One of my favorite pieces of gear, everyone chuckles until they try it:

https://smile.amazon.com/Epiphany-Outdoor-Gear-Pocket-Collapsible/dp/B00LDSW5BA?sa-no-redirect=1

Makes burning bowls in wood a cinch.

pocket bellows. It's like a turbo charger for your fire.

Scoutmaster here. This pocket bellows for starting a fire is my favorite purchase this year:

Epiphany Outdoor Gear Pocket Bellow Collapsible Fire Tool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LDSW5BA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zW--BbX22HT5T

I use the EOG Pocket Bellows. It works amazingly.

I picked up this thing for about $11, it's called the Pocket Bellows V3.

You don't need it, that much can be established. However, it is just long enough for you to not have to have your face that close to the fire, effectively allowing you to never get smokey eyes while building up your campfire, and to me, it's totally worth every cent.

After the essentials, I'd honestly recommend a pocket bellows. I got it as a gift and I've used it to assist construction of every single fire I've made for the last several years.

It's definitely not an "essential" item. You can obviously start fires without it. But it's quite nice.

Pocket Bellows makes a nice stocking stuffer.

I made the mistake of subscribing to monthly camping box. The previous month's box looked awesome and came with a camping pillow (something I needed) and a bunch of other stuff for $25 so I signed up with the intention of getting one and canceling. I ended up with three months of the box before I was able to get the cancel function on the site to work. The second box I got came with pocket bellows.

When everything is damp and we're car camping we often used a lid from a tote box or an empty cardboard box to fan the fire but now we have this little thing and it works amazingly. It gets a lot of condensation in it by the end of the night but it's fun to use if you get past the spit. It's great for backpacking too and it's got a nice little carrying case so you don't have to worry about it getting bent in your pack. It's simple, it works. I love this stupid little thing.

Pretty standard stuff but the details depend on weather and what I plan on doing (if I'll be spending time working on bushcraft, fishing, or if I'll be hiking or portaging long distances). One thing I strongly recommend is a pocket bellows. You should be able to make one with an old collapsible antenna (although I prefer the one I bought because of the width) but these things are incredible at helping get a fire going, keeping a fire going, or starting up the fire from last night again in the morning.

You can also get something like this

ive been using this pocket bellows to get fires cranking fast and minimize the smoking stage. Also, I almost never collect enough kindling; it's such a chore. This allows me to get a hot fire going with very little tinder, or just newspaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Epiphany-Outdoor-Gear-Pocket-Collapsible/dp/B00LDSW5BA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524442508&sr=8-3&keywords=pocket+bellows

There are a lot of really cool camping things! I'll be back to edit this post on my computer with some things that we like / are unique /cool

EDIT - these are things that we use that we love. These things all range in price, so hopefully you can find one or two to fit whatever budget you have.

• Collapsible Coffee Dripper : They can use this to make REAL coffee on the trail. They just have to heat water!
  
• Portable camping grill : This takes a little time to set up, but it's a very compact grill and makes it easy to cook food or even just balance your mess kit
  
• Nonstick camping mess kit : A nonstick kit is much easier to clean than a stainless steel one IMO. this set has a kettle, utensil, and scrubber which is awesome.
  
• Camp Suds : An environmentally safe soap so they can clean their gear but preserve the trail!
  
• Dry sacks : Dry sacks are just what they sound like... waterproof bags that keep your stuff dry. They can also double as a pillow if you stuff clothes in them!
  
• Portable camping stove : This little guy connects to a small fuel canister and gives you a nice little stove. These are great for heating water / soup as they provide a better heat source than a fire you'd build.
  
• Food dehydrator : This is not something they'd take camping, but it can really help them to save money on meals. If they are backpacking, they likely won't want to carry around cans of food and won't be able to carry around ingredients that would go bad. The dehydrator allows them to make their own backpacking meals that they will reconstitute with water.
  
• Pocket bellows : allows you to stoke the fire without having to get your face super close. Also this lets you target a small area.
  
• LED light bulb ; This does require a portable battery but it's really great to have this little guy. We use it in the tent at night or when we're hanging out but need a little light to chop food/etc.
  
• Pocket chain saw : Cut big pieces of wood! It takes some muscle, but it really does work and it's a lot smaller than a hatchet or actual chain saw..
  
• Literally the best backpacking chair : when you're backpacking, you have to carry EVERYTHING with you. So that means that stuff has to be light and small. These chairs are great, because (for chairs) they tick off both of those boxes. They have a back! And they are big enough to actually sit on!
  
