Different fire methods, in particular the upside down fire

[DanRobinson1]

Hey guys,

I recently went ahead and tried my hand at the upside down fire to see if it was more beneficial than your standard teepee style. To my dismay I found that it wasn't half as satisfying, you don't achieve the flame or heat you want and it's much more work as you have to keep adding too it anyway to establish really hot coals that will burn through the fuel in the pile below.

Has anybody tried this method? How did you find it went for you?

As an alternative I'd like to know other fire methods people use. I want to get a fire going that burns slowly so the fuel lasts longer but I also want a decent flame to keep me warm.

I made a video on it here:

[video=youtube;p3uKHAFvD0o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3uKHAFvD0o&feature=plcp[/video]

Check it out along with my other videos.

 

[Perrari]

Personally I have never heard of or tried an 'upside down' fire. Logically (to me anyway) it doesnt make sense as heat rises and so do flames. Everything else you did was spot on but turn the fire over.

 

[Wook]

Did the hound turn up?

 

[Teepee]

The upside down fire is a relativel slow burning, low maintainence fire that works well on wet ground or snow.

The teepee style is a quicker burning fire which allows more air to the fuel.

Horses for courses.

Laying the wood inline with each other will slow the burn too, as it limits the air available to the burning wood.

 

[jackcbr]

Did the hound turn up?

Ditto, how's the hound?

 

[calgarychef]

I have a "cachelofen" in my house in Canada it's a masonry heater and pretty efficient. I find that building the fire upside down (known as gassifying) will keep the chimney a lot cleaner and I never have to clean it. I think basically you're burning your fuel like a candle, it gets hot enough and the volatile gasses are driven off and quickly burned then what's left over is a huge bed of coals. It has precious little to do with your question! I think if you want an all night fire it's a good way to go by putting very large logs on the bottom and using smaller logs on the top. And you're right, in a camp fire it takes longer to get going and not as much clear flames as a teepee fire.

 

[lannyman8]

your method was right, but on a very small scale, the stack needs to be much bigger with logs on the bottom 12-18 inches across, going down in scale to your tinder and small twigs, make sure you lay the wood alternating layers to make a " X " with the layers, this lets more are in, but it is a slow burning fire that stays lit for a long time though, i find harder woods are better too, pine and birch (what you had) burn very quick, try oak, ash or cherry towards the bottom which will make the burn time longer too.....

best of luck with the next try.

regards.

chris.

 

[DanRobinson1]

Hey guys that's for the response and thanks for checking out the video too.

Firstly, the hound, in true style, waltzed into the house at 3 am. Giddy as a puppy and my worries were over gladly.

I'm going to give the fire another chance at some point and I'll take all your comments into consideration. I'll make it bigger and I'll select more appropriate materials for the job.

On a curious note, Calgarychef, I'd like to see your cachelofen if you have pictures or any videos on YouTube?

Thanks again guys and if your interested, stay tuned to my YouTube channel and look out for my next attempt.

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[DanRobinson1]

Couldn't find this thread in the forum then I realised it had been moved to firecraft, didn't know this section exsisted.

Anyways tonight im off out to shoot another video, I'll be setting a fire so of anyone has any type in particular they want to see let me know. Or if you way anything on my video at all then let me know.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[calgarychef]

Unfortunately I don't have a picture but I can try and describe it. I'll do it in another thread so's not to send this one on a tangent...

 

[Stew]

Dan,

I'm concerned about your wood splitting technique at the 3 minute mark - your hand is pushing down onto the wood, over the axe edge as it splits. I realise it's a cheap market axe and possibly not too sharp but it just seems like a technique that's asking for trouble. If the wood is already bedded on the axe, why not raise the lot and hit down onto the branch wood first?

I'm not saying this to be a bushcraft nazi, just as someone concerned and who has done my share of daft things, including stabbing my hand down onto a knife blade.

 

[DanRobinson1]

Dan,

I'm concerned about your wood splitting technique at the 3 minute mark - your hand is pushing down onto the wood, over the axe edge as it splits. I realise it's a cheap market axe and possibly not too sharp but it just seems like a technique that's asking for trouble. If the wood is already bedded on the axe, why not raise the lot and hit down onto the branch wood first?

