Making a camping fire – Are you going on a camping vacation and spending a lot of time outdoors with your roof tent?
Then you probably know how important it is to make a fire.
But what if you don’t have a lighter or something similar to hand?
To help you be better prepared, we’ll introduce you to a few methods.
So here are our tips and tricks for making a fire without a lighter!

Methods: Making a fire while camping

There are many different ways to make a fire – with and without tools.
We’ll introduce you to some of these methods and explain what you need.
You can see an overview of the methods we present here:

• Lighter
• Match
• Fire pump
• Fire striking
• Fire drilling
• Battery
• Fire steel
• Magnesium block
• Magnifying glass

Find out more about the different methods you can use to make a fire here.

Lighting a fire with the lighter

The best known and simplest method of lighting a fire is with a lighter.
There are different types of lighters.
These include gas lighters, which are filled with gasoline or propane.
These are ignited by a spark, which is ignited by turning the friction wheel.
When the gas in the lighter is empty, it is unfortunately no longer usable and either needs to be refilled or you need a new lighter.
This is how a lighter works:

• Gas lighter is filled with gasoline or propane
• Turning the friction wheel ignites a spark

Lighters are therefore very practical, as they can be easily stored and transported and therefore fit in any trouser pocket or rucksack.

Making fire with a match

Another well-known method of lighting a fire is the match.
This works by rubbing the coated surface of the match over the rubbing surface so that the match is ignited.
If the matches get wet or the rubbing surface on the packaging of the match is worn, the matches can no longer be lit and are therefore no longer usable.
You should therefore keep your matches in a dry place.
This is how a match works:

• Rub the coated surface of the match over the rubbing surface
• Match ignites

Making fire with a fire pump

The fire pump is an apparatus consisting of a cylinder, a piston and sealing pegs.
To make fire with the fire pump, you need a piece of charred cotton.
Insert this into the cylinder.
Then lubricate the sealing ring with Vaseline or spit and place the piston upright on the floor.
Next, put the cylinder over the piston and hit the cylinder with your hand.
If you now pull the cylinder off the piston, there will be embers inside the cylinder that you can use to start a fire.
The fire pump is also quite durable and handy.
This is how the fire pump works:

• Apparatus consisting of cylinder, piston and sealing rings
• Charred cotton must be put into cylinders
• Lubricate the sealing ring with Vaseline
• Put the cylinder over the piston and hit it
• Embers are created inside

Making fire by striking fire

If you don’t have any tools with you and still want to make a fire, you can try the fire striking method.
All you need are two stones – pyrite, quartz and marcasite are best suited for this.
To make a fire with the stones, first strike the two stones against each other until the friction creates sparks.
Let these sparks fall onto flammable materials such as tinder, fabrics such as cotton and dry wood or branches.
This creates a small flame.
If you now add more flammable material to the flame, a fire is created.
This is how the fire striking method works:

• Hit two stones together until friction creates sparks
• Drop sparks on flammable material
• Extend the emerging flame to fire with additional dry material

With the fire striking method, you can create a fire completely without any tools!

Making fire by fire drilling

The next method of making a fire is fire-drilling.
For this you need a flat piece of wood and a stick.
You need to make a notch in your flat piece of wood.
This works best with a pocket knife.
The notch should be big enough for the stick to fit into.
To make a fire, lay the piece of wood flat on the ground and support it with your feet by standing on it.
Next, take your stick and turn it by applying pressure to the indentation between your hands so that the friction generates heat and the wood dust ignites.
As soon as the wood dust ignites, add tinder or a piece of cloth, for example, to make a fire.
Although this method is a little strenuous, the materials you need can be found in nature and you can make a fire without any tools.

Making fire with a battery

If you have a battery and a piece of aluminum foil to hand, you can easily make a fire with these two things.
To do this, you need to cut your aluminum foil so that it has the shape of an hourglass.
Then take a flammable material, such as absorbent cotton or cotton, and wrap it around the narrow part of the aluminum foil.
Next, hold both ends of the aluminum foil to the battery, creating a short circuit and producing sparks.
The material that you have wrapped around the aluminum foil now starts to ignite and you can light a fire with this flame.

Making fire with the fire steel

Another method of making a fire is with a fire iron, consisting of a scraper and a magnesium rod.
This outdoor variant is usually the most efficient.
Either you move the rod or the scraper and rub them together, depending on how you proceed.
It may take a little time at first to find the right angle.
However, this should be around 45°.
Another variant is to position the knife in front of the tinder and pull the fire stick backwards over the sharp-edged back of the knife.
The advantage of this method is that the tinder nest that has just been ignited is not pressed out again.
Read more about the firesteel here.

Making fire with the magnesium block

For the next method of starting a fire without a lighter, you will need the following items: a magnesium block and a fire steel.
First, scrape some shavings off your magnesium block with your fire steel.
Now create sparks with your fire steel by rubbing the fire steel over the stony side of the magnesium block with quick movements.
Position the magnesium block over the chips so that they are ignited.

Making fire with a magnifying glass or glass

Fire can also be created with a magnifying glass, spectacle lens or burning glass.
In addition to a burning glass, you will also need some tinder for this method.
This can be dry leaves or some cotton.
To make a fire, place the tinder in the sun and position the magnifying glass or glasses a few centimetres above the tinder.
The sun is focused through the glass and high temperatures are created on the tinder.
After a while, you will notice that your tinder starts to smoke and gradually begins to glow.

Read more about fire!

If you would like to find out more about making a fire and camping, read the following articles.

Fire at the campsite: rules, where allowed & tips

Warm, flickering fire and stick bread.
These things should not be missing on a camping vacation in the evening.
There are a few things you need to know to make a fire at the campsite.
Here are our tips for making a fire at the campsite.

• Fire at the campsite