Build a Fire Lay (an Adult Lights It)
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What you will learn
- 1Collect dead, dry tinder, kindling, and fuel wood from the ground
- 2Tell tinder, kindling, and fuel wood apart by size
- 3Build a small tepee or log-cabin fire lay with gaps for air
- 4Leave the lighting to an adult who stays in charge
Mini Lesson
A fire lay is the little stack of wood that is ready for a fire. Building a good one is a real camp skill. You collect the wood and build the lay. Then an adult lights it and stays in charge. A good lay starts small and has gaps for air - remember, fire needs heat, fuel, and air.
🌿 The Wild Way (small to big, with gaps for air)
- DEAD AND DRY: collect only dead, dry wood from the ground. Never break branches off living trees.
- TINDER: hair-thin, dry stuff that catches first, like dry grass or crumbly dead leaves.
- KINDLING: dry sticks about as thin as a pencil.
- FUEL WOOD: dead wood about as thick as your wrist. It keeps the fire going.
- GATHER MORE: collect more tinder and kindling than you think you need.
- BUILD IT SMALL: make a small tepee or log-cabin lay, with gaps so air can get in.
🌿 Two simple lays
- TEPEE: put the tinder in the middle. Lean kindling around it like a little tent. Leave a small gap as a door.
- LOG CABIN: put the tinder in the middle. Stack sticks around it in a square, one layer on top of another.
You build the fire lay - an adult lights it, every time. Never touch matches or lighters. The adult picks the fire spot, stays with the fire the whole time, and puts it out cold. Keep your fire lay small.
Words to know
fire lay
A small stack of wood built and ready for a fire.
e.g. I built a fire lay, and my dad lit it.
tinder
Hair-thin, dry stuff that catches first, like dry grass.
e.g. We put a ball of tinder in the middle.
kindling
Dry sticks about as thin as a pencil.
e.g. I leaned the kindling around the tinder.
fuel wood
Dead wood about as thick as your wrist that keeps a fire going.
e.g. The adult added fuel wood once the kindling was burning.
tepee lay
Kindling leaned together around the tinder like a little tent.
e.g. Our tepee lay had a small door gap.
log-cabin lay
Sticks stacked in a square around the tinder, layer by layer.
e.g. I stacked three layers for my log-cabin lay.
🧠 Survivor’s Trick: do the snap test. A dead, dry stick snaps with a sharp crack. If it bends and will not snap, it is too green or too wet to use.
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