Fire Building

Fire building is by far a one of the most important skills an oudoorsman can own.(Second only to shelter) With fire, tools can be built, bodys can be warmed,water can be made free of harmfull organisms, food can be cooked and spirits can be lifted. Fire has been a basic skill for millions of years and it was only by mastery of fire that man pulled himself  up from animalism. Therefore in any wilderness situation the ability to make fire on demand is very important.

Sparking Tools
Building a fire usually requires some basic tools, some of which I will describe here. I will leave out such things as fire by friction until a suitable bow drill set can be procured for photography. Here you will find fire building tools available on the open market and are most likly to be carryed by a primitive camper or trekker.
Here I will deal specifically with spark based fire making as it is most pertnant to the primitve style of camping and survival. Note: the steps in building a fire do not change  between matches , lighters etc. and spark based methods.



 

This is a flint and Steel kit. Flint and Steel is what most people think of when they think about spark based fire making. Flint and steel requires that you hold the flint (The little blond stone) and strike smartly with the striker(The "D" shaped metal thing) which produces sparks wich, when caught in sufficiantly dry tinder, will be blown into flame.

(Please excuse the blurry picture)What you see here is the SAK Rucksack and the BSA Hot Spark(R). The Hot Spark is one of many types of sparking tools out on the market. Like flint and steel, the Hot Spark fires a spark that can be blown into flame, the difference being that the hot spark is merely scraped with a knife blade and it showers the tinder with sparks.  This gives a much better chance of the tinder being blown into flame

This is the Gerber Fire Storm(R), Big Brother to the Hot Spark. This is a really good survival firestarter in that it requires nothing more than what it comes with. The firestorm includes a huge sparking rod and its own striker. (So you dont have to mess up your knife blade!)
It also has a compartment to keep a small amount of tinder in. The Fire Storm folds up into a compact package that is easy to carry. Incidentally both sides are held togeather with cord so there is no losing pieces.


 

This is a Magnesium Fire Starter(MFS). This tool is one of the easiest to find sparking tools on the market. It has been military issue for years and is sold on the surplus market all over. Civilian versions also abound. The MFS uses the same sparking rod that the others do but this sparking rod is contained in a block of solid magnesium. 
To use this tool, simply scrape off magnesium from the bar until you have about a thumbnail (or larger) sized mound in your tinder. Then, scrape sparks from the sparking rod into the magnesium pile. The magnesium will flare up with a VERY HOT flame and you can add more tinder over the top and blow into flame.

The Five Steps to Fire Building

Building a proper fire takes much care and attention. To achieve a flame in primitive conditions requires that you use good tinder and maintain your fire  in such a way that it will continue to burn.

Step 1: Preparing your area:
Selecting a good place to build your fire is very important. Such conditions as safety, location and setup are important. First thing is to choose a safe area, one which is free of overhanging dead limbs and other debres that can catch fire. The next is to clear out the area of flamable materials. I reccomend a 10 fit area around the fireplace. next, build yourself a fire pit. This portion is my take and not everyone will agree.
here is my system.

If possible, choose an area with a natural reflector and set your fire so as to place yourself between the reflector and the fire. Such things as old walls, large bolders and  sheets of tarp(*1) work well
Dig a square or triangular hole and surround it with rocks (*2), dirt or green logs.

*1(Remember to keep the tarp well away from the flying sparks, the tarp could catch fire!)
*2(If you choose rocks, don't take them from creeks and river bottoms, the water in them will boil when heated and will explode sending sharp fragments flying in all directions. Some of which can impact a person resulting in death or serious injury)

Step 2: tinder

Pic: Left to right: cotton ball, wood shavings, steel wool

Tinder is the light fluffy stuff that catches a spark.
below is a listing of both natural and not so natural tinder:

0000 steel wool
Cotton balls
Cotton Ball soaked on Petrolium Jelly
birch bark (Peely birch  bark, dont strip trees!)
Cattail fluff (Scrape your knife across the brown heads of
cattails and TONS of fluff comes out!)
Charcloth
tissue paper and bathroom tissue
Dryer lint
(Note: Instructions for making charcloth and other tinders  to come!)

Step 3: Kindling
Kindling is larger than tinder and can be anything from twigs to pinky finger sized sticks.

Step 4: Squaw Wood
Squaw Wood is smaller limbs easily picked up off the ground. This is the wood you will use the most of as it is easy to come by and burns well.

 

Step 5: Logs
Im not going to waste more space showing you a log, Im sure we all know what a log looks like.
But a special note should be taken on logs. In a survival situation, you must conserve energy and the act of chopping a huge log will tire you out really fast, even with a good axe or survival knife. In a situation like that, if you find a downed log, burn an end and then move it up instead of chopping it. Logs are good for giving lots of mass to a fire when getting ready for bed and  when you need a long burning fire. other than that, you should stay with squaw wood and some smaller arm sized logs as they will serve you quite well and not burn up much needed energy, make you sweat to work on (gets you wet and you lose heat) and will be easier to put out should you choose to move on.
 


Striking and Catching a Spark
(with The Fieldmouse)
The secret to catching a spark and holding it in the tinder is to build somthing called a birds nest. Basically taking and folding the tinder into a bundle that closely resembles a birds nest and then placing the fluffiest stuff in the middle(Read: the really flamable stuff) .

I usually surround it with twigs and other light kindling so that it will be close at hand to add to the flame once it starts.
Then take your sparking tool, and strike sparks into the birds nest until a spark catches


Then gently blow on the tinder untill the flame grows. Once you have flame, add small twigs and other light kindling
Only add kindling when you have a solid blaze from your tinder and remember to continue to blow!

From there, Just add larger and larger peices of wood untill you have the desired fire





For more information and instruction on fire building, Check out Volume 1 of the Woodsmaster series by with Ron Hood of Hoods Woods !