To start a fire pit every time without effort you will need tinder, kindling and firewood. After you place each layer you simply have to light up the kindle which will start the fire in your fire pit.
Every successful fire is built using 3 layers:
- Tinder – which burns quickly and ignites the fire
- Kindling – the middle layer that will light harder than the tinder but will last longer
- Firewood – the wood that maintains the fire
Now let’s take a closer look at each of the layers, and see how you should arrange them, what materials to use for each layer
Table of Contents
Tinder – What You Can Use to Start a Fire Pit
Tinder is the base of any good fire. This is the layer that will ignite quickly and will light up the rest of the fire.
Tinder can be anything as long as it’s dry and it will quickly create a fire. Some of the best and most common tinder that you can find is:
- Newspaper
- Tree bark
- Fatwood shavings
- Leaves
After you get some tinder place it in the middle of the fire pit, and you are done with the first layer.
Kindling – Why People Have Problems Lighting Fire Pits
Most people have trouble starting fire pits because they don’t add a layer of kindling. Tinder on its own won’t burn long enough to ignite a solid piece of firewood, so you need something else in between them.
Kindling is the middle layer, that won’t burn as fast as the tinder, but quicker than firewood. So while it won’t be able to maintain the fire in the fire pit for too long on it’s own, it will be able to ignite the firewood.
Softwood is usually a great kindling, here are some of the best types of softwood that you can use as kindling:
- Pine
- Poplar
- Cedar
- Spruce
Hardwood can also be used as kindling, but it has to be cut thin enough, another good and easily available option are sticks that fall from trees, just make sure that you use dry ones. The ones that just fell still have a lot of water in them and will take longer to ignite.
After you get your kindling you should place them over the tinder, just make sure that you leave enough room for air to circulate. Arranging them like they should give you great results:
Firewood – What Keeps the Fire Pit Burning
The best type of wood to use as the firewood is hardwood.
Hardwood is a type of wood that is considerably denser and heavier than other types of wood. Due to its density it burns longer, brighter and cleaner, so this makes it perfect for fire pits.
Some of the best hardwood types are:
- Oak
- Ash
- Mapl
- Walnut
- Mahogany
- Hickory
- Beech
But, one thing to keep in mind is that not all hardwood is the same, even if we are talking about the same wood. Firewood can be green or seasoned.
Green Wood
Wood that has been recently cut off will be green on the inside. This means that there is still a lot of moisture inside it. If you try to burn it like this you will see that it will take considerably longer to burn, there will be less flames, and a lot of smoke.
Before a wood can be burned efficiently it first has to be seasoned.
Seasoned Wood
Seasoned firewood is wood that has been split, stacked and dried for a certain period of time.
Each type of wood requires different amounts of time to be completely dry, for most hardwood you have to leave it dry between 6 and 12 months.
So when you buy wood for your fire pit make sure that you get seasoned wood, not green wood.
If you want to save some money and you have some space in your backyard to store some wood. You could get some greenwood which is slightly cheaper, and store it for a few months until it becomes seasoned. Just make sure that you also get some seasoned wood so you have what to use for your fire pit.
Now get some seasoned firewood and put it over the kindling. At the start you don’t need to use too much firewood. 4 or 5 pieces should be enough for the start, after the tinder and kindling are burned up and some space is freed up you can add some more.
How to Light the Fire Pit
Now that everything is set up it’s time to light the fire.
All you have to do now is strike a match and light the tinder. If you followed the instructions in this guide the tinder should light up immediately, the kindling will also catch fire quickly, and in about 5 minutes the firewood should also burn intensely.
After this there is nothing else left to do, than to maintain the fire by adding more firewood.
Safety Measures
Now I think we should talk about some precautionary measures, since it doesn’t really matter how well the fire is burning if you injured yourself while making it.
The first thing that I would recommend you is to avoid wearing clothes out of nylon, polyester, acrylic or olefin. Those materials won’t go up in flames as soon as a spark hits them, they will get damaged as soon as they touch a spark and they will melt on your skin, causing very serious burns.
Baggy clothes can also be dangerous, so roll up your sleeves before you move your hands close to the fire.
The next thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t light the fire with a lighter. Lighters require you to get your hand very close to the fire, and most often you will get your hand burnt. While this won’t usually be a serious or dangerous burn, it’s definitely not something that you want. Instead use a match, or a lighter with a long neck.
When you are done make sure that you properly put out the fire by following those steps:
- Wait for the fire to die down. If you don’t have time for this you should use a shovel or a fire poker to break the remaining wood as much as possible.
- Fill a bucket with water and pour it all over the remains of the fire
- Use a shovel or a fire poker to stir the ashes, and try to bring as many as possible to the surface.
- Fill the bucket with water again and pour it over the hot ashes.
- Use a metal lid and cover the fire pit, this way the wind won’t reignite it in case there are still some hot embers left.
As you can see putting a fire out completely requires you do a little more than pouring a bucket of water over it. And this is a common thing with fire pits, at first sight everything seems extremely simple, you just put some wood inside of it and light it up, but there are a lot of things to take into consideration, especially in regards to safety.
