Firelighting in the snow.

[dannyk64]

So got a couple of questions about fire lighting in deep snow,

I'm off to zlockie, poland in just over a week to visit a friends town. He has challenged me to light a fire in the forests nearby using a piece of flint and a striker. I've got char cloth and I know there are plenty of birch trees so the initial lighting shouldn't be too much of an issue.

only thing that worries me is currently the temperature there is -18c and they have had really heavy snowfall which is set to continue throughout the trip. I was planning on digging down to the ground and making a platform of larger split logs to start the fire on, I'm now unsure if I will be able to reach that far down if the snow is deep and compacted. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with similar situations and how this will effect the lighting of the fire?


any advice appreciated!

thanks in advance

Danny

 

[Imagedude]

You can let your fire burn through the snow, use a mesh base, start a fire on top of thick logs, make a traditional long fire etc. There are numerous methods that will work.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136791&highlight=Mesh

 

[Janne]

Compact the snow in a circle maybe 1meter across by walking on it. The snow walls protect from wind initially, then if you have a large fire it will harmlessly melt.
Buld a 'raft' of logs in the bottom, then your usual fire. Prepare well with lots and lots of birch bark tinder and dry twigs you take off the tree, not the ground.

Have the tinder, twigs and larger wood on something dry on top of the snow, like branches.
If the twigs have snow or ice on, shake off rigorously, so it does not kill the fire when it melts.

Save your charcloth in case you fail to light the fluffed up bark tinder.


Edit: I have used this method many times, it is the tradidional Same way in the forested part of northern Sweden.

 

[dannyk64]

Cheers for the advice, the mesh is a clever idea and I may enquire into getting on for future trips. hopefully compacting the ground and using plenty of tinder will be enough, I always find birch bark my preferred tinder so will just make sure I get a good raft underneath and do plenty of fire prep.

again cheers for the advice!

 

[bopdude]

Use the cross stick method

LINK

 

[z_bumbi]

I wouldn´t split the logs for the plattform, it´s a waste of energy and the logs will keep the fire going for longer time. Remember that birch burns well even when it´s not dried so if there isn´t any dry wood nearby just use birch to get the fire going.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

We do what Janna does and stamp out snow. Digging no good in deep snow!! Easy to light fire in snow as most wood for kindling and burning is dry. Rain not so good!

 

[Janne]

Janne, Joe!
A red blooded Beta male!

In the areas you live in, do you also use Birch as the primary source for fuel?
I personally prefer Birch for all fires, as Pine and others tend to split and "spit" small embers.

 

[Tommyd345]

I would suggest some large logs underneath but I wouldn't split them down just plonk them as is. Definitely dig down and also around the area, good airflow will be key

 

[Robson Valley]

Janne, fresh wet birch is a waste of energy except maybe as a winter raft for a fire.
Much of the birch fire energy is ****** away, boiling off the wood water. Up it goes as steam, no heat for me.
We don't waste our time with this as the thermal values (dry weight) of our conifers is far superior to
that of woods such as birch.

I'll buck up some conifer deadfall for the warmest fire possible.
It won't be a big blazing fire at all. Don't like the resin pockets popping and exploding sparks?
Back off. Don't sit in the middle of it.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Don't count on dead birch twigs being dry. In southern UK it is usually a good bet that twigs on dead standing birch will be pretty dry, but when I was visiting the area around Fyresdal, Norway, in June/July any dead standing birch twigs were rotten, sodden useless things. The birch bark tends to hold water in the wood so birch often rots rather than seasons.

When in Alberta we used spruce twig bundles for fire starting, there was no birch in our area of operations. The spruce twigs there held less moisture and worked better than birch twigs do in the UK. Do not scrimp on tinder, or twigs. We were with Mors and he had good advice about tinder bundle sizes. He also pointed out that if it was windy, flint, steel and char cloth could make a fire faster and easier than matches since the wind can work for you to blow into the coal.

Regarding tinder, my experience has been that when using a real flint and steel, not ferro-cerium, birch bark does not work well for catching the spark, nor extending the coal. Char cloth or other charred material (rope, willow wood punk, plant down) have been the only things to reliably catch the sparks from steel. For extenders, plant down, dry grass, some kinds of bark buffed up. When the coal is large enough to sustain itself while driving combustible oils from birch bark it might work, but I have had better luck getting flame before adding birch bark. YMMV.

 

[z_bumbi]

Fresh birch is used as fuel during winter, it holds a lot less water than it does during the rest of the year and if there isn´t any dry wood nearby it´s a good source for firewood. Mostly one can also pick size on the trees that is easy to fell with a saw. If used for firelighting one doesn´t take the twigs that is exposed to the snow but split some larger pieces, stripp what bark one can and pile it up and use as tinder and kindling. If the bark doesn´t let go of the wood without a lot of work one can just split it in smaler pieces with the bark still attached and get a combined bark and wood kindling.

All this on based on that it is sub zero (-18 C) and the plan is to start a fire so one have a saw, knife and maybe an ax. A permit to fell some trees is also a good thing.

 

[Marshall]

1. Dig to the ground.
2. Made a platform.
3. Start a fire. You need more birch bark and small pieces of wood as in summer time.


That's all

​

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

Janne, Joe!

do you also use Birch as the primary source for fuel?

If we're travelling well south of treeline, say N. Ontario or N.Manitoba we'll use it and the peeling bark is good for kindling as you may know. Further North up towards tree-line choice is mostly only pines, of which we have a few different species.