Firebulding practice in inclement weather

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Oblio13

Settler
Sep 24, 2008
703
2
67
New Hampshire
oblio13.blogspot.com
Today is a day made for hypothermia, just above freezing and raining fairly hard. There's a foot of slushy snow on the ground. Since the paradox of fire is that the more you need one the more difficult it is to build, I figured I'd take a hike and practice.

I took a small tarp, a knife, a ferrocerium rod, a matchsafe with 25 stormproof matches, and three pieces of "Tinder Quik" tinder. Way more than enough, right?


By the time I found a good flat spot with a rock that would serve as a reflector, I was overheated from post-holing through the heavy snow. By the time I rigged the tarp to give me a place to work out of the rain, I was wet and fairly cold even with a poncho on.


I collected some birch bark and broke off some 'squaw wood' from white pine trees and carried them back to the tarp. I split the wood and carved some feather sticks, but even sheltered from the rain it was impossible to keep things dry. It took all three of my tinder pieces to get even birch bark burning. I nursed it very carefully and got some shavings and twigs burning, but ran out of kindling before I could ignite enough larger wood for the fire to be self-sustaining. I ran off to collect more. By the time I returned, the fire had gone out. There was plenty of birch bark and beech leaves on trees all around, but everything was too wet to light with a ferrocerium rod, so that left the storm matches. I used about half of them just to get the birch bark dry enough so that I thought I'd be able to light it when a large stray raindrop landed right on the matchsafe's striker strip. That was the end of that.


So I feel like the 'Cheechako' in Jack London's "To Build a Fire", or 'Hatchet Jack' from 'Jeremiah Johnson'. (Well, except that instead of freezing to death, I hiked home and my wife made me soup and pie...)


The tarp was one of those reflective types with a grommet at each corner. I've had it in my daypack for several backcountry trips in case of emergency, but had never used it before now. Even though I was careful not to string it too tautly, all four grommets had torn loose by the time the day was over.


I have an elk hunt planned for this fall in a very wild area, and I realize that I need to be much better prepared and equipped. I'd like to confidant of reliably starting a fire not just in rain and wet snow, but also in darkness and wind, and preferably one-handed.




Lessons learned:


Use and test your gear before you really need it.


Carry more firestarters and especially more tinder than you think you'll need.


Process more kindling for your fire than you think you'll need.


Never miss an opportunity to fill your pockets with dry birch bark.
 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,807
2,893
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
It's good lessons learnt without any harm done :)

For your tarp have a look at the self tensioners in this thread, it might help to save the grommets on your tarp.

On firelighting in wet conditions a bit of inner tube works wonders ;)
 

ammo

Settler
Sep 7, 2013
827
8
by the beach
It's not a mistake, if you don't do it twice. Today, will be one of the most productive days of fire skills that you ever have. You just have too wait until next time your out, before you get the benefits.
 

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
As others have said, that's really a very good day, as you learned all that when it didn't matter, and not when it did.

I find a fist-sized bundle of pre-split and dried birch wood, at less than pencil thickness, is worth its weight in the pack, as it catches quickly and burns hot, enough to get a fire established and get other fuels burning. A good dry pine cone or teasel head is another way of achieving the same. They all ignite easily, but burn for long enough to establish your fire.

I tend to think in terms of tinder, kindling, fire establishing fuel, and then actual fuel, so four fire stages, rather than three.
 

kiltedpict

Native
Feb 25, 2007
1,333
6
51
Banchory
It's not a mistake, if you don't do it twice. Today, will be one of the most productive days of fire skills that you ever have. You just have too wait until next time your out, before you get the benefits.


I like that- a really good way to view it!

Kp
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
You can either spend the time collecting enough kindling or that time blowing embers or fanning the fire to get it going.
If there is pine about then two good bundles of matchstick thin dry pine twigs or if there is no pine about then twice the amount of birch bark and feather sticks.
By bundles i mean about as much as you can fit into one hand.

If the weather is nasty i make a good split wood base base that i can move - light the fire on the base under the tarp and then move it out.

All good fun.
 

tsitenha

Nomad
Dec 18, 2008
384
1
Kanata
If you ran out of wood in the first place: lesson: 1: Get all the wood that you think you need then double that even triple it.
:2 Don't skimp on supplies, bring a lot. For more than a few tries.
:3 practise making and sustaining you fire for 30 min. plus then make a cup of tea after that.....Got to go salesman at door...
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
intresting.

