Archive for the ‘fire’ Category
Amadou
July 26th, 2010 | 
Author: 
So what’s Amadou?
Well it’s not the title of an Olivia Newton John song from way back.
Amadou is a fantastic natural tinder. It’s made from the Horse’s Hoof Fungus, which has a fine, velvety layer resembling suede leather. This suede-like layer is sandwiched between a tough nut-like, outer layer, called the Cuticle and the pores, which are thousands of tiny tubes all packed together. The Horse’s Hoof Fungus is mainly found on dead trees such as the Birch and Beech, and it resembles a horse’s hoof – hence its common name.
Campfire Cooking
Campfire cooking can be downright civilized.
No matter how spectacular the scenery, meals around the campfire are often the highlight of the camper’s day.
Modern camp stoves and specialized cookware make the cook’s job easier, but nothing beats the taste and appeal of a meal cooked over the campfire. Success at campfire cooking will encourage you to go camping more often.
The History of the Match
Learning to control fire was perhaps man’s greatest achievement. It allowed him to live in places formerly uninhabitable, to cook his food, change his landscape, and make weapons. The ability to create fire whenever and wherever it was needed was essential to the advancement of technology, and it could be argued that the invention of matches marked the birth of modern society.
Cotton Wool and Vaseline Firestarter
A Simple Effective Fail Safe Tinder…
There are many different natural tinder’s available to the outdoorsman. Birch bark, clematis, old man’s beard… the list is almost endless. All are readily available as long as you know where to look for them and how to prepare them.
Firelighting in Soaking Wet Conditions – Using the Bare Minimum of Kit
I just got the new designed larger fire kit knife in today…perfect timing as it has been raining for three days now…seemed as good a day as any to test it out.
So…say you’re in the woods, or at least many of the woods in the Eastern U.S., Western Europe that I am sure of, it’s been raining for days on end and you need a fire but only have a small knife and a firesteel….
The Dakota Fire Hole
A little known survival aid related to wilderness fire making skills is the Dakota fire hole, also known as the Dakota fire pit. This handy device is easy to construct and has marked advantages over other types of campfire constructs. Once you make a Dakota fire hole and try it out, you may choose to use this method on a regular basis.
Making a Dakota Fire Hole is initially more labor intensive than simply building a fire on the surface of the ground. However the outlay in energy required to make a Dakota fire hole is more than offset by its efficient consumption of fuel; it greatly reduces the amount of firewood required to cook meals, treat water to destroy pathogens or warm your body.
Firelighting in Damp Conditions Using the Bare Minimum of Kit
The following is basically a variation of how I usually do a one match fire. However if you really need a fire and you have a match…or a lighter…use it. It will speed things up a good bit.
Since I’m using sparks instead of a match the first thing I did was whittle into the dryer part of a pine limb and laid it in the sun so in a few minutes I could make shavings for tinder.
How to Light a Fire Using Chemicals
Here is an extremely easy yet little used method of fire lighting. For this you need two easily obtainable items which can be bought in most high street chemists.
1) Potassium Permanganate.
2) Glycerine.
How to Strike a Match Correctly
How to correctly strike a match! This seems like a case of teaching someone to suck eggs but, imagine just how important this could be to you. If you’re down to your last match and you desperately need to get that fire going. Not to be too melodramatic but “Your life could depend upon it”. Without the warmth of that fire, you’re going to spend a very cold night with no warm food inside you to boot. Worst case scenario = you’re not going to see next morning’s sunrise!
Bow Drill Technique – Friction Firelighting
One of the initial problems of making fire with a bow drill is that there are a lot of elements that need to come together to achieve the final goal. If one of these elements is not right it can result in failure.
Obviously, trying to explain in writing how to do this is very difficult as some of the elements are very subtle. It would be far easier for you to learn this skill if someone could show you. Of course, that may not be possible which, is why you’re reading this article.
So, I’ll try and give you a few helpful tips although this won’t be a definitive answer to your problems.