Challenge 102: Prepare a Fire Lay Using Only Responsibly Gathered Deadwood

Preparing a fire lay is an important bushcraft skill to understand. A well-built lay gives a fire the right arrangement of tinder, kindling and larger fuel to help it establish and grow. Getting that arrangement right begins before you attempt to light anything, with careful selection of suitable deadwood and an understanding of the conditions around you.

For this challenge, you’ll gather appropriate deadwood responsibly and use it to prepare a practical fire lay. The aim is to demonstrate good material selection, preparation and fire-building technique without damaging the surrounding environment.

Your Challenge

Prepare a complete fire lay using only responsibly gathered deadwood and naturally occurring deadwood material from a location where collection is permitted.

Your fire lay should include:

• Fine, dry material suitable for tinder.
• Small, dry twigs suitable for kindling.
• Progressively larger pieces of deadwood to help a fire develop.
• A sensible arrangement that allows air to reach the centre of the lay.

You must demonstrate that you can identify suitable materials, gather them without damaging living vegetation or disturbing wildlife, and arrange them into a practical fire lay.

You do not need to light the fire to complete this challenge. Preparing the lay correctly is the skill that is being tested here.

What You’ll Need

• Access to a suitable outdoor area where deadwood collection is permitted.
• A clear, appropriate place to prepare the fire lay.
• Gloves if you need them for handling rough or splintered wood.
• A camera or phone to photograph the finished arrangement.

The wood must come from the natural environment, not from a garden shed, household firewood pile or commercially prepared kindling.

Before gathering anything, check the landowner’s rules and any local restrictions. Deadwood is an important habitat for insects, fungi and other wildlife, so collect only what you need, avoid disturbing logs that are clearly providing habitat, and leave plenty of material in place. In many protected areas, removing natural material is prohibited.

Do not break dead branches from living trees or shrubs. If you cannot gather suitable deadwood legally and responsibly, use material already available at a permitted fire site or practise arranging a lay without removing anything from the environment.

Take the Challenge

1. Choose a suitable location

Start by finding a location where you are permitted to prepare a fire lay and gather natural materials. Check the ground and surrounding vegetation before collecting anything.

Avoid sensitive habitats, protected areas where collection is prohibited, and places where disturbing the ground or moving deadwood could damage wildlife habitat. Do not collect from roadside verges, private woodland or managed land without the necessary permission.

Look for a suitable place to assemble your fire lay on the ground or on a permitted fire base. Keep the arrangement away from dry vegetation, overhanging branches and other combustible material.

You are not lighting a fire for this challenge, but preparing it in an appropriate location helps develop the habits needed for real outdoor fire use.

2. Gather fine material for tinder

Tinder is the finest material in a fire lay. It needs to catch a flame readily and help establish the first small embers or flames.

Look for naturally fallen, dry material such as fine dead grass, dry leaves that are suitable for the purpose, or thin, dry plant fibres that you can positively identify and gather legally. Fine dead twigs can also be shaved into curls where you have the appropriate skill and tools, although using a knife is not required for this challenge.

Choose material that is genuinely dry. Wood and plant matter lying on damp ground may look dry on the surface but remain wet underneath. If the weather has been wet, inspect sheltered deadwood carefully rather than assuming that fallen material will burn well.

Gather only a small amount of suitable tinder. Do not strip bark from living trees, uproot plants or collect protected plant material. Avoid fungi, animal nesting material and anything that may be providing shelter for wildlife.

Place your tinder in a loose bundle rather than compressing it into a solid mass. Air needs to reach the material when a fire is eventually lit.

3. Select small deadwood for kindling

Kindling bridges the gap between tinder and larger fuel. It should be small enough to catch fire from the initial flame but substantial enough to burn for longer than the finest tinder.

Gather naturally fallen, dead twigs in a range of thicknesses. Start with very fine twigs and progress to pieces roughly the thickness of a pencil, followed by somewhat thicker sticks.

Snap a small twig by hand only if it breaks readily and safely. A clean snap often indicates that a piece is dry, while a flexible twig may contain more moisture. This is a useful indication rather than a guarantee, as some species naturally bend more than others.

Avoid breaking branches from living trees, even if they appear dead. Do not pull deadwood from standing trees or unstable branches, and never climb to reach material.

Keep the kindling sorted by thickness. This will make it easier to arrange the fire lay in a logical sequence.

4. Gather larger deadwood for fuel

A useful fire lay includes pieces that can sustain a fire after the tinder and kindling have caught.

Collect a modest selection of naturally fallen deadwood in increasing sizes. For example, you might gather thin sticks, thumb-thick branches and a few somewhat larger pieces, provided they are manageable and suitable for the intended fire.

Inspect each piece for dampness, decay and signs of wildlife use. Rotten wood may crumble rather than burn effectively, while damp wood can produce excessive smoke and struggle to catch.

Do not assume that all deadwood is available for collection. Fallen trunks and large branches can be important habitats, so leave substantial deadwood in place unless you have clear permission and a sound reason to move it.

For this challenge, you need only enough material to demonstrate the arrangement. There is no benefit in collecting a large pile that you do not need.

5. Prepare the fire base

Before arranging your materials, inspect the surface where the fire lay will sit.

Use an established fire site or an appropriate fire base where permitted. Do not build directly on peat, exposed roots, dry organic soil or another surface where heat could cause a fire to spread underground.

Remove loose combustible debris from the immediate preparation area only where you have permission and can do so without damaging the site. Do not dig a new fire pit or strip away vegetation unnecessarily.

If the ground is unsuitable for a future fire, do not try to make it suitable by damaging the environment. Choose an established, permitted fire location instead.

For this challenge, leave the fire lay unlit. If you intend to use the materials for a real fire later, check the conditions and local restrictions again before lighting anything.

6. Arrange the tinder and kindling

Place the tinder in a loose, compact bundle that will be protected from light wind but will still allow airflow. Avoid pressing it into a dense ball.

Arrange the finest kindling around or above the tinder, depending on the fire-lay design you choose. A small teepee-style lay is one option: the fine sticks lean towards one another over the tinder, leaving an opening through which a flame could reach the centre.

Another option is a small criss-cross arrangement, with progressively thicker sticks placed over the finer material. Whichever method you use, avoid packing the wood so tightly that air cannot circulate.

Make sure the arrangement is stable enough that a light breeze or minor disturbance will not collapse it. Do not build it so high that it becomes top-heavy.

7. Add progressively larger fuel

Once the tinder and smallest kindling are arranged, place the larger kindling and fuel nearby or carefully over the lay, depending on the design.

The aim is to make it possible for a small initial flame to spread gradually to larger pieces. If you use a teepee arrangement, keep the lower area accessible so the tinder can be reached. If you use a criss-cross lay, leave enough gaps for airflow.

Do not bury the tinder beneath heavy logs. Large pieces should not crush the smaller material or make the arrangement unstable.

Keep some larger fuel beside the lay rather than adding every piece at once. In an actual fire, this allows you to feed the fire gradually rather than smothering it with too much wood.

8. Inspect your finished fire lay

Step back and inspect the entire arrangement.

Check that the tinder is accessible, the kindling increases gradually in size and the larger fuel can be added without dismantling the whole structure. Look for gaps that allow air to move through the lay.

Make sure no sticks are balanced precariously or pointing towards someone who might approach the fire. Remove any material that is rotten, excessively damp or unsuitable.

Finally, review how you gathered the wood. Confirm that you did not damage living vegetation, disturb wildlife or collect material without permission.

If the lay collapses when you make a small adjustment, rebuild it. The purpose is to create a practical, stable arrangement rather than simply pile sticks together.

Check Your Results

You have completed the challenge when you can demonstrate that:

• You gathered deadwood responsibly and only where collection was permitted.
• You selected fine material suitable for tinder.
• You collected small twigs and progressively larger pieces for kindling and fuel.
• You prepared an appropriate base for the fire lay.
• You arranged the materials to allow airflow and gradual progression from tinder to larger fuel.
• The lay remained stable and accessible for inspection.
• You could explain why you selected your materials and how your arrangement would help a fire establish.

If the tinder is damp, the kindling is all the same thickness or the lay is packed too tightly, make improvements before photographing the finished result.

Complete the Challenge

Prepare your fire lay using only responsibly gathered deadwood and naturally occurring material collected with permission. Keep the lay unlit and check that the finished arrangement is practical, stable and suitable for the intended purpose.

Take a clear photograph showing the whole fire lay, with the tinder, kindling and larger fuel visible. You may also take a second photograph showing the different sizes of wood you selected.

In your submission, explain where you obtained the material, how you gathered it responsibly and why you arranged the different sizes of wood as you did.

How to Submit Your Challenge

1. Log in to your Pure Bushcraft account.
2. Visit your member profile and open the Social Activity section.
3. Create a post containing a photograph of your completed fire lay.
4. Include the hashtag #PureBushcraftChallenge102.
5. Briefly explain how you selected the deadwood and arranged the tinder, kindling and larger fuel.

Your submission will be checked before the challenge is marked as verified.

Challenge 102 Checklist

Want to Push Yourself?

Once you can prepare a basic fire lay, try arranging two different designs using separate selections of responsibly gathered deadwood. For example, compare a teepee-style lay with a small criss-cross arrangement.

Consider which design offers better access to the tinder, which is more stable in a light breeze and how each arrangement allows air to circulate. Photograph both and explain which you would choose for the conditions you are likely to encounter.

You can also practise assessing the moisture of different pieces of deadwood and identifying which would be most useful for tinder, kindling or larger fuel. Remember that material selection depends on the wood species, weather and condition of the wood, not just its size.

Leave both fire lays unlit unless you have permission, suitable conditions and a safe, established fire site.

What’s Next?

Continue developing your fire skills by revisiting Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 101: Identify and Correct Sagging That Causes Water to Pool on a Tarp if you haven’t completed it yet. That challenge focuses on improving tarp pitch and drainage to make a shelter more effective in wet weather.

You can complete the outdoor challenges in any order. Keep practising the preparation skills that make outdoor activities safer, more efficient and less damaging to the environment.

Once you’ve shared your evidence and it has been verified, the Pure Bushcraft Outdoor Skills Challenge 102 is complete and the completed challenges figure will be updated on your profile.