Bushcraft Beginnings - Fire.

[Dave]

This is very strange. This morning I've tried cotton pads (not balls, because for some reason we don't have any, so I took the pad apart and frayed it), dipped it in vaseline and used the firesteel. It didn't light. Then I tried the dry grass. It didn't light.
.

You only need a little bit of vaseline. Your shavings look to be good. You just need more of them.
Try scraping your steel all the way around, so it wears evenly.
Sometimes I use the spine of my knife at 90 degrees against a stick, pushing down and scraping some fine sawdust like curls off. Try using a thinner striker. Like a stanley knife blade, or a broken junior hacksaw blade, and hold the steel steady, with the tip right next to your tinder, and push down the striker just a little bit. Just in the middle of the steel. Dont come off the end of the steel with the striker. This will give you greater control, and better aim, and fewer sparks.

 

[Marmite]

Great news. Well done for sticking with it. Great that you found pinning the tinder down with the tip helped to direct the sparks. So you don't get frustrated if suddenly things don't seem to work again, it can be the case, as the striker comes off of the firesteel with force that you can inadvertently pat out the flame or spark with your hand or striker. Guess how I found that one out. Sometimes a little more pressure at the beginning of the strike and less at the end resolves this or trying to stop momentum or lifting off before reaching the end of the steel.
Vaseline will increase your burn times to 30-40 seconds or even more, try either wiping the bottom of your fluff and when you light the dry top side gently turning it over or wipe some Vaseline (lip balm works as well) on one side of the ball leaving a fluffy side to catch the spark.
Thanks for keeping up with the thread as although you said it felt like a great accomplishment when finally things happened, the truth is we all get an equally big kick when others succeed as well.

 

[maddave]

Great stuff !!! Well done !!!

 

[THOaken]

I wouldn't recommend that you try to transfer a small bit of burning tinder at this early stage. It's very fragile and needs nurturing, although if you light a cotton wool ball soaked with a bit of vaseline it would probably survive being thrown across the garden.

Try to build a little pyramid of very small kindling -- straw sized or less -- over the tinder, with a small opening near the bottom through which you will aim the sparks, so that they light the tinder, and the tinder will immediately light the kindling.

Once you have some small kindling lit you're well on the way to a roaring fire.

Shield it from the wind if it's breezy.

Put it on a dry base such as a bit of wood. Don't use a metal or stone base until you can light a fire with your eyes shut, it will absorb too much heat.

Hello, Ged. I'm going to try this task tomorrow as it seems like a good introduction to proper fire lighting, but without the hassle of having to deal with a large setup or a having plenty of fuel there. It's just a quick test.

But what do you mean by an opening near the bottom, exactly? I would just place the cotton down (I need to use something more than cotton, I know, but it's good to catch light quickly), cross kindling over it and then direct sparks into the side. Is that what you meant?

 

[ged]

... what do you mean by an opening near the bottom, exactly? I would just place the cotton down (I need to use something more than cotton, I know, but it's good to catch light quickly), cross kindling over it and then direct sparks into the side. Is that what you meant?

You worry too much.

You just need a gap that you can aim the sparks through. If your kindling covers the tinder sparsely you'll have plenty of gaps for the sparks to fall through so you won't need to worry, but if you pile lots and lots of kindling on top of the tinder, the kindling might prevent the sparks from reaching the tinder and it might not light.

Have a go and see how you get on. You've done the trickiest part, now you just have to get the hang of nurturing a small flame. It does need to be nurtured to begin with. Be gentle with it, you can put it out with too much fuel too quickly.

 

[THOaken]

You worry too much.

You just need a gap that you can aim the sparks through. If your kindling covers the tinder sparsely you'll have plenty of gaps for the sparks to fall through so you won't need to worry, but if you pile lots and lots of kindling on top of the tinder, the kindling might prevent the sparks from reaching the tinder and it might not light.

Have a go and see how you get on. You've done the trickiest part, now you just have to get the hang of nurturing a small flame. It does need to be nurtured to begin with. Be gentle with it, you can put it out with too much fuel too quickly.

