Building a fire

From WildernessWiki.org

This is a basic method of fire starting which can, and should, be adapted for various environments. The process is simple enough that most who are taught it are successful on their first try.

1 Materials
2 Laying the fire
3 Ignition
4 Note

Materials

The steps taken before starting the fire are often the most important, because the preparation of materials often determines the success. Before attempting to ignite the fire, be sure to gather all of the needed materials within reach. Many attempts at fire starting fail due to having to leave a small fire and search for more wood. Aside from firestarting materials such as char cloth, paper or lint, you need a good amount of wood, sorted by size into three piles.

The first is the small tinder, twigs that are 2" to 4" long and thinner than a pencil. Gather a large supply of these (at least two handfuls), as these twigs compose the first stage and are the first thing you'll use once flame is created. Thin wood shavings and large pieces of birch bark can also be used, as well as dry grass, if necessary.
The second pile is composed of progressively larger kindling, ideally sticks 6 to 10 inches in length. By the time you're ready for these, the tinder should be burning steadily.
The third pile is the small fuel, made up of larger pieces of wood and branches between 1 to 2 feet in length and about 0.5" to 1" in diameter. Remember that this is fire starting; this is only going to get you to the point of a well established fire. This third pile is not for logs and other thick pieces.

Laying the fire

Now that you have three piles next to you, set up whatever you intend to use for tinder and ignition. I love to use cotton balls covered in vaseline (petroleum jelly) to start a fire. These are great fire starters. They can be ignited with just a spark, and burn for a good amount of time. In a survival situation, one ball can be torn into smaller pieces for multiple lights. These should be placed on top of a small pile of leaves or pine needles, so that they burn not only the kindling placed on top, but create fire below as well. This step is especially important in wet terrain. Lay some small tinder on top of your firestarter.

Ignition

Ignite the firestarter (cotton balls in this example) with a spark or flame (such as from Flint and Steel or a lighter). The cotton should immediately ignite, setting the tinder above and leaves below on fire. Now comes the delicate part: gradually place those small twigs from the tinder pile on top of the flame, in a pyramid fashion. Rather than just dropping them on top of the flame, place them vertically around the edges of the fire with one end leaning into the flame, as if you were making a teepee. Continue to add twigs, being sure to not add too many at once and smother the fire. As you use the twigs up, the fire should be widening out and getting hot.

Now it's time to start using the pile of kindling. Again, these pieces should be laid across the flames at an angle, rather than dropped onto the fire. The fire should be established at this point, so you can now add wood at your leisure, as long as the weather is favorable. When all the kindling has been used, the fire should be blazing, and you can begin to add the larger pieces and branches from the third pile. The growing fire has also widened, so these large pieces can be placed directly on top of the flame.

After the fire has been burning for 20 or 30 minutes, and has widened out to create a coal bed, you can start adding logs and other large pieces of fuel. The heat from the coal bed is what's going to burn the large pieces now, not the flame. You can even place a very long branch across and "burn through" the middle, giving you two pieces which can be pushed back into the fire.

Note

The above was shown and explained to my girlfriend for making fires in our chiminaeia (free standing chimney) by herself. I let her make our fire when camping and she did it just fine. I hope it works well for you as well. And I hope I haven't overcomplicated the instructions. It's real easy, the important part is the actual creation and maintenance of the flame using the first pile. Once you get to the second, it's Miller Time :).

-Contributed by Omega Man

Random Articles