You don’t have to be a pyromancer to enjoy lighting up fires. After all, when you master the technique, building and setting the wood on fire on first go offers a great deal of satisfaction.

You’ve probably lit lots of fires by now. Or you might have done it only a few times.

Nonetheless, I bet you’ve used the same classic technique: stacking a kindling base and building up with subsequently higher pieces and branches.

Of course, you can simply throw gasoline on a pile of wood without following any rule and light a fire in no time. But today’s e-mail is not about that.

The technique that I’ll be revealing in the following lines revolves around the classic fire starter method. And even so, it’s still a bit out of the ordinary.

Why? Because it involves building a fire the other way around.

So, how does that help me in any way, you might ask? Well, this fire starter technique is actually more convenient than the usual trick.

You will also catch the attention of other campers who will likely adhere to this method. So, count their gratitude as a bonus.

In any case, let’s jump right into this alternative fire starter method. You won’t believe how easy it is to master.

First thing first. Just like any fire requires, you’ll have to gather a pile of wood. After you’ve done this, start arranging them in the following way:

• Place the largest pieces of wood on the fire pit next to each other. These will serve as your base.
• Now gather slightly smaller pieces and place them crosswiseover the base.
• Gather a new stack of even smaller pieces of wood or branches and lay them crosswise against the second layer. They should be oriented the same way as the base.
• Repeat this process by adding smaller and smaller pieces until there’s room only for tiny twigs.
• Sprinkle some tinder on top, be it dry grass or sawdust. Tree bark will also do extremely well. You can place the tinder on top of the bark for more efficiency.
• Build the top using the rest of the kindling in a triangular fashion.

Now all you have to do is light the tinder up. It will rapidly set the kindling on fire and the flames and heat will work their way down, engulfing the first layer before progressing to the base.

This method, besides being extremely easy to apply, offers an efficient burn without the need of adding extra branches or logs.

This is because the layers reaching for the base, become gradually larger and fuel the fire well.

That’s about it for today’s trick. If you want to see this method in action, you can have a glance at this short tutorial on YouTube showing just that.

I have to admit that it’s pretty satisfying to watch, and ten times more satisfying if you do it on your own.