Learn essential outdoor fire and heat skills, including campfires, stoves, fire lays, lighting and maintaining fires, fire safety and staying warm.
Having a fire outdoors can be one of the most enjoyable parts of camping, but the job isn’t finished when you stop cooking or decide you’re ready to leave. A fire that looks like it has gone out can still contain hot embers capable of starting another fire. Learning how to leave a fire site…
A fire-lighting kit doesn’t need to be complicated and it doesn’t need to have too much equipment. In fact, one of the best kits is small enough to keep in a pocket or a corner of your rucksack and contains a few different ways of getting a fire started rather than relying on one single…
Lighting a fire in the rain is less about having a special firelighting trick and more about preparation. If you simply collect a pile of wet wood, strike a match and hope for the best, you’re likely to end up cold, frustrated and surrounded by smoke. The secret is to find the driest material you…
Affiliate disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of our links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. A firesteel is one of the most useful fire-lighting tools to learn because it can produce a hot shower of sparks even when matches and lighters aren’t practical….
Fire can be one of the most enjoyable parts of being outdoors. Sitting around a campfire, cooking outside or learning how to light a fire are all useful experiences, but fire needs to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Children don’t need to be frightened of fire, or told to keep away, but…
Fire lighting is a classic outdoor skill, but it should never be treated as simply a race to get a flame. A well-planned fire lighting activity can teach Scouts about preparation, responsibility, teamwork, fire safety and how to make sensible decisions outdoors. For younger or less experienced groups, the activity can focus on recognising equipment,…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 1-3 hours depending on activitiesLocation: Suitable woodland, campsite or outdoor training areaBest for: Scout leaders, Explorers and outdoor instructorsSkills: Survival skills, leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, navigation, shelter building, fire safety and outdoor awareness The best survival activities for Scout leaders are simple, practical exercises that teach useful skills without requiring complicated equipment…
What Is Campfire Storytelling? Campfire storytelling is the art of telling stories to a group gathered around a campfire. Long before televisions, smartphones and radios, people shared stories around fires as a way to entertain, teach, remember events and pass knowledge between generations. For Scouts, storytelling around a campfire is a simple activity that can…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable campsite or woodland camping areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Campcraft, survival skills, insulation, resourcefulness, outdoor safety Improvised ground insulation is a way of reducing heat loss between your body and the ground when you do not have enough conventional sleeping equipment. The ground can draw heat away from…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Stove safety, fuel handling, camp cooking, fire safety, risk awareness Camp stoves provide a controlled way to cook outdoors, but they still involve flames, hot surfaces and potentially hazardous fuels. Safe stove use starts before the stove is lit and includes…