Loads of thin dry pine kindling and I've lit a fire on a bog in the rain. Always found dried and dead still attached to the evergreens trunk. Unfortunatley there are not always lots of pine trees around. Birch bark a alternative I'm told. Anything else you can think of without resorting to a full tinderbox ?
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,109
2,843
66
Pembrokeshire
A good discipline is to prep 3 times the amount of each fuel type that you think you will need.
A double handful of shavings (store them in your hat as you make them) from dry core wood should get twig kindling going.
Time spent in prep is never wasted, and will give you a chance to cool down slowly after excessive exertion, so that you do not chill too fast :)

I learned this from bitter experience too!
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
A good discipline is to prep 3 times the amount of each fuel type that you think you will need.
A double handful of shavings (store them in your hat as you make them) from dry core wood should get twig kindling going.
Time spent in prep is never wasted, and will give you a chance to cool down slowly after excessive exertion, so that you do not chill too fast :)

I learned this from bitter experience too!

you and the other m'lerned people on here john should really get to gether and do a fire instruction thing. Alot of variables, from flame to fire. Bark paper and card build up ash and tends to smother a fire. Pine and birch good for ignition. Its a far more diverse thing than I can think. Lighting fires on greenwood, exploding rocks, cutting turf etc. For example oak burns alot longer than pine wood
 
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Thoth

Nomad
Aug 5, 2008
342
28
Hertford, Hertfordshire
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts Oblio13. I'm sure you'll be better prepared next time around, good for you for getting out in poor weather to test yourself and experience difficult conditions first hand. I think we would all agree that practice and the preparation of plenty of kindling & fuel is key.

There are some good tips here: http://frontierbushcraft.com/2013/12/08/essential-winter-firelighting-techniques/ and http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2014/lighting-a-fire-with-feathersticks/ and here http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2013/how-to-make-fantastic-feathersticks/ if you are interested in following this up.
 

mrcharly

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 25, 2011
3,257
44
North Yorkshire, UK
Good test and good post.

I'd say two things in response to your post:

If travelling outdoors, make sure your clothing (and gear) can keep you alive without requiring a fire. No guarantee you'll be able to light one.

If you really want a fire or suspect you'll want one, gather kindling as you walk and have something to store it in. Gather much more than you think you'll need. Don't stop, start to cool down then start to gather. It's too late.
 
Jan 8, 2014
8
0
Moscow
Surprising to me that there were difficulties with birch bark. Even now, when wet birch bark perfectly lit. It is essential that the bark has been removed from a living tree.
To build a fire in the rain better not to take thin branches of a pine tree. Better use of tarred wood chips. Have to cut them with a knife along with the influx of resin.

Sorry for my english.
 

mbiraman

Tenderfoot
Oct 17, 2011
94
0
West Kootenays,BC
There's never failure , only hard lessons. Altho its a good idea to bring more fire starting material with you and spend extra time doing prep , one of the most valuable lessons is to spend time , allot of it, learning how to make fire with less. Start in the good weather, just a knife and a fire steel and find as many tinders in your area to make a fire with as you can. Learn how to make big piles of shavings and scrapings. Have a very good scraper for your fire steel, a good one makes a difference. Also some fire steels throw sparks , others throw globs. When dealing with natural tinders globs work better. I live on the west coast of Canada so i know about wet weather and forests where everything seems wet. There is always dry wood, but you have to learn how to find it. Lastly , birch bark. I've always been able to light birch bark so unless its quite different in the NH then i would suspect further research into it would be helpful. The more you go out and learn how to do these things with less the more your perspective in the wood changes and you can see more. You should be able to separate the layers of BB, scrape it and light it but i rarely need to do that as i can usually find some dry birch bark. Another tip,,,,,,look for a birch branch on the ground 2-3" in diameter. Wet doesn't matter but the wood inside has to be rotten enough that when you bang a 1 foot long piece on a tree the inside will empty. Stuff this BB tube with dry tinder and you have a very good tinder bomb. Anyway, practice and things will get easier.

bill
 

Blood

Tenderfoot
Jan 15, 2014
73
0
Fflint
It's not a failure if you came home and wrote about it. It's inspired me to get out in the rain and elements more to be honest. Great links too. Thank you
 

Gaudette

Full Member
Aug 24, 2012
872
17
Cambs
Good post. I can't add anymore on the firefighting but testing your kit in poor weather when it " doesn't matter" is an extremely good exercise.


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