how do you start your living room/kitchen etc fireplace?

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

vestlenning

Settler
Feb 12, 2015
717
76
Western Norway
How do you start your living room/kitchen etc fireplace?

Me: Firesteel, tinder and kindling. Matches if I'm in a hurry.

fireplace.jpg
 
Last edited:

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
With Englands Glory which has a logo of H.M.S. Devastation even though it jumped ship and is now is made in Sweden instead.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Back when I still had a fireplace: Stack the logs on the firedogs, strike a match, hold it under a litard knot until it catches, stick the burning litard under the logs.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,694
711
-------------
Bed of rolled up newspaper, chopped kindling, thicker wood then logs and or coal.
Either a lighter or a my wifes plumbers torch, depending on what is closest.

The multifuel stove (£209 from Machine mart) has a good draw so it catches pretty much instantly. My house has central heating but I would be throwing wood away at work so it might as well lessen my heating bill.
 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
Swan vestas and some feathered bits of kindling for me.

My wife uses newspaper and about 3 times as much kindling, not feathered.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,715
1,962
Mercia
With junk mail and waste wood from the workshop lit with a long, refillable butane lighter. The lighter is refilled with a five year old can of pondland butane. Its still half full.
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
feathered kindling and matches for me - occasionally fire steel when I feel like playing, would like to try a bow drill but haven't yet
 

Tony

White bear (Admin)
Admin
Apr 16, 2003
24,169
1
1,923
53
Wales
www.bushcraftuk.com
old paper and kindling consisting of thin branches snapped of trees (good one for the kids) or split wood, I've broken apart a lot of pallets lately and I've go a lot of pine blocks that split down very fine, they start great, then it's just progressively larger wood.

If i'm in a hurry and no small stuff I've no problem with firelighters or BBQ fluid and a blow torch, in fact my blow torch would be one of my treasured bits of kit :D

We put this in December to replace the open fire we had, it's lovely... Umm, even though it's come out sideways :D


IMG_1101.jpg
 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
I heat my house almost exclusively with pallets collected from where I work. Some of them are even made of teak, all be it poorer quality teak. Some of the pine is quite resinous, so that tends to get put aside for the kindling. The blocks are great for putting heat out.
 

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
An old trick to help start the fire in the old-fashioned open coal firegrates was to spread a sheet of newspaper across the opening for extra draw. I guess most real fires in houses are now woodburners or mutlifuel stoves so the above method has largely been resigned to history, as has banking up the fire with slack or potato peelings.

range-newspaper.jpg
 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
I remember my old Mum doing that newspaper trick. I've seen the extra draft caused pull the paper into the flames once or twice too!
 
i still have no gas stove in my ""cave"" so i cook outside on some sort of BBQ, using woodscraps for fuel(one of the benefits of working in a furniture workshop is free firewood :cool:). the ""L""-word is prohibited around me--- i light all my fires either with a magnifying glass or my raku raku striker (glad we have a microwave and hot water kettle inside as a back-up for bad weather...!!!)
 

Tony

White bear (Admin)
Admin
Apr 16, 2003
24,169
1
1,923
53
Wales
www.bushcraftuk.com
Bet its a lot more efficient Tony!

way way more mate :D It's a decent quality stove, Scan Andersen 8-2. We use a quarter of the wood, maybe even less...
I tend to leave the door open a crack for a few minutes while all the fuel takes, it's not usually necessary but I like ding it anyway :D
 

Bowlander

Full Member
Nov 28, 2011
1,353
1
Forest of Bowland
I get my lad to light it, news paper, softwood sticks, dry softwood logs and then hardwoods when its going. Big box of Cooks matches.
98b6a59fbccc0981752faf3929096a60.jpg
 
Last edited:

Zingmo

Eardstapa
Jan 4, 2010
1,295
117
S. Staffs
We used to use the free papers but they have stopped coming. So now the inlaws provide us with copies of the Black Country Bugle.
Two sheets of that then a handful of pallet wood kindling.
Ignition method depends on the time and inclination. Normal is a Tesco bbq lighter, but last night was the first test of my new flint and steel from Milius2. Charcloth to catch the spark then birch bark shavings and a feather stick on the shovel to get a flame.

Z
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE