Building a fire

[clawhammerdan]

My wife and I have taken our five kids camping for as long as I can remember. Now that we're empty nesters we do some camping with just the two of us. Two summers ago, we were camping at a state park, and there was a big kid (around 16 or 17) who was camping with his family and I watched him try to build a fire. I was amazed to watch how utterly clueless he was. I went over and gave him a lesson...but it makes me wonder how old were you when you first learned and how did you learn?
I guess I learned to build fires when I was around ten or 11. We built small fires on the banks of a creek. (The creek was my "playground" everyday from the time I came home from school till it was dark).I didn't hang out with kids who were in scouting so I'm guessing that my pals and I just kind of learned from each other through trial and error. We were always ready to splash water up from the stream if it started getting too big. :-/

[tufhelp]

Scouting was my in-road. Actually my brother who was 7 years my senior was in scouting and I poured over the BSA manual all the time ever since I can remember. So I had the basics in my head when I finally got the chance to participate in scouting myself. But you’re right, most don’t have a clue. A guilty pleasure for us is the TV show “Survivor”, and it is totally amazing what these individuals don’t know about survival, much less how to make a fire. By the time I was eleven I had done bow drill, flint and steel and matches of course. What really staggers my imagination is none of these fools having seen all of the other shows comes prepared to survive! Fire is the biggest deal for water boiling and you would think that since show one there wouldn’t be a single person going on that show who would at least master survival fire starting… Go figure.

[RangerRick]

Born and raised in and around Port Arthur/Port Arces, TX in the area of Taylors Bayou back in the late 50's early 60's. Spent most of my formative years runnin the swamps and bayous and doin the things that boys do. We didn't have money to spare for dodads so if we didn't find it, make it or steal it we did without. Made spendin money by huntin, trappin, fishin, and runnin gators. Got my first pair of store bought shoes the day before I entered 1st grade and mostly thought I had the best boyhood one could have and makin fire was no special talent. Would not want to do it again but it did teach the values of life.

Rick

[Uncle_Alvah]

No outdoorsmen in my family to serve as mentors. Boy Scouts were a Godsend.
Money was never an issue. If you could't afford a mess kit, the manual had a section on tin can cook kits.
The older Scout Manual is still one of the best outdoor know-how books going!
I hear the new ones are kinda PC, but I've not seen one, personally.

[CarolAnn]

I learned why to "Close cover before striking" when I was about 5.

After the blisters healed up, it took me another 6 or 7 years to feel the need, and at 11, I started building small fires on the bank of the pond where I ice skated so I could thaw my feet enough to skate some more. I was always careful and only burned holes in one or two pairs of socks.

[Faye]

Girl Scout camp and a good troop leader. I really don't build many fires except in the wood heater anymore though. We used to go camping on the river for the weekend when the kids were growing up and I was not crazy about it.

[DaNgEr_KiTtY]

i never had a hard time building a fire. well i did one time i was about 5000 feet up on mountain & there was a foot of snow on the ground. it took me a little while to gather up enough dry bark & shavings to get one started but i made sure to get set up well before i started it. i learned alot from reading things in bwh & books like bush craft.

[sheen_estevez]

I've never had a problem, spending the summers in the woods, now that I live in the woods we take the kids camping all the time, plus have fires in the backyard a lot.
I am my son's Cub Scout den leader, next year we get into the fire and tin can stuff, so by the time he gets to Boy Scouts he will be an old pro.

Plus I don't go anywhere without my Swedish Firesteel - Scout Model ;D

[Archangel]

I was a scoutmaster for almost 20 years and you would be surprised how many parents I've had to teach how to build fires. I was also on the district training staff. ;D :) ;D Michael

[sheen_estevez]

I was a scoutmaster for almost 20 years and you would be surprised how many parents I've had to teach how to build fires. I was also on the district training staff. ;D :) ;D Michael
I can believe it, although in my area most of the parents are campers, hikers, etc.

[NYCBOY]

Took alot of ribbing for being in the boy scouts, but wouldn't trade the experience for the world !!! My only regret is that i didn't get to achieve the " ORDER OF THE ARROW " , i came down with a fever the night before and my Mom wouldn't let me go. I think that i got myself sick cause i was so excited about going. To this day i notice men wearing their order of the arrow pins on their lapels of their business suits. I always stop them and talk scouting. I reached the rank of " STAR " and took with me a greater understanding of " who i was '. Thank God for the Boy Scouts of America.

[frost_bite]

For fire building, I never use matches, or a Bic lighter. What can be found in my Possible Bag for this chore are a piece of flint, steel striker, tow, candle, char cloth, pine pitch, and a half dozen thin pitchy splinters about the length of pencils.
Short of tow, I'll rub down cedar bark into fibers for bird nests, and fast starting tinder......

