Building Fires

 
  









Survival Tip #1

Fire, without it life wouldn't be the same.  Everyone thinks they can build a fire, but when it comes down to emergency situations it's often hard to produce.  I will tell what it takes to build a self sustaining fire, but first you will need to know the necessary parts of fire.  Firefighters depend on the fire triangle to put out the fires, but we depend on the fire triangle to build a fire!  The Fire Triangle consists of three parts: Heat, Oxygen, and Fuel.  Each part of the Fire Triangle must be present in order for fire to exists.  Firefighters remove one part of the triangle to extinguish it, usually removing heat with water.  Other fires are extinguished by removing the Oxygen.  Now to tell you how to start fires instead of putting them out. 

Fuel    
    You probably have tried using paper to ignite a large logs just to fail.  Think of that Fire Triangle when selecting your fuel.  To start a fire you need to transfer enough heat from one fuel source to ignite the other sources of fuel.  That being said, easy to ignite paper won't burn hot enough or long enough to transfer enough heat into a large log to start it on fire.
    You will need to select multiple sizes of that material to generate a self sustaining fire. There will be basically three different stages of fuel you will need to build a self sustaining fire.  Gather very small sticks, bark shreds, paper (not my favorite but works great),shavings from a larger stick using your knife(my favorite).  Make sure the fuel you select is dry.  Next, gather midsized fuel that will easily catch fire from the smaller fuel you have gathered ranging from matchstick sizes up to approximately 1/4" diameter. Then Gather larger fuel that gradually increases in size from the midsized up to your desired logs.  Gather enough fuel for each stage to give yourself sufficient heat transfer to the next size, and place them at the location of the fire.

Heat
   Heat is produced with different methods.  Mountain men sometimes used flint and steel which doesn't generate much heat, which is why they used ash cloth.  I will discuss ash cloth at a different time.  I would recommend matches as they work great!  For survival kits I recommend including tea candles to give you longer burn time if needed.



Oxygen
    Well, your breathing it now:).  That being said, it must exist at the source of the heat, and fuel.

Building the self sustaining fire:
Now just put it all together.  Keep in mind that Heat/Fire Rises.  Start with the small stuff you gathered and get it burning, remember don't crowd out that oxygen or introduce too much fuel that will affect the heat transfer.  Gradually add larger and larger fuel leaving room for that oxygen to get in until you get the fire that will keep you alive or just roast your marshmallows.

Be Responsible with Fire!  Keep it a reasonable size, and PUT IT OUT!