Wet wood fire starting?

[alexnail]

Hi Guys,

I thought I would pick your brains since I know nothing about fire lighting really and I'm sure there are plenty of you who do!

I am planning to take my 14 year old cousin out in a Devon wood to teach him how to light a fire with fire-steel this Christmas. I've taken him camping with me a few times in the past few years and he's just joined the scouts so I though I would encourage him a bit more.

We're not going to go mad, it'll be an evening of fire and marshmallows probably when his family is around for Christmas.

Does anyone have any tips for a plan that cant go wrong in a woodland that I have no doubt will be wet!? Is the firesteel and pj cotton balls the best way to go? What about finding dry enough wood?

Thanks

Alex

 

[Robbi]

cotton wool soaked in vasaline will not let you down. Could you take your own kindling in with you to get things started ?

 

[alexnail]

I'd really like not to take my own kindling if possible although I will probably take some in case I cant find anything to hand!

 

[Elines]

I'm sure other people will be able to add additional stuff but I think some of the key things, if you don't take your own wood, are:

• Collect dead wood that is hanging in trees above ground
• This may seem dry and may even snap well but …
• There is likely to be a damp layer between the outer bark and the inner wood, so …
• You have to trim the bark off the branches/twigs to get back to dry wood
• This will take you some time so get all your tinder/burning wood prepared before it is dark, and …
• Prepare at least twice as much as you thing you will need
• Make sure you have some fool proof kindling – I agree that cotton wool soaked in Vaseline/petroleum jelly is the best way to go if you know little about fire starting
• Practice in your garden/somewhere local before you go ‘live’
• Have a back up cooking system eg little meths burner

Edit for further thoughts:

lay some (dry)ish sticks on the ground to lift the fire from the damp and give scope for draught
prepare some kind of windbreak
work out how you are going to suspend etc your pot so that you can actually cook/boil water
I agree witih Barry G on splitting the wood - you can split wood using your knife and a thick (1.5") length of wood to bash it with

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[BarryG]

All Elines said..

plus...
split wood always burns better than wood left in the round; this would also enable you to create your own tinder by feathering the dry inside surfaces of the split wood.

Have fun

 

[alexnail]

Thanks guys, that's exactly the kind of advice I was after. I'm sure we'll have a great time

 

[redandshane]

I f you get the chance harvest some birch bark and have that with you
You may still want to use a cotton wool ball as a starter but the birch bark will go up very easily and in some areas its available in rather large quantities
Have fun

 

[Elines]

I have added few further thoughts to post 4

 

[lannyman8]

all as above, i have never used vaz+cw as i prefer to use natural tinder, birch bark is awesome, dead dry grass in the summer months is great too.

as said use small logs cut into 12" lengths then split and feather the inside wood, even if wet/damp this should still light from the heat from the tinder. i have aslo found the dead very very small end twigs from birch awesome for getting a fire going. as with the birch bark they contain alot of oil, this will cach real easy... the ones at the bace of the tree are fine, just make sure they are on top of any leaves, not under them.

when laying a fire i dig a small hole a little bigger than the fire required about 6" deep. in this lay large sticks about 1.5" thick 1 layer deep, this gives the fire a bace, it reflects heat and keeks tinder dry and warmer when lighting. get 2 big handfulls of the birch sticks and lay them on the fire bed in an L shape, so the ends over lap. HAVE SOME SPARE TINDER AND BIRCH STICKS READY TO USE IF NEEDED ie have 2x the amount needed. gut you pre cut logs and feather sticks ready by the fire. put your tinder/birch bark in the gap between the 2 bundles of sticks, then spark it up, once its well lit roll the sticks on top over the lit tinder (dont smother it), lift it up if you need to. wait till it starts to light, place it down and start to add the feather sticks and kindling on top..........

job done.......

wet fire craft is not easy so get out and keep trying as much as you can....... also get to know the local woods as much as possible, this will alow you to find DRY spots for wood and tinder....

sorry if im teaching stuff you already know........hope this has helped....

regards...

chris..................................................................

 

[treadlightly]

As above plus a couple of thoughts.

Pine cones dipped in molten candle wax give a fledgling fire a good boost. They burn well and can help generate early heat to help things along.

Try searching out for ash if there is any in the wood you're using. It really does make a difference in damp conditions.

 

[MSkiba]

I carry a fire starter pack Ive made, with birch bark, pine sap, thin sheet of dry wood size of a playing card, pull cord, fire steel, cotton with vaseline, char cloth and other bits.

Guaranteed to get your fire going no matter how wet, all collected by me and fits into a small pouch.

 

[ged]

Take a little bottle of meths.

Meths is miscible with water, oily things like petrol and paraffin aren't.

 

[Melonfish]

another bit of kindling which is sort of free is coffee stirers.
when you next visit a fast food place or coffee house, grab a bundle of the wooden stiring rods.
i snapped em in half and lined the bottom of my tin with them so i can feather them and use as fine kindling when needed
oh and pine cones! my new fave kindling, stick em in your pocket to warm up and open and they don't half go up when you apply flame to them

 

[Ogri the trog]

Lots of things that can help get a fire going and many of them you might have in your pack anyway....

Dorito's, crisps, prawn crackers - fantastic if you have a match to light them, same with finely shaved Brazil nuts (all nuts contain oil but Brazils seem to be the easiest to process).
Ranger bands (car tyre inner tubes cut into strips to hold kit together, recycling in action and replaceable) cut thin strips and use to get a damp fire going.
Any cooking oil, lard, wax or chap-stick type stuff will help.
Conifer resin both sticky and set is the natural version of the above.
Also try some of the following - shoe polish, dubbin, waxed dental floss, bailer twine, waxed paper bread wrapping, airline sick bags (more waxed paper) discarded plastic bags - many things will burn if you try hard enough.

Have fun with your cousin

Ogri the trog

Oh, and photos and what you learnt from the event would be good too

 

[mike-bennett]

you can always split wood to find the dry centre, if your teaching with a firesteel go out and get some birch bark and store it until you need it, then its dry and a good source of tinder, cotton balls are ok but burn quickly.

 

[sxmolloy]

I f you get the chance harvest some birch bark and have that with you
You may still want to use a cotton wool ball as a starter but the birch bark will go up very easily and in some areas its available in rather large quantities
Have fun

I always have paper birch bark with me. Being the paper variant it takes a spark easily and doesn't need any prep before hand. If you need some sending your way (I have access to plenty without damaging trees) drop me a PM and I'll get some in the post.

 

[alexnail]

Wow, that's a huge help, you guys know your stuff!

I've got a lot of ideas here to get a fire started the natural way (minus the firesteel of course) as well as a whole load of ideas for backup plans! This is great, I am sure if I practice a little before hand then it will be sucessful

Thanks again

Alex

 

[ged]

Does anyone have any tips for a plan that cant go wrong ...?

Oh, BTW -- it can, and it most likely will, but that's all part of the fun!

 

[alexnail]

Ha yeah, I'll just make sure that we dont head out int he rain so that if it does go wrong, he's not put off

 

[lannyman8]

.....lol.......