[BwB]

FYI, Amazon.com has a re-print of the "Original" 1911 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook! Here's the direct link to it - http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Scouts-America-Official-Handbook/dp/1557094411 As for me, learning to make fires was easy, I just played with matches!!! ;)

[Mac_Muz]

Frost bite no chit! I forge strike-a-lites and run a bow drill.... Thar's no way yer a skinner..

[Bad_Omen]

I just tried a little experiment which got me thinking.

I wondered just how easy it it is for me to find tinder and start a fire. So I wondered into the back garden and found that after a wet winter and almost constant rain of late that it wasn't that easy.

It got me thinking that I've probably become complacent 'cause, well, I've been lighting fires all my life and I know what I'm doing.

But you know what, when I think about it, I've not had to light a fire in less than perfect conditions for a long time and certainly not where I live now.

So tomorrow when I'm walking the dog in the woods I'll be keeping a lookout for tinder and maybe even testing some so that if I need to start a fire round here I won't be starting from scratch and learning about my local environment the hard way.

I guess what I'm saying is it never hurts to keep your skills current, even the basic ones.

[Mac_Muz]

Bad, I think you are in England, but thats about it... In NH USA next to MAINE, we are in a northern rain forest... If it ain't rainin' it's snowin... There are a wide variety of tinders here however that burn soakin wet...

Birch bark once lit works great... This type of tree grown a fungus you can catch live sparks on not yet charred as well.

Surely there is a fiberous plant where you are than could be hand dried if forced...

The problem with flint and steel fire is most things need to be charred first, which makes the fungus nice..

One of these days I gotta test that fungas with a bow drill and see if that works... i bet it does.... if not it may fail if the drill is too hard..

In rain I have "makin's" for first flame, and birch a plenty, and I just simply up root 3 or 4 dead hemlock saplings and smash them to chaos, literrly heap on more bigger wood, and the whole thing just about bursts .....

When I kayak I pick up dead and down which is usually pretty dry inside, even if i tow it in a bundle behind me...

Where you are any resonis woods would be dry inside, and with a pocket knife you could have as fine a tinder as you would care to shave....

[Bad_Omen]

Thanks for the tips. I actually in central France, but it's much the same sort of geography.

I went to the woods today and their was plenty of tinder about. It was more a case of, OK, right here right now what can I use? You never know the situation you may find yourself in. It was also a case of having moved out of an area I'm familiar with, whats different, whats available?

In an ideal world I'd have char cloth or cotton wool, odds are though that I'd have whats in my pockets and bugger all else. That always includes a knife and a fire steel.

I guess my point was it's important to keep skills current and make sure you're aware of whats available around you.

[Mac_Muz]

Bad, Well in France where I have never been, but heard a few things there is grape right? That bark is ideal tinder, almost as good as birch bark.

Perhaps there is cedar too?

I wouldn't know if you have weeds like milkweed, but they can be used as tinder whn the fluffy parts are dried in a sun a little time, and the stocks can be broken down to a good fiber for cordage. When the pods are small they taste just like aspergrass (sp)

Anyway since I don't know what is and what isn't there find out what works well and if it is wet get inside more on the same but dead matter and it will be dry....

Is there any birch, beech, and cherry?

[Mac_Muz]

I got to thinking which is rare for me... ;D

I carry a burning glass in any kit I have that doesn't have one built in. That can lead to char on days with sun. Sun is that bright light I see a few days a year, and I more or less waste wonderin what the light is.... 8)

However any fool can run a bow drill just to get char. So if you can't run one well enough to get a coal, you can run one well enough to make char, which then can work with flint and steel.

Which hand holds flint leaving the other to hold steel matters. 2 things matter, one is if you are righty, or lefty, the other is depending which hands hold which tools the sparks tend to either go up or go down.

So to hit a pile of loose char you need to place the tools for the down direction. The char sould be on something you can move, like birch bark, a cedar shingle, and or even card bord. Insulation from the ground is important.

Standing of course you need to place the char on the flint and send the sparks up into it.

[Bad_Omen]

Thanks for the advice.

I hadn't ever thought of using a drill just to make char and then use another form of ignition. Nice idea that.

[Mac_Muz]

LOL When you specailize in failure you can accutally accomplish learning a few things... I read every book on bow drills, went to even the smithsonian in DC, asked anyone I thought might know and tried for a year before I got it figured out.

That was better than a decade ago now, and with a reasonably coordinated person, some what fit, I can teach this in under 3 hours these days.

Pretty much you work harder than you ever worked both physically and mentally for speed and controll in 120 seconds and end up with about 3 match books worth of fire.

There was a bad drought at the time of my 2nd marriage and so getting a fire permit was a sin....

After some debate with the un-willing warden I convinced him to come see my site... before he saw that he witnessed fire by flint n steel and fire drill on the living room rug and the flames sent into a waiting wood stove, with no harm to the rug.. At that point he issued me my permit and refused taking any more time to even see my site...... Oh well...

I do this with stone age tools now prefering stone blades to steel in certain circumstances for kicks..

You know so easy only a cave man can do it, which probably you have no clue about unless you get American TV adds for insurance....