Fire craft 101

This is one of the most important, impressive and use full skills you could ever learn. The ability to create a fire gives a man confidence, teaches him patience and develops humility. It is my intention in this blog post to teach you step by step the art of fire craft.

I love the feeling of seeing that first flame dance out of the kindling, it takes your breath and your eyes illuminate. And it's not just because of the light from the flame but because you experience wonder like that of a child again, a wonder that sadly not many adults experience anymore. You have been working so hard and praying under your breath and now you have the results. A flame, your flame, your fire. You can now provide light and warmth, cook and even defend yourself if you have to. The threatening darkness of the woods is now yours to tame and you now posses the basics of survival. It is a feeling without comparison and a feeling you need to experience, lets get started.

There is a few materials you will need to start a fire.

1. Tinder, this is any material that is easy to light, some work better than others of course so here is a list of my favorites. Paper, Vaseline covered cotton balls (pre-prepped of course, the Vaseline cotton tree is more elusive than you think) and bird's nests, make sure it's abandoned, don't be a jerk.

dry leaves are not ideal since they put out a lot of smoke and little flames, how ever if broken down properly they can yield a proper flame.

2. Kindling, this are small sticks or burning material, thinner than the width of your finger, this is important because if they are to thick they won't catch by the time that your tinder burns out.

3. Fuel, these are larger sticks and even logs, these will ultimately fuel your fire and maintain the ever important production of the gas that actually creates the flames you desire.

4. Ignition source, this could be a spark, a lighter, a match even an ember, I always carry a lighter in my pocket to ensure that I have and ignition source ready available, after all this is often the most complicated part of fire craft without technology.

Always look for and collect these materials as you hike around camp or to your destination,  constant scavenging around your camp will deplete your resources quickly. Now let's make a fire.

1.Once you have collected these resources place them within reach from where you are starting your fire. There are few worst things than igniting your tinder only to realize you have no kindling.

2.Make a platform for your fire, clear the area of brush that could accidentally ignite, if the ground is damp or icy make a platform out of green thick sticks. This is where you will place your dry tinder.

3. Make a medium size pile of tinder in the center and begin to place your kindling. The most simple form is to create a tepee or pyramid around your tinder, pay attention not to place your sticks close to each other, at this stage of the fire you will need a lot of air flow so make sure that your sticks are piled loosely and with plenty of space.

4. Ignite your tinder, place the flame in several spots along the base of your tinder, hold it there long enough to ignite and gently blow on the flames,  you are now adding more oxygen in to the mix, this will make your flames burn hotter and brighter which should ignite your kindling, this how ever also makes you burn through your tinder faster so be aware not to consume it before the kindling is ignited.

5. Right now you don't want a blaze, make sure that you have a steady burