How To Boil Water Over a Fire

In this guide, we will be teaching you how to boil water over a fire. More specifically, we will assume that you only have access to the most common items that are taken along during a camping trip.

We will point out that there are easier ways of boiling water at a campsite compared to doing it over a fire. For example, if you are going to your campsite with a vehicle, you could bring along a propane stove. With the propane stove, all you need to do is put potable water into any percolator and put it on the stove. The water will boil in about 10 minutes.

But with a campfire, you need to realize that it is not as clean. If you don’t mind getting dirty, as many avid campers love to, then creating a campfire to boil water can make you feel like a champ!

The methods we will show below are the most common ways of setting up a campfire to boil water when all that you have are the following items.

Items You Will Need

• 1 or 2 ‘Y’ sticks
• 1-3 long logs
• Rope or snare wire
• Pot or Kewl bottle
• Potable water
• Items to make your fire

The ‘Y’ stick Method

You can find ‘Y’ sticks anywhere in the woods. They are just sticks in the shape of a ‘Y’. Make sure that you find one that has a long base. You will also need a long log of wood to run it through the top of the ‘Y’ stick. This can be easily found, and it does not need to be all that thick. It just needs to be sturdy enough to hold a pot of water.

Follow the steps below to create a platform upon which you will hang your pot:

1. Plant the base of the ‘Y’ stick firmly into the ground next to the campfire. Alternatively, if you were able to find two of them, plant a ‘Y’ stick into the ground on either side of the campfire.
2. Use the log that you found and place it into the groove of the two ‘Y’ sticks. If using only one ‘Y’ stick, make sure that one side of the long log is hanging over the campfire, while the other side is planted firmly into the ground.
3. Use a rope or a snare wire to create a dangling piece that will be holding up the pot.
4. If using a rope, make sure that the rope is wet, and that the piece of log that is dangling over the campfire is also wet. This helps to ensure that they don’t catch fire.
5. Finally, attach the pot handle to the rope or wire.

The Tripod Method

The tripod method is based on the same concept as the ‘Y’ stick method. It creates an awning over the campfire where you can attach a rope or wire that will hold the pot.

Using a rope or snare wire, create a tall tripod using three long logs. Wet the tops of the tripod as well as the rope (if using rope) with water. Attach the pot handle to the hanging rope or wire.

Using a Kewl Bottle

Purchasing a Kewl bottle before going camping can come in pretty handy. It helps to save on wood fuel by allowing you to boil water using less of a flame.

You can use the Kewl bottle in one of two ways:

1. Place the Kewl bottle directly on burning coal. Even if there is a bit of a flame left, this is still OK and the bottle will be fine. The water will boil in about 10 minutes.
2. Instead of creating a campfire, put the Kewl bottle on a metal ring with enough room to put burning wood underneath. The diameter of this ring is very small at about 3 inches. Once you get the wood burning, the water will boil in about 15 minutes.

Which method is best?

The beauty of camping is that you get to do things the way you want to do them. There is no need to be afraid to get dirty or screw up a campfire. For this reason, we suggest that you do not try and figure out the best way of boiling water while camping. It will take the whole fun out of it!

Not everyone will agree on which is the best way to boil water on a campfire. This is the reason why we suggest that you have one person dedicated to creating the campfire, while the other goes and fetches wood if they have to. This way, there will be no arguments.

In closing, if you have any suggestions for boiling water on a fire, we would be happy to be include it in this guide. Please leave your comment below with instructions, and we will incorporate it.