This video shows how to build my personal favorite type of fire, the log cabin fire. It’s like building a little house….and then burning it down (I’m not serious, Mr. Arson Investigator).
Keep in mind that the birch bark is like using nature to cheat, so the tinder will not normally flame up quite that quickly. it will light easily and quickly if you use the right dry materials, but birch bark is very oily and makes lighting fires a cinch. It helped balance out the fact that most of that wood had received a good soaking over the past week with daily thunderstorms.
I used a 3/8″ x 4″ firesteel and PJ cotton balls to light the fire.