Here are some general fire pit safety tips that will definitely come in handy:
- An adult should always be present and attend the fire until it is completely extinguished.
- Keep children and pets a safe distance away.
- If the fire gets out of control, call the fire local department right away.
- Put the fire out if the wind picks up or the weather changes.
- Keep fire extinguishing materials handy. Some good options are a fire extinguisher, or a garden hose. And test the water source before lighting the fire.
- Keep any flammable and explosive materials away from the fire.
- Be careful of the wind power and direction.
- Keep a safe distance from the fire pit.
- Don’t add too much wood to the fire at once, it can fall from the pit.
- Don’t leave the fire pit unsupervised.
- When you are done extinguish the fire.
And here are two lists of the things that you can and can’t burn inside a fire pit, according to the law.
Things you are allowed to burn:
- Brush
- Pine needles
- Grass
- Clean wood
- Cane Grass
- Driftwood
- Forestry Debris (but not from commercial or industrial land clearing)
- Agricultural materials including fruit tree and bush prunings, raspberry stalks
Things you are not allowed to burn:
- Leaves
- Brush, trees, driftwood from commercial or industrial land clearing
- Tires
- Construction materials or demolition debris
- Household trash
- Plastics
- Shingles
- Foam
- Wire
- Metal
- Electronics
- Vinyl products
- Rubber products
- Oil-based products
- Painted, stained or treated wood
Final Thoughts
Now let’s make a quick recap to wrap things up:
Every successful fire is built using 3 layers:
- Tinder – burns quickly and ignites the kindling
- Kindling – the middle layer that will will get ignited by the tinder, and will help
- Firewood – the wood that maintains the fire
The tinder is what will start the hole fire up. As tinder you can use newspaper, tree bark
fatwood or leaves. The tinder doesn’t have to burn for long periods of time. It just has to burn long enough to light the kindling.
The kindling is the part that makes or breaks the fire. Most unsuccessful fires don’t light up because they lack kindling. Softwood is usually a good choice for kindling, some of the best and most common options are: Pine, Poplar, Cedar and Spruce.
Tinder on it’s own doesn’t have the ability to light the firewood, this is why you want to use kindling which can light up firewood, but can’t maintain a fire pit on its own.
Firewood is what you use to maintain the fire in the fire pit. Hardwood is the best choice for firewood. Just make sure that what you are getting is seasoned wood, not green wood. Green wood is wood that has been recently cut, so it still has a lot of moisture inside of it. Seasoned wood has been chopped up and left to dry for 6 to 12 months, which makes it perfect for any fire.
In the end of the article I will leave you with some of the most common questions and problems that people are faced with when owning a fire pit. Hopefully this will help you avoid some of the biggest mistakes people make when owning a fire pit, and save you some money.
Common Questions
How do I prevent rust from appearing on my fire pit? In order to prevent rust you can:
- Move the fire pit in a dry room, or any place with a roof should prevent most rust from appearing.
- Cover your fire pit using a metal or wooden lid, or a synthetic cover. But make sure that the fire pit has cooled off before you cover it.
- Removing the ash from the fire pit is also very important, as ash absorbs a lot of humidity from the air.
- The most important thing that you can do is to regularly clean and inspect the fire pit.
How do I remove rust from a fire pit? To remove rust from a fire pit you can use:
- Vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Soft drinks
- Baking soda
- Potatoes
- A mix of them
- Commercial products like: WD-40 and CLR
After you remove the rust you should get some Sandpaper, Spray Sealant, Spray Paint. After that you should remove all the paint using a coarse grit sandpaper, then use a finer sandpaper and remove all scratches. Apply a thin coat of sealant, after it dries apply the pain, and then another coat of sealant. Make sure that you try to make the coatings as even as possible, otherwise the paint will come off.
How long do fire pits last? A fire pit can last anywhere from one year to a lifetime. It all depends on how well you maintain it.
In the case of wood burning fire one of the most important things that matter is what you are burning. Things like magazines contain chemicals that can damage the fire pit. Wood that has been painted or treated in any way will also damage the fire pit. So only burning firewood will increase the lifespan of your firepit.
Removing the ashes is also very important. Ashes absorb humidity from the air, so letting them sit in the fire pit for long periods of time is like having your fire pit filled with water.
In the case of gas fire pits it’s extremely important to dust them off. Dust doesn’t only leave an unpleasant smell but over time it can damage the interior of the fire pit.
For both types of fire pits it is also extremely important how you store them, leaving them uncovered year round, will drastically reduce their lifespan.
What is the best wood for a fire pit? The best wood for a fire pit is hardwood, which one you choose is up to you. If you choose one from this list you shouldn’t go wrong:
- Oak
- Ash
- Mapl
- Walnut
- Mahogany
- Hickory
- Beech
Just make sure that the wood you choose is seasoned and not green, if you get green wood you will have to leave it to season for at least 6 months.
While softwood is not a great choice for a fire pit, it can be a great addition as you can use it to light the fire or add pleasant smell.
And remember to stay away from driftwood, construction wood, wood with things grown on it and vines.