  Other general items that are useful: Climbing/heavy duty carabiners (to clip stuff to other stuff. you can even get locking ones); water filters (if you get a Lifestraw, I recommend the water bottle. The actual Lifestraw is an interesting idea, but we've found in practice it's a little awkward); hammocks with nice straps; base layers; battery-operated lights of any kind (especially ones that clip or are hands-free); a set of waterproof cards (to pass the time on a break); nice, wicking socks; hiking poles; a camping knife.
  
  I haven't tried Cairn (the camping sub box) but they always look interesting.
  

I've seen a lot of comments on fuel choices and stacking, and that's all very important. But don't forget oxygen!

Blowing on a fire can take an ember into big flames very quickly. I recently bought a bellows on amazon, it looks a lot like a collapsible antenna but is about twice as fat. It did a great job of 1) keeping my face away from the flames and 2) focusing my breath into a really strong column of air. It's going on my short list of must haves for every camping trip.

Edit: I used a Pocket Bellows: Epiphany Outdoor Gear Pocket... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LDSW5BA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share This was also easy to get the fire re-lit the next morning. It looked dead, but a few puffs from the bellows and a flame popped right back up in the coals. We put new logs on top and cooked some eggs!

Add This To Become a Trail Hero

Have a look at this. It's basically a collapsible lung operated version of the same thing that is inexpensive and invaluable. I first saw it on the Outdoor Gear Review on Youtube. It kicks ass.

Epiphany Pocket Bellows:
https://www.amazon.com/Epiphany-Outdoor-Gear-Pocket-Collapsible/dp/B00LDSW5BA

Cheap and reliable is best for fire.

• Fire been sorted out for hundreds of thousands of years.
  
  Even more important when you need fire, sometimes you need it NOW! and delays, dead batteries etc are not okay.
  
  
• Get a combination of reusable fire starters like flint and steel or Fresnel lens (only daylight) and anytime fire (matches.)
  
  
• Get fire helpers like Magic biscuits, or saw dust and wax, or accelerates (like ether, gasoline, charcoal lighter fluid)
  
  
• Get an 8'5" x 11" frenzel lens. (for starting with sun light.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IITFX02/
  
  
• Matches
  
  
• birthday candles for kids / make your own fire starters from make-up remover pads and parifin wax. These are the best fire starter helpers you can have. (you can use crayon wax if you don't buy paraffin) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCni8yLXR3w
  
  The only thing the above video fails to do is use a double boiler so what you want is to make a "cup" or the like with some tinfoil, put the wax in that, then set the cup into a pot of boiling water. In this way clean up is a breeze, whatever wax you don't use you can just wait to cool and harden and throw away with the tin foil.
  
  These "magic biscuits" style fire starters will stay dry forever, and you can "crack" them in half to expose cotton fibers for things like flint and steel starters or the focus point of your Fresnel lens, or a match. etc.
  
  

  Make use of the small fire you do start.
  

  
  

• Getting a flame is just the start. One of the VERY BEST things I've ever bought cost about 10 bucks. It was a collapsible tube used like a very long straw to blow air at a fire without having to have your face close enough to suck in a lot of smoke when you take a breath.
  
  Made in america version for $12 from amazon.
  
  Absolute cheapest version $4
  
  

  Skills
  

  
  Fire is great. You don't need to go out int he pouring rain to start a fire, but doing so once in a while will help. Same with the wind. Mostly you need to know how to build a stack of wood so that stuff burns. There are many ways to do this.
  
  

• most of the time building your fire (kindling and med sized wood.) before hand and then covering it with a tarp or plastic. is the best practice. Building on a slight hill or digging a trench around the fire area is also a good "prep" to do before hand.
  
  
• If you are going camping or want a few kits making easy to use fire starter kits from pine cones, dryer lint, wax, pop-sickle sticks, cardboard etc will help. Old pine wood scrap from two by fours or lumber mills or woodworker shops works well too. These are things you can make in your spare time, when it's dry and comfortable.
  
  

  Fire cups!
  

  
  

• Fast food cups that are the wax paper cups (down south and in warmer places use Styrofoam cups) are great for a kit. You can put Popsicle sticks, some matches, some magic biscuits (waxed cotton pads), some black paper (to better start with Fresnel lens / sunlight). Then you put the plastic lid on with a bit of tape over the straw hole and you have a "water proof" cup you can set out, and use when you see fit to start a fire.
  
  Edit corrected spelling.