And apparently I over-think things too much.

I'm going to try it in a few hours with my recently delivered Woodlore Firesteel. I much prefer Ray's to the small Light My Fire one I had as it gives much more control and the striker is larger.

I also bought a tinder box from Woodlore.

 

[Stringmaker]

Well done for perservering!

Learning a new skill if you are absolutely starting from scratch can be a mixture of frustration and confusion; all of us here can speak from experience on that subject.

The point is that you stuck at it, learned from your failures, sought and acted on advice and then you did it.

You will always remember how you felt the first time you got a flame. Making fire is an endless learning process and every time you succeed with a new method you will feel good about what you have acheived.

Next stop fire by friction!

 

[THOaken]

Well done for perservering!

Learning a new skill if you are absolutely starting from scratch can be a mixture of frustration and confusion; all of us here can speak from experience on that subject.

The point is that you stuck at it, learned from your failures, sought and acted on advice and then you did it.

You will always remember how you felt the first time you got a flame. Making fire is an endless learning process and every time you succeed with a new method you will feel good about what you have acheived.

Next stop fire by friction!

Indeed, it was a great feeling, but all I've done so far is light a ball of cotton with a firesteel. I haven't actually made a proper fire yet. You know, laying down the platform and putting kindling on and all that... I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to learn fire by friction.

 

[THOaken]

I put down the platform in my garden. I got the kindling ready in two bundles at the side of said platform. I tried to light my cotton tinder on the platform first, but that proved difficult as the logs got pushed away with the force of the strike, so I improvised by putting the tinder on a small piece of receipt paper. After many attempts and fluffing, and a little dab of vaseline, I got it to light. Now in haste, I managed to transport the tinder on to the platform and crossed the kindling over the flame. The fire took a while to catch the kindling, but I moved the twigs around and it lit for a grand total of two minutes. I had no thicker fuel and even though I tried putting the twigs on top of the flame the wind killed it.

My only regret was trying it on a day like this... There was an incredibly strong wind so the flame went out quite quickly, but I managed it in the end.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here are the shots of my first fire that I managed to take in haste of the entire hectic situation:

[video=youtube;DGWg2I-IpTM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGWg2I-IpTM[/video]
To top it off my camera was running out of battery, so I could only get a few seconds of video.

There are many things I'd change about how I managed to create fire today, but I'm just glad I got a glimpse of what it feels like, and it's something special. It's actually a testimony to the power of fire that it can last only two minutes and yet still provide a profound experience.

For my next try at fire lighting I will use the birch bark method, wait until a warmer and less windy day, and actually find more fuel.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Goatboy]

You will always remember how you felt the first time you got a flame. Making fire is an endless learning process and every time you succeed with a new method you will feel good about what you have acheived.

Yup remember the feeling of resentment at the smug look on my pal Belzebob23's face as he got the charcloth to light with the flint and steel from his Shark Hudson Bay tinder box. Oh joy he managed it in three strikes. Actually I was chuffed for him, and the flint/steel was better quality than the set I'd been plugging away with. Amazing the difference a well made steel makes. Flint and pyrites nodules - how did man discover to get a flame out of that, takes forever.
Well done though Thoaken.
GB

 

[THOaken]

So it's been a fair while since I last progressed on my journey to successful fire lighting. I said my next attempt would utilize birch scrapings, so I went out to a local woodland today with the express purpose of identifying fallen birch trees. After around twenty minutes of looking I managed to scope out a couple of dead birch logs on the ground and cut a few rectangular sections off with my Mora.

I have quite a few questions regarding Birch bark. The colour seems a little off, for a start. Isn't it supposed to be whiter than that? It's an obscure thought, but I remember it being whiter when I took it from the log. Bark doesn't loose oxygen when it's stored away, does it? I just remember it looked whiter when I collected it earlier. I'm sure it's just a trick of the mind. Also, I think I might've taken pieces that are too thin as you can already see the salmon coloured layer in parts underneath. Is this a different species of Birch? It looks similar to Birch bark that I've seen in videos, but just not quite similar enough. I have it stored in my container, drying, and will test it tomorrow morning.

