Estimate how much firewood you need for any camping trip. Includes wood type guide, fire-starting tips, and weather adjustments.
🌳 Oak
Hardwood · Long burn · High heat
Best all-round campfire wood. Burns hot and long with minimal smoke. Requires longer to catch — use kindling first. Produces excellent cooking coals.
🌲 Hickory
Hardwood · Longest burn · Very high heat
The king of firewood. Extremely dense, burns very hot and very long. Ideal for smoking meat. Hard to split but worth the effort. Popular in the US.
🍎 Apple / Cherry
Fruitwood · Long burn · Sweet smoke
Excellent for cooking — imparts a mild sweet flavour. Burns hot and clean. More expensive and less common. Great for grilling fish and poultry.
🌿 Ash
Hardwood · Medium-long burn · Low smoke
One of the best campfire woods in the UK. Splits easily, burns clean with low smoke, and lights readily even when slightly green. Good all-rounder.
🌿 Birch
Medium hardwood · Medium burn · Easy to light
Lights easily and burns brightly. Good fire-starter wood but burns faster than oak. Often used mixed with hardwood. Papery bark is excellent tinder.
🌲 Pine / Fir
Softwood · Fast burn · More smoke
Burns fast with more smoke and creosote. Good for starting fires or short burns. Not ideal for cooking. Use 1.5–2× more than hardwood. Widely available.