VIDEO: DIY – Fire That Feeds Itself

You have definitely never seen a campfire quite as amazing and efficient as this one! It is said to even withstand a pretty good rain. Learn how to make this awesome fire that will burn up to 14 hours!

Fun fact – did you know that the first campfire was built roughly 1.6 million years ago?

According to Wikipedia, a new analysis of burned antelope bones from caves in Swartkrans, South Africa, confirms that Australopithecus robustus and Homo erectus built campfires roughly 1.6 million years ago. Nearby evidence within Wonderwerk Cave, at the edge of the Kalahari Desert, has been called the oldest known controlled fire. Microscopic analysis of plant ash and charred bone fragments suggests that materials in the cave were not heated above about 1,300 °F (704 °C). This is consistent with preliminary findings that the fires burned grasses, brush, and leaves. Such fuel would not produce hotter flames.

Read all the tips on how to build the most amazing campfire below, provided by David Wolfe.

One of the most fun parts about camping is sitting around a fire with your friends or family, singing songs or telling stories. But what’s

not fun about camping is having to constantly keep the fire going.
In cases where you’re lost while hiking and trying to survive the night by keeping warm and alert (a position that, statistically speaking, some of you reading this article will find yourselves in), keeping a fire going for as long as possible with minimal effort is something of great importance.

But whatever your fire longevity needs might be – whether for leisure or survival – this handy trick I’m about to show you can produce a fire which burns a whole 14 hours.

Two opposing ramps are angled in this array, which will cause a new log to roll into place when needed.

The construction is fairly simple, and requires the following:

– A hole dug a couple feet deep
– Four large branches to form the ramps
– Four ‘Y’ shaped branches to hold the ramps in place
– Of course, firewood

You will want to leave a space in between the bottom two logs by using a spare piece of timber, as shown above. This will allow the fire to get started. Once the fire has begun, the timber will burn on its own and the two bottom logs will come together.

You will also want to leave the ends of the fire pit open – this will allow the fire to burn not just in the middle but at the sides as well, which is crucial to deteriorating the entire log and allowing the next one to roll into place.

When you’re ready to light your fire, pack the area with dry grass, including the pit below the logs.

Then, light fires on either side of the pit.

Now that’s an unforgettable fire!

I would recommend practicing, so that if you ever find yourself in need (or want) of such a fire that burns for so long, you’ll be able to replicate it.

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