Dakota fire technique

[Bushcraft Nic]

Hello!
Last time I made a really nice Dakota fire hole while I was in the forest. A Dakota fire provides a very hot, clean, smokeless and stealth fire meant for cooking low-profile. For this reason it is also used in the army. When you build it right, it needs a very little amount of wood because of its efficient combustion. It also provides a greater margin of fire-safety by keeping coals and flames fairly contained as when making an open fire.
The fire technique is also very good to use when following the leave no trace principal. When the fire-pit is no longer needed it can easily be cleaned up by closing the dug hole and there will be no traces of the fire visible.
I filmed the whole process of making it and provide tips and tricks along the way.
Keep safety and local regulations in mind when making a fire.
As an addition, you can also find extra information and photos about building a Dakota fire on my website:
https://bushcraftnic.com/bushcraft-survival/skills/dakotafire/
Watch the video about making a Dakota fire at:
[video=youtube;5f7zXTpoNPQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7zXTpoNPQ[/video]

I hope you like the information and will be able to make a Dakota fire yourself. If you are missing any information, are having questions or want to add some tips I’ll be happy to hear so!

 

[Jaeger]

Aye Up,

This type of fire method has featured or been referred to on here a number of times previously.

Whilst an effective method it can also be a VERY dangerous one in relation to woodland fires - large, destructive woodland fires!

The video shows a Dakota being constructed in a very sandy soil (my experience of having exercised in Holland is that most of it is! The UK is (mostly) different



The image shown is a still image from a video clip of a woodland 'stealth camp' fire which was discovered self re-igniting almost 24 hours after having been believed to have been completely extinguished.

The peat and leaf litter of woodland floors can ignite; smoulder beneath the surface; burn sideways and then re-ignite some distance away from the original fire site.

In the image shown it was only due to preceding wet weather and relatively damp surrounding woodland detritus that the reignited fire was contained local to the original site.

Nic's video posted on this site does not show the fire being - de-constructed which for a typical UK woodland would/should involve quite a bit of excavation around the site to ensure that all material is extinguished. (And I even won't go into the bricks issue).

Some parts of the UK haven't seen any substantial amounts of rain for quite a while now and the woodland floors are very dry.

 

[Janne]

........................

 

[Hammock_man]

How many people is that fire pit designed to feed. A fire that big would provide cooking for 20. The last one I made I used a baked bean tin, with both lid and bottom removed, to keep the passage way open. Each pit was not much bigger than a bean tin.

 

[Jaeger]

Aye Up,

Well, as it is about N01 burner size I would hazard a guess at a field company!

 

[Bishop]

In defence of the OP I present Scottish Youtuber 'Carlise195' who regularly cooks up his feasts on a Dakota fire that size.
[video=youtube_share;e80WLAVMlNE]https://youtu.be/e80WLAVMlNE[/video]

However I would stress the technique does scale down exceptionally well for low impact bushcraft & calorie efficient survival. A small Dakota pit no wider than your hand can be dug in minutes, fuelled with twigs, fired and filled in again very easily. Without ever moving from where you sat down for a rest break.

 

[Janne]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

It's a very good fire strategy but there are so many things to be mindful of.
As many point out, the possibility of a smoldering underground fire is real.
The hole will focus the heat so a small fire, using little wood, should be a serious cooker.
Just simply smothering the fire with soil, sandy or otherwise, is ineffective.

Do you dare to put your hand in that fire when you believe that you have well and truely put it out?

For example, in the last 48 hours, we have 180 new forest fires buring out of control, for the most part, in British Columbia.
Thousands of hectares and approx 7,000 people ordered evacuated to shelters. Province declared State of Emergency ( not since 2003).
I gamble on sure things. I'll bet that some of these fires, as ground fires, are still burning next year.

Many power lines burnt as well with highways closed. That has an impact on the simple availability of groceries where I live.

In the shade at my house, it was 40C yesterday afternon.

 

[Janne]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

Much of these are lightning from Tstorms a couple of days ago. 180 - 220 fires, depending on who is counting.
Most of these are what we call interface fires where lives and property are in danger.
2,000 properties, 7,000+ evacuated. Convoys of horse trailers, etc back and forth.
Major Evac center some 6 hours north by road is already full.

Friends on a high country homestead ranch above Cache Creek are packing right now, the fire is in the next valley.
The ranch is one of those places that you thought only existed in the movies. Trust me, it's real.
Lots of grass and some Ponderosa pine. A fire storm makes its own wind and can move 50 - 60 mph in that stuff.

 

[Janne]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Robson Valley]

We have big wind & some thunder at the moment, must be lightning somewhere close by.
This region is so sparsely populated that our fires rarely become interface issues.
Nobody is raising so much as a spark in the hopes that we can skin through this.

Probably of more help to stay right here in case we get some interface fire.
45W 2 meter ham rig and 2 x HF 100W ham rigs that I can run all in the Suburban.
17' x 1kW 1/4 wave vertical for 40, 20, 15 & 10 so not exactly moblie. Everything works.
If the power lines burnt, you can kiss your cell coverage goodbye.

Food seems to be still coming in so some highway must be open.
From McBride you can drive HWY 16 East or you can drive HWY 16 West.
There are no alternatives.

I don't get out much any more. I miss campfires and fire-cooked meals.
In this day and time, think I will wait!

 

[Robson Valley]

Another town ordered to evacuate. We expect some 2,000 people to come streaming through this village starting maybe 5-6 AM.
Extra food and fuel is on its way. Our community hall will be open as some sort of refugee center.
Choppers with buckets working local spot fires here today.

I've lived in BC for more than 1/2 a century and this really is turning into Hell on earth.
My ranch friends locked the door and took off earlier, just in case.

 

[Robson Valley]

In the years htat I lived in Melboune, Australia, I can easily recall the bush fires.
The days of "Total Fire Ban" were new to me but absolutely sensible.

Total campfire ban as of 8AM today in our region. They certainly took their time.
50cm x 50cm was allowed, glad they changed their minds.
I can still run my gas BBQ.

We have been very fortunate, all along HWY 16 that runs east/west.
A few spot fires here but very quiet today. Choppers gone already, I suppose.
We must be getting close to shutting down logging ops. Too risky for sparks (tools, machines and rock sparks.)

Basically no rural population just a few towns and villages and the city of Prince George in the middle.
One district evacuation west of PG yesterday.

The full moon was turned off last night, just the pilot light was on. Never seen the moon BROWN. Orange in smoke, yes.
Very orange sunlight this morning.

Emergency Services meeting this morning. First 100 Mile House evacuees showed up 8:30 last night.

 

[santaman2000]

Digging down into the subsoil is the part that is potentionally hazardous.
Safer to place the fire on rocks. Even better - on rocks over wet ground.

Depends on what you're trying to be "safe' from. The Dakota fire pit originated in the Dakotas as the name implies. They were trying to build a fire out of the constant prairie winds. That either meant inside the teepee or underground. It had absolutely nothing to do with "stealth." (the glow from even an underground fire can be seen for dozens of miles on the prairie, and a "smokeless' fire has everything to do with what fuel you choose rather than how you build it----the sole fuel choice on said prairie was dried buffalo manure)

No doubt some of those fires were caused by people, intentinally and unintentionally. Plus the odd broken bottle.
Fire rejuvenates nature, clears the undergrowth and brings back the nutrients to the soil.

Many of our plant species, particularly our pine species, are fire dependent to reproduce.

 

[Robson Valley]

OK, so there's different reasons for building a Dakota style fire. As of 8AM here, it's all theoretical. No campfires of any kind.
10,000 estimated evacuees now. Gotta go buy some hay for horses, a lot of ranch people got pushed out.
Enjoy your weenie-roast.

 

[JamPan]

Doesn't sound like you're having the best time of it over there Brian. Hope it improves soon for you.

 

[Robson Valley]

Wild start to our fire season. So many, so fast, very hot and very windy with the thunderstorms.
Plus, so many of the fires are interface = people and communities. No big fire is the least bit contained yet.
Most of what you might see is happpening in the southern 1/3 of the province.
I'm in the middle, on Highway 16. So far, so good. Maybe T-storms for us the next 2 days.

Our Emergency Services is in high gear now, really humming right along. At least 500 beds in the City of Prince George.
Many of the evacuees want to stop here in McBride as they have horses with them and pasture in the city is really tight.
Guess it was Saturday, 40C/104F in the shade at my place. On the positive side, my grape vines are loving this.

 

[Zingmo]

I have been checking the RMG to find out how you're doing! I imagine the fear is the worst part; not knowing if some spark is about to start a fire in your area.
I hope you get some rain! Stay safe.

Z

 

[Robson Valley]

My ranch friends were on the run, 2AM Saturday morning. Got out OK.
Up a long side valley with nowhere to run as the fire was in the next valley over.

It's the wind. Pushes the fires then yesterday(?) the dang wind changed. More than 14,000 people on the move now.
Williams Lake is 10,000+ people and their Evac Alert of 8AM today could become an Evacuation Order any time now.

Hell of a thing as their gas stations ran dry and no more fuel is being trucked south for them.
Highways are closed to the south of them. Basically, their single escape route is to come north on #5 and come through my village to the city of Prince George, 220km further west.
That assumes they can go east on #24 without a fire. I hear that many have left already.
Everybody is welcome here. We have food & fuel & pasture and accomodation space everywhere.

Brown full moon at night and bright orange sunshine in the days. Visibility less than a mile (can't see any mountains at all.)