Starting a campfire can feel like a hassle, particularly if you run out of fuel, fire starter, or if the rain has soaked all the tinder you had on hand. Luckily, there is a solution — and it’s a fun one.

The Dyrt team had the pleasure of playing around with the Light My Fire fire starter in the middle of a conference hall at this summer’s Outdoor Retailer. Once we got the hang of it, we couldn’t get enough of the simple joy elicited by lighting fire with a practiced flick. We have a feeling it’s even more fun at the campground.

Start your Campfire with Light My Fire

The Light My Fire FireLighting Kit includes fatwood (an extremely flammable wood) for kindling and Swedish FireSteel to get the fire started quickly. Fatwood is made from scraps of already felled pine trees in Guatamala. The wood has an 80% resin, which makes it extremely flammable. The Swedish FireSteel is a magnesium fire starter, originally developed by the Swedish Department of Defense.

The claim is that it works on the first try nearly every time — no matter the weather or altitude.

(We found that it requires a little bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it, creating fire becomes your effortless superpower.)

fire starter sparking

Photo by Joachim Nordwall for Light My Fire

The founder of Light My Fire, Michael Odqvist, started this Swedish company after placing a bet with a neighbor about who could get a fire started faster. We aren’t sure about how it ended, but it sounds like he probably won! The event inspired him to start this company, afterall, thinking that others might find this unique kindling and fire starting method handy as well.

light my fire starter

Photo by Joachim Nordwall for Light My Fire

We think this is by far the easiest and most fun way to start a fire at the campground. The only thing we need now is some old-fashioned campfire popcorn.

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