TeePee Fire Lay

Fire Lay: A small structure, made from Tinder and Kindling, built with the purpose of igniting Fuel-wood.

   TeePee    

The TeePee fire lay is one of the more popular and easy to build fire lays. The TeePee fire is a great little set-up for when you have time to spend ensuring everything falls into place. I mention this due to the fact that the fire lay will, typically, fall in on itself rather quickly after lighting. Not only do I consider this to be a great fire lay, but fire does too! POSITIVES: Fire Loves It: If you are looking for a fire lay that fire loves, then this is the one you want. When built correctly, this fire lay provides good airflow, a great blend of fuels and, practically, a playground for flames. Having the Tinder, Kindling and Fuel layers all built into the fire lay enables the fire to burn into the fuel-wood level before needing any real maintenance. The key here is both the stability of the structure and the ability for the flames to be able to transfer from one type of fuel level to another. Setting a decent frame for the TeePee is important for building structure within the fire. Keep in mind, this fire lay is going to fall in on itself. The only real way to prolong this event is to oversize your frame. Note: In theory, there really is no "limit" to the size of fuel-wood you use to build up your initial TeePee fire lay with as long as you are able to transition between layers effectively. In reality, your TeePee fire is limited by your supplies as well as the physical environment you are in. NEGATIVES: Stability: The TeePee fire lay can take a bit of experience to "get right." It, by design, is not very stable, especially when compared to a fire lay such as the Log Cabin, as all of the pieces are standing vertically and simply waiting to fall. Predicting their fall isn't very realistic. Practice with different diameter/types of woods as your frame. I've even used fuel-wood as my initial frame and simply made sure that there was enough surrounding kindling that the fire wouldn't die out before lighting the frame. This method tends to add a bit of stability. Note: Keep in mind, the available wood you have is highly dependent upon your particular environment. This is where the practice comes in handy; helping you predict the actions of the fire lay based upon the wood you've supplied it.

How To: Choose a location. In this case, I've chosen a very well used and exotic location; also known as my backyard fire-pit. With this in mind, when you are out on the trail, you will often camp where others have camped in the past. If at all possible, try to use the same fire-pit as they did to avoid scarring up the area. Better yet, practice Leave-No-Trace. Also, a known wind direction can come in handy, especially if lighting the fire with a flame. I'll explain why towards the end.

In general, I do not often lay my tinder bundle directly on the ground; no matter what fire lay I choose. I like to create a barrier between the ground and a decent sized bundle of tinder that I plan on using to light the fire with. A layer of kindling, such as a dry piece of tree bark, pieces of small wood laid next to each other or similar kindling, will do fine to keep the ground from pulling all of the energy from your tinder bundle as it initially struggles to sustain itself once lit.

With all fire lays I build, I try to keep in mind wind direction. In this case, keep the area you intend to use to light the tinder on the upwind side of the fire lay. This will allow you to both work with a flame for lighting and work close to a newly lit fire with less of a chance of the winds blowing flames towards your hands.  To do this, you will want to insert three pieces of decent sized kindling into the ground on one end. The other, end of each piece, should be crisscrossing each other to form a TeePee. Ensure one of the openings between these three pieces of kindling is on the upwind side of the fire lay.

You will want to place a tinder bundle on top of the kindling layer you have on the ground.

Once you have your tinder bundle in place, lay small pieces of kindling over the top of it. These pieces will be the first of the kindling to light once the burning tinder heats it up enough.

Continue to use good, dry,  Kindling to fill the void within the TeePee fire lay as you work your way upwards.

For best results, when filling the void, transition between Tinder and many layers of Kindling gradually.

Once your void is filled, lean longer pieces of kindling around the circumference of your TeePee fire lay. Once one layer is done, transition to another layer gradually increasing in diameter each time you make this transition.  Once you are confident you can transition from kindling to fuel-wood, begin.

Fuel-wood transition continued.

Once you reach the transition between Kindling and Fuel, you are done! At this point, you can continue to lean larger pieces of fuel-wood against the TeePee until you are satisfied. Light It: Light the tinder using your favorite method. With the opening on the upwind side of the fire lay, you should be able to light your TeePee fire without having to concern yourself, too much, with any flame blowing back over your hands. Now, as you light the tinder bundle, the winds will blow the flame away from you and towards the bundle helping keep you from getting burned. Congrats for thinking ahead!  Fire loves to climb and the TeePee fire lay provides the perfect environment with its vertical orientation. If you've stepped gradually enough from the Fuel to the Kindling your fire should light quite easily and stay burning for a fairly decent amount of time.

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