 

[Macaroon]

Birch can be anywhere betwixt white/silver to a dark chestnut.............I find the best way to use it for tinder is to give it a good scraping - steel scraper, back of knife, rub briskly betwixt the hands, soon dries out - I often use stuff a couple of hours after getting it and keeping it in a pouch while I travel - thinner it is, quicker it dries...................atb mac

 

[THOaken]

Birch can be anywhere betwixt white/silver to a dark chestnut.............I find the best way to use it for tinder is to give it a good scraping - steel scraper, back of knife, rub briskly betwixt the hands, soon dries out - I often use stuff a couple of hours after getting it and keeping it in a pouch while I travel - thinner it is, quicker it dries...................atb mac

Hm, I was under the impression that people could carry and use Birch bark days after collecting. Will it still work after one day so I can at least test if the shavings catch light?

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

it will work indefinitely dont worry

 

[Macaroon]

I didn't mean you can't keep it - you can and I've used it very old and had no problems - I just wanted to show that you don't NEED to have it stored for any length of time. I have a little poly - cotton pouch with belt loops, which rolls up to no size on my belt and a little velcro tab that allows it to unfold to about the size of a small carrier bag ; I collect as I go along, as and when I see suitable tinder, kindling and pine cones, or crampballs ( which do need to dry before working efficiently ) I rarely have any problem with tinder or kindling at any time of year or in any but the foulest weather, in which case I collect today for use tomorrow, just keep what's been collected close to the body and always in something breathable. I hope this helps, atb mac

 

[Stringmaker]

The bark you have there is perfect; it will work nicely.

When you come to use it simply tear some thin strips off to begin with then scrape the outside surface (as seen in your picture) into a pile of fine dust. Put sparks into that with your firesteel and it will ignite, add the thin strips you prepared to give it more fuel and then you're away.

 

[THOaken]

The bark you have there is perfect; it will work nicely.

When you come to use it simply tear some thin strips off to begin with then scrape the outside surface (as seen in your picture) into a pile of fine dust. Put sparks into that with your firesteel and it will ignite, add the thin strips you prepared to give it more fuel and then you're away.

Will it?

Sorry, but I'm frustrated right now. Nothing's simple for me, I think. I just tried scraping it and I came out with the same result from the bark I used around the time I started this thread, the 28th of February. I was sure it'd be of a similar consistency to every other video I've seen but it's not. And my Woodlore firesteel is acting strange in that it's harder to strike than ever, to the point that I got frustrated and striked it many times until my hand hurt. I feel like I'm back to square one.

This is NOT what I'm seeing here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwr5ybkqBss at 3:45

Ray just scrapes with ease and gets large shavings. I actually had to grind the bark down and all I got was a thin dust.

Edit: I have the dust beside me. It's a thinner that it looks that in that picture, trust me. There's no bulk to it, it just lies flat. It's as if I need to scrape for hours to get a decent bundle.

 

[Shewie]

That tinder looks perfect, are you holding the scraper still and pulling the ferro rod back? Try it away from your tinder pile until you're getting a good shower of sparks, sometimes the ferro rod needs a fresh bit scraping back to give the best sparks.

But, don't do it on the kitchen top as it'll catch and leave a nice burn mark.

 

[THOaken]

That tinder looks perfect, are you holding the scraper still and pulling the ferro rod back? Try it away from your tinder pile until you're getting a good shower of sparks, sometimes the ferro rod needs a fresh bit scraping back to give the best sparks.

But, don't do it on the kitchen top as it'll catch and leave a nice burn mark.

I'm currently uploading a video of how I went about the whole process, Shewie. It'll be done soon.

 

[Shewie]

I'm currently uploading a video of how I went about the whole process, Shewie. It'll be done soon.

Cool, I'm just about to head out to do a job so I'll check in later.

Sometimes you need to mess about with the angle you're holding the scraper too, I usually do it so it's leaning slightly forward of vertical.