The sorry fact is, I have never yet seen a survival manual that adequately describes how to get a campfire going, for anyone who has never done it before. It took years before I actually realized that you needed more than two logs, for example. I could get a small fire going using kindling, but could never get a fire to stay lit. I finally learned how to get a good campfire going in an emergency when I took a week-long course from the legendary Mors Kochanski last year; in under a minute, he described how to do it in a way that I could understand and have never forgotten

Most people don't know how to start a fire, it's true. But very few of those who do know seem able to explain how to do it .

Fwiw: Kochanski advised me to get 4 wrist-sized long pieces of wood. Put two of them down side by side. Lay the other two on top at a slight angle. Put a twig bundle on top of that. Set fire to the twig bundle. Enjoy the result.