In the words of Ned Stark, 'winters coming....' Now is the time for fresh torch batteries, to sharpen your tools and your skills. The cold and the damp, combined with high winds in open spaces will test us all over the darkening days. Over the coming evenings and weekends, I intend to brush up my skills and learn some more.
The first skill I wanted to work on was lighting a fire in the dark and wet. My reasoning being that as the days get shorter I will most likely be lighting a fire in the dark. Finding the right materials, preparing them and lighting them, in the dark and wet, is something I have not done for a little while. So off to the forest I went!
I have a small head torch that runs off one AA battery. It has two white light settings, dim and erm, brighter, and two red light settings being constant and flashing. It's part of my kit when out wandering whatever the time of year. On the dim setting, this is what I see...
The closeness of the trees had a tendency to bounce light from the head torch back at you, while everything else is black as pitch. This limits your vision to the limit of your torch. Something to bear in mind for those night time travellers.
After a while searching I found this thigh thick birch. I peeled off a good fist full of naturally shedding bark and stuffed it in my pocket.
I stumbled around a bit more and collected match stick thin kindling. Two hand fulls of birch, all found hanging off the ground. I snapped off a dead standing pine branch and made a quick fire sight. Here is my prepared fire lay.
I always carry a ferro rod as an EDC in my pocket, alongside a pocket knife. I used the ferro rod to get the birch bark alight. Laying the kindling on top my fire hot and bright soon enough, warming me and illuminating the immediate area around me. It's amazing how even a small fire can provide so much warmth and light.
I added a handful of finger thick fuel. My small fire was hot enough and lasted long enough by itself so that if I had wanted to, I could of boiled water to purify it or make a brew.
I cleared the fire sight properly and headed home through the forest. As I got into my car I sat for a while in the dark. Dunno why, but I like the silence and I could smell the wood smoke on me now, which is always nice. I turned the head lights on and to my surprise....
Good night!
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
The first skill I wanted to work on was lighting a fire in the dark and wet. My reasoning being that as the days get shorter I will most likely be lighting a fire in the dark. Finding the right materials, preparing them and lighting them, in the dark and wet, is something I have not done for a little while. So off to the forest I went!
I have a small head torch that runs off one AA battery. It has two white light settings, dim and erm, brighter, and two red light settings being constant and flashing. It's part of my kit when out wandering whatever the time of year. On the dim setting, this is what I see...
The closeness of the trees had a tendency to bounce light from the head torch back at you, while everything else is black as pitch. This limits your vision to the limit of your torch. Something to bear in mind for those night time travellers.
After a while searching I found this thigh thick birch. I peeled off a good fist full of naturally shedding bark and stuffed it in my pocket.
I stumbled around a bit more and collected match stick thin kindling. Two hand fulls of birch, all found hanging off the ground. I snapped off a dead standing pine branch and made a quick fire sight. Here is my prepared fire lay.
I always carry a ferro rod as an EDC in my pocket, alongside a pocket knife. I used the ferro rod to get the birch bark alight. Laying the kindling on top my fire hot and bright soon enough, warming me and illuminating the immediate area around me. It's amazing how even a small fire can provide so much warmth and light.
I added a handful of finger thick fuel. My small fire was hot enough and lasted long enough by itself so that if I had wanted to, I could of boiled water to purify it or make a brew.
I cleared the fire sight properly and headed home through the forest. As I got into my car I sat for a while in the dark. Dunno why, but I like the silence and I could smell the wood smoke on me now, which is always nice. I turned the head lights on and to my surprise....
Good night!
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
