From the emails etc. it seems that making wet wood burn gets the nod. First though, we need to do a review of what is needed to make, or cause fire. Then later a review of special circumstances, and how to deal with them.
- First, there has to be fuel. This can be wood, oil, gasoline or any number of flammable things.
- There has to be air, oxygen to be more precise. Without oxygen nothing will burn in the classic sense.
- There has to be ignition to start the process.
Combine the three, and you can have fire. Remove any of them, and you will not be able to maintain the process that is called burning, or fire.
Fuel needs, as a term, to be broken down a bit. There is tinder, and that is what gets things going. Tinder can be lint, wood that has been splintered, or shaved. Or it can be something along the lines of gasoline or charcoal starter.
Which brings us to ignition. There are many ignition methods. From friction methods along the lines of rubbing wood together, to sparking devices, to using a battery to cause a spark. The best known is probably the lowly match. This single subject could fill a small volume, and I will probably address that in depth in the future.
Then you have medium sized tinder, small twigs or branches are examples. After that there are full sized fuel sources. Usually larger pieces of wood, but it can also be dried animal dung, generally from cattle.
The ability to make fire is one of the most crucial skills that anyone in a survival situation can have. It takes practice though to become proficient. The old adage “Train hard, fight easy” really comes to mind when it comes to fire building. Get a good manual, such as the Army Survival Manuel cited in the first posting on this blog under recommended reading for ideas as to the various types of fires that you can build to fit various circumstances.
Preparation is the key to sucess. That includes practicing making fire. Keeping on hand different types of things to get fires started such as matches, a burning glass, a sparking device, and a butane lighter or two just to name some of the things that could save your life. Knowledge though, is the biggest factor.
Tags: making fire, outdoor skills, survival, survivalist
January 3, 2009 at 11:25 am
The best combo I’ve ever actually used in an survival situation was 1 of the outdoor “torch” type lighters, and the firestarter sticks as commonly found everywhere-including discount stores such as Wal-Mart. When hunting, part of my standard kit is listed above for firestarting. I was deer hunting a couple years when it suddenly turned cold and pouring down rain in the matter of only a few minutes, getting me soaked and SERIOUSLY chilled. Needless to say, I was totally unprepared except for the tiny survival kit in my pack. There wasn’t any type of shelter or cave within at least 2 miles. I was able to start a fire and get/stay warm until I was able to dry out using a survival blanket to shield me from the rain until it was over. All you have to do is carve thin “chips” from the firestarter stick, and ignite with the lighter. It’s MANDANTORY to carry an extra can of butane as well as several sticks of firestarter. If I hadn’t had those items with me, I honestly feel I would have gotten serious hypothermia-maybe to the point of frostbite or worse.
January 17, 2009 at 8:35 am
The key to making wet wood burn is making it no longer wet. Unless it’s thoroughly soaked, usually wood will be wet on the outside only. Being exposed to the temperature of the fire will dry it out where it will burn. That’s why best results are obtained by using long burning materials to start with such as firestarter sticks, or wood that’s been soaked in diesel. Warning-if you pack flammable soaked fire starting materials, made DAMN SURE it’s double packaged in tough plastic zip-loc bags, otherwise it WILL permeate everything with permanent odor and make it flammable as well.