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Survival Skills: Start a Fire with One Match
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READERS COMMENTS
Easy when it's dry - thanks, Chaz, for the tip on finding fatwood. Birch bark also works great when it's wet; I have sometimes collected it and saved for later trips.
Need a fire in the Woods, Just call for a "Hunter" from Los Angeles, their good at starting fires..Ask any one in San Diego...But seriously, a wise old Native American Guide in the Adirondacks once said; "white man make big fire and have to sit far away, Indian make small fire and stay warm".. I make what I call a Hat sized fire..No bigger than the Hat the man in the Video is wearing and I dig a hole the size of the hat to lay the fire in..For Tender, I gather grasses and small twigs which I rub together to form a "fuzz ball" or make Fuzz sticks by partially shaving a number of sticks. Next comes thicker pieces of wood, not thicker than my little finger. I gather lots of these since with a small fire you don't need bigger pieces of wood because you sit closer to the fire as the Native Americans did. They only had bonfires for ceremonies. To start the fire I light the "Fuzz Ball" either by Match or Spark. For Cooking I dig a small trench off the side of the main fire and only as deep as the Hat and only as wide as half the pot and I cook over that. I burn small chunks of wood instead of 12 inch long or longer pieces which are easier to find and gather..and sit closer, makes it really homey for two people and easier to cook over..No need for the rocks since the fire is contained in the hole..When I leave I make sure the fire is down to ash, then add water and make a paste to ensure all the coals are dead, add a little more water and fill the hole back in with the dirt I saved off to the side and tamp it down good pushing any available air out of the hole just in case a Spark still lives..and then I pee on it..and sprinkle some natural duff around to make it look normal. In some places I place a flat rock over the site and have used it again a few days or weeks or months later...
Whatever happened to Leave No Trace?
Nice trick with the cellphone and the steel wool... but who carry steel wool on a hike ? And better have a fullycharge battery !
Sweet,
Never tried the triangle method before, have usually used a modified teepee. After lighting it, we waited, gave it a little oxygen and three hours later our one-match-fire is still going strong (with more wood obviously).
Cheers
Not a bad job, but you can tell from the film footage that the "match flame" went out and that meant the videographer had to cut tape and restart the action. Come on, you can do better than this, can't you?
Hi. Good, but I think, that all USA, know skills Leave No Trace. Is important. Most when all word see of videos. I from of Mexico. And teach outdoors skills.
I have more of a question to anyone who can answer it,its about a viedo i saw on starting a fire with your cell phone battery, I though that was very very cool, and plan on teaching that to a group of kids in one of my workshops on wilderness surivial skills, I wanted to know about the use of the battery after useing it to start the fire can it be used again in your phone? please send answer to SB.50BEOWULF@GMAIL.COM,
Good video, but you leave the best tinder of all, easily found and harvesteted all over Pine forests like the one behind you; Pitchwood. (AKA Fatwood, Lighterwood, etc.) It is found in old stumps, roots of blowdowns, and is what the tree "skeletons" you see are. It has a very high resin content, and thus burns like kerosene, and for a very long time. I have successfully started a small fire in rain with the dead lower branches of conifers, one match (though you can split them and use 1/2 of one in no-wind conditions, if you have the strike on the box pad to light it on; try it at home first, it goes without saying.), and a piece of pitchwood 3" long by 5/8-3/4" wide and 1/8" thick, with some shaved off as tinder, and the rest split to thin strips to light the kindling. This was with WET kindling, mind you, not damp. The pitchwood itself is also waterproof.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwood
Nice, well done. Especially like the tinder bundle prep, just like Ray Mears does.
I will have to try the triangle base on my next outing.
I like using a spark and steel. Never fails.
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