Building a Concealed Fire Pit

So you’re in the woods and you need a fire… but you’re not interested in being seen. And once you move away from that area, you’d like to leave little or no sign to indicate you’d been there. No reason to help trackers track you down, right? Well, this video will help you make a “Dakota fire pit,” which can be quite useful as well as offering low visibility — and low impact so you can conceal its existence when you leave it behind.

After removing the leaves and other debris — taking care to save it for later concealment — you dig a hole that’s about 10 inches in diameter, with a smaller vent hole off to one side, upwind.

When you dig the holes, preserve any plants and roots by taking out a plug of earth rather than just digging away all the root structure. This can be put back in the hole later, making the spot difficult to detect.

The fire burns quite efficiently… it’s more or less a rocket stove, but made of dirt and you don’t carry it with you. So you don’t need to gather a bunch of fuel, minimizing your impact in the area.

I hope I’m never on the run and have to use this knowledge… but it’s always good to have the know-how.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.