Bbonfire

BURN NATURAL MATERIALS ON A BONFIRE
If you must make a bonfire yourself, burn only natural materials. Collect wood, leaves, garden offcuts and cardboard – and make sure they’re dry. Avoid setting fire to wood that you could repurpose or reuse instead. Make sure your stack is free of any plastic, rubber debris or toxic paint, too. Burning these releases dangerous chemicals into the air, degrading air quality and polluting the lungs of anyone standing nearby.

Swedish torch

The Swedish torch (Schwedenfackel or Schwedenfeuer) is also known by other names, including Swedish (log) candle, and Swedish log stove.

This fire is unique because it uses only one piece of fair-sized wood as its fuel. The log is either cut (usually only partially, but other variants do include totally splitting) and then set upright (ideally, the log needs to be cut evenly and on a level surface for stability). Tinder and kindling are added to the preformed chamber, from the initial cuts. Eventually, the fire is self-feeding. The flat, circular top provides a surface to place a kettle, or pan for cooking, boiling liquids, etc. The elevated position of the fire can serve as a better beacon than the typical ground-based campfire in some instances.[11][12]

Tepee Fire

To make a tepee (or tipi) fire, arrange the tinder and a few sticks of kindling in the shape of a tepee or cone. First, pile tinder in a compact heap in the center. Arrange smaller kindling around it like poles in a teepee. Arrange larger kindling around the smaller kindling. To stabilize the structure, you may lash some of the wood together using a clove hitch. Light the center. As the tepee burns, the outside logs will fall inward, feeding the fire. Given the domino-effect of logs falling inward, this type of fire burns well even with wet wood.

Overlaid Stone DIY Fire Pit

For an artistic-looking DIY fire pit, instead of evenly shaped fire bricks, grab several rough rocks and construct an overlaid stone fire pit. If your pieces are hearty enough you won’t need any cement for this pit either — but use common sense when building up your walls. All you need to do is stack large rocks in a circle about three rows high. Be sure to use larger rocks for the foundation.

HE PERFECT (UPSIDE DOWN) CAMPFIRE

Figuring out the perfect way to build a campfire can be tricky. The tipi method seems to be the most popular approach, but is it the most effective? The answer is no. If you want to build the perfect campfire, you need to use the upside down technique. Upside down campfires give off less smoke, has better combustion, gives off more heat, needs less tending, and uses the energy of the wood more effectively than the tipi approach. So unless you love tons of smoke around the fire, tending it all night, trying to find the perfect spot that keeps you warm but isn’t so close that you might catch fire, and burning through wood at a much higher rate than necessary, the upside down fire is your best bet. Plus, as an added bonus, people who watch you build it will have no idea what you are doing until they finally see that roaring blaze and understand the beauty of a well-built upside down campfire! 🙂