I'm not saying this to be a bushcraft nazi, just as someone concerned and who has done my share of daft things, including stabbing my hand down onto a knife blade.

Hi buddy,

Thanks for the feedback. You may not notice in the video but my hand does skim the axe blade at one point and that was a lesson learnt. I have not and will not hold the wood once it's bedded in ever again. I don't show my concern for the sake of the video but well noticed and thank you. I don't take you words negatively, it's really nice that you would be concerned and as I said you were 100% correct.

Thanks for watching the video my friend. If you enjoyed it then stay tuned and maybe subscribe.

Cheers, Dan.

P.S I went out last night and was splitting wood again and the first thing I thought of whilst splitting was remove my hand! Ha.

 

[Lost in civilisation]

You are unfairly knocking the upside down fire lay

Done properly it needs to be of a decent size, dry wood for the tinder, kindling and medium sized fuel wood & you need to build a good conventional / teepee fire on top.

Most of the heat rises away from the fire, you need the burning wood to fall into the gaps in the layer below allowing that to light the next stage.

The benefit is that it conserves fuel (which because it burns slower as a layer at a time won't give a "satisfying roaring fire") and once well alight is pretty much maintenance free.

It will not give as fast a cooking fire as a teepee as you don't have the heat and flame climbing through the fire drying out the wood and it will struggle with your fresh/wet timber and small fire size.


So go bigger, set a good teepee on top and use drier timber and you will have a good long lasting campfire that doesn't flare up and use all your hard earned timber in a flash.


PS please learn some better technique with that axe, many folk on here have damaged nerves and tendons from a lapse in concentration - there are some good vids on youtube


You look really interested in Bushcraft and I hope you all the best,
Stu

 

[DanRobinson1]

You are unfairly knocking the upside down fire lay

Done properly it needs to be of a decent size, dry wood for the tinder, kindling and medium sized fuel wood & you need to build a good conventional / teepee fire on top.

Most of the heat rises away from the fire, you need the burning wood to fall into the gaps in the layer below allowing that to light the next stage.

The benefit is that it conserves fuel (which because it burns slower as a layer at a time won't give a "satisfying roaring fire") and once well alight is pretty much maintenance free.

It will not give as fast a cooking fire as a teepee as you don't have the heat and flame climbing through the fire drying out the wood and it will struggle with your fresh/wet timber and small fire size.


So go bigger, set a good teepee on top and use drier timber and you will have a good long lasting campfire that doesn't flare up and use all your hard earned timber in a flash.


PS please learn some better technique with that axe, many folk on here have damaged nerves and tendons from a lapse in concentration - there are some good vids on youtube


You look really interested in Bushcraft and I hope you all the best,
Stu

Duly noted mate, and as mentioned below I've changed what I do with the axe. I'll definately give the fire another chance and the teepee on top sounds like a good idea.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

I tried the upside down fire for the first time yesterday and it worked an absolute treat. It gave off some staggering heat, was low maintenance, less smoky and left a beautiful ember bed for cooking over. It's the future!



P.S. Not my photo, just one I found on pinterest that illustrates the point.

 

[Mouse040]

Firstly I'm not going to mention the axe use as I'm sure that this has been hammered home already

As regards to your fire I agree with the comments made all ready concerning the size and choice of timber .
If there is one bit of advise I can give it would be to give a little bit more time to the basics learn a bit about the differant trees and which ones work well in different applications also some trees react differently dependant on the time of year and can be great in some seasons and poor in a other , this will also give you a good knowledge base to know which trees not to harvest in certain seasons as removing small branches in the incorrect way at the wrong time of year can kill the tree
Having a good understanding of your surroundings will undoubtedly make you a better student of bushcraft

Maybe your next vid should be on differant timbers on fires and which ones work best in each application I'm sure people would be interested
Don't forget to mix it up a mix of hard and soft woods can be best mine is ash with oak for a good all round fire

Look forward to seeing the next vid

 

[Christy]

I have a "cachelofen" in my house in Canada it's a masonry heater and pretty efficient. I find that building the fire upside down (known as gassifying) will keep the chimney a lot cleaner and I never have to clean it..

Ah a Kachelofen. Brilliant aren't they?
Yes guess an upside down fire would work there. Will try that at the first cold day.
Thanks for the tip.