How to Build a Camp Fire 



WITH the camping season due there come the 

 usual questions on how to build camp fires. 

 There are several varieties, most of them simple 

 and effective and easily constructed even by a novice in 

 camping. There must be considered not only the kind 



Camp Fire-PIaces 





mm^^ 



F,g1 



cf camp tire which gives the best service but the kind 

 which is least dangerous. The man who is careless 

 with his camp fire should not be allowed in the woods for 

 all too frequently he is responsible for forest fires which 

 do tremendous damage. The Forest Service 

 has issued a hand book for campers in which 

 the following excellent instruction regarding 

 camp fires is given. 



Camp stoves shotild be taken whenever they 

 can be transported. They are safer than open 

 fires, more convenient, require less fuel, and 

 do not blacken the cooking utensils. Collap- 

 sible sheet-iron stoves may be obtained. 



In the absence of a stove an open fire must 

 be built. A safe and serviceable fireplace 

 can be made of rocks placed in a small circle 

 so as to support the utensils. (Figs. 4 and .5.) 

 Where rocks are not (.)htainable, poles may be 

 used as in Fig. 2. 



For permanent cam])s it pays to build a 

 stone fireplace. One is shown in the illustra- 

 tion. A piece of sheet iron will prevent the 

 blackening of the pans and makes a better 

 draft. 



For temporary camps the fire should be 

 built as follows : 



Dig a hole about a foot deep and about 3 or 4 feet 

 in diameter. Shovel away the side toward the wind. Lay 

 green poles across the hole to support the pots and pans, 

 and build the fire underneath. (Fig. ].) 



Fire irons are often a great convenience. A piece of 

 three-eighths-inch round iron 4 

 feet long is bent at right angles 

 a foot from each end and the 

 ends are sharpened. Two of 

 these irons are placed side by 

 side, the ends are driven into 

 the ground and the fire kindled 

 beneath them. Instead of be- 

 ing made in one piece, the pegs 

 and cross-bars may be connected 

 by rings in the ends. (Fig. 3.) 

 They will then fold and be easier 

 to pack. 



Camp fires should never be 

 / larger than necessary, anil the 

 utmost care should be taken to 

 prc\-cnt sparks from being car- 

 ried into the neighboring forest. 

 Clear away the litter for a con- 

 siderable space about the fire. 

 And be sure to l>ut the fire out 

 before you leave it. 



-A shovel is nearly as impor- 

 tant a tool as an a.x in camping. Do not count on finding 

 one along the way, but put one in your outfit. 



During wet weather look for kindling in burned sugar 

 pme or \ell(iw-pine butts or in pine knots. The under 



Details of Camp Fire -Place Construction. 



nit V f 



Note. 



The raised back pra - 



■ '' -5 vents the ¥v/nd fro^n 

 A ■ ■ 



1*- h^ow/n^ ^moke and f/'rc 



out of the hole by cai/^/r?^ 



a certain amount of d faff. 



*^)r t-ialf-inch ^as-p^pe can 



■ ;-; \ he used for fine -irons. A 

 '■ '. ')y^\ piece of sheet-iron p/ace^f 

 ■ ' .. \ on top of these irons and 

 . . ;^, one or two Joints of four- 

 ■ v'^ inch pipe p/aced at the 

 • .,>4 1 back, lyitt increase- the 

 ^2^ draft and pre ven t pots_, <Jc. 

 /- '^. from becoming Sf?70ked. 



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298 



