Building a Campfire (Process Analysis Essay)

             Having the skill to build a fire is like having insurance, you know you need it, but you hope you never have to use it for an emergency. Having matches might not help if you cannot get a fire going, so you need to know the fundamental steps of building a campfire. In order to have fire, you need three ingredients: fuel, air, and heat. You will be supplying the fuel. The air will be supplied by a breeze, or by fanning the fire. The heat will be supplied by a match. If one of these ingredients is missing, you will not be able to start the fire.
             The first thing needed to build a fire is something to burn. Fuel is normally wood, but can also be wood chips, bark, and even dried manure, in some cases. Start by gathering wood, but make sure it is dead wood. Green wood will not burn well, produces thick smoke and removes heat from the fire. Look for fallen branches and trees. These are called "dead falls." When you break the branches of a "dead fall" tree, you should hear a good snap and a get a clean break. If the wood doesn't break, but splits up the middle, forcing you to peel it apart, it's probably not dry enough and won't burn well. Dead falls trees are always better to work with because, these are trees that have fallen and are now in various stages of decay. Striping off the bark and cutting chunks out of the rotting trunk will burn fast, so gather as much as you can.
             When gathering wood for the campfire, make sure to select branches of all sizes. Bigger wood will burn longer and leave better coals, but is also harder to break into burnable sizes. Smaller wood burns quickly and hotter, so it can be used for getting the fire going. The longer you intend to keep the fire burning, the bigger pieces of wood you will want to use.
             Having knowledge about the trees in the area that you will be going to will be necessary, because not every type of wood burn the same. Pine i...

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