would have benefited from the log cabin method. Even the teepee method is unnecessarily complicated.
You don’t need structural stability for a fire. In fact, it’s usually a hindrance. You want it to collapse in a specific way and be able to stir it up.
That’s why you start with a pile of shavings, then add a pile of twigs, then a pile of increasingly bigger sticks up until about 1in in diameter. You don’t put anything heavier on until the base fire is caught and has coals.
This is an oversimplification, of course, because you have to account for airflow.
Isn’t the log cabin fire just doing that in a more organized and structured way? It allows the tinder to catch in the middle before catching the fuel logs, instead of having to add onto them. And sure, you can always restructure the fire once it’s going, but you can also plan it ahead.
Not questioning your ability, rather the opposite. Sometimes structured fires are a standardized way to help people that aren’t as skilled or intuitive for fires.
That’s why you start with a pile of shavings, then add a pile of twigs, then a pile of increasingly bigger sticks up until about 1in in diameter. You don’t put anything heavier on until the base fire is caught and has coals.
Basically just a lazy teepee, and I mean “lazy” in the most flattering possible sense.
Diesel doesn’t even burn that well on its own. For it to do anything, you must’ve already had a pretty decent fire going without it.
I’m nowhere near as knowledgeable as you, but I do have an actual furnace for heating in the winter, so I have some experience. I can also vouch for structural stability being a hindrance: If I build it too well, there are usually logs or bricks that don’t catch fire until a long time later.
The log cabin fire is more stable than a teepee shape fire. It’s easier to stack logs in this fashion.
That’s if you have logs. Firewood gathered on the spot rarely comes in such useful shapes.
When I was in scouts we exclusively used firewood gathered on the spot and we’re only allowed to do a minimal of chopping (never allowed to chop down a tree, only break up fallen logs into smaller pieces), and we made log cabin fires most often.
Which is why you always bring a bush knife or small hatchet if you’re going camping.
The logs don’t need to start in a useful shape, just end in one.
The teepee shape actually gets the fire going more efficiently, though.
There’s different fires for different purposes. Just internet search “types of campfires” and you can see. There’s one where you dig for airflow. One is better for cooking, one for windy conditions, and so on.
Oh, I know. Fire was my hobby as a preteen/young teen, to the point that my mom let me bury a grill so I could burn stuff in it. I was also in the scouts, and won every “start a fire with a single match” competition I was part of.
Last month she had me over to burn a burn pile for her, and she had a 5 gallon canister of diesel that she expected to use all of to start it. I walked around the pile, took 4oz of it, poured it in one spot, then lit a match. The pile was ablaze in about 15 seconds flat and burned out within 2 hours. The diesel wasn’t even necessary, I just used it because she had already poured it.
Building fires is my specialty, and there has never been a fire that I’ve built that would have benefited from the log cabin method. Even the teepee method is unnecessarily complicated.
You don’t need structural stability for a fire. In fact, it’s usually a hindrance. You want it to collapse in a specific way and be able to stir it up.
That’s why you start with a pile of shavings, then add a pile of twigs, then a pile of increasingly bigger sticks up until about 1in in diameter. You don’t put anything heavier on until the base fire is caught and has coals.
This is an oversimplification, of course, because you have to account for airflow.
Isn’t the log cabin fire just doing that in a more organized and structured way? It allows the tinder to catch in the middle before catching the fuel logs, instead of having to add onto them. And sure, you can always restructure the fire once it’s going, but you can also plan it ahead.
Not questioning your ability, rather the opposite. Sometimes structured fires are a standardized way to help people that aren’t as skilled or intuitive for fires.
Basically just a lazy teepee, and I mean “lazy” in the most flattering possible sense.
That’s a good description of it, actually. It’s controlled chaos.
Diesel doesn’t even burn that well on its own. For it to do anything, you must’ve already had a pretty decent fire going without it.
I’m nowhere near as knowledgeable as you, but I do have an actual furnace for heating in the winter, so I have some experience. I can also vouch for structural stability being a hindrance: If I build it too well, there are usually logs or bricks that don’t catch fire until a long time later.
Yeah, I rarely use an accelerant when I start a fire. It’s a crutch for a bad foundation.
Teepee or lean-to to start the fire, log cabin once it’s established
I like building a teepee inside a log cabin
Start the fire however you want, but with a big enough log on the side to support new logs so they don’t smother the fire
Lean-to is ideal in my mind because it naturally makes a little burble of still air for the teensy fire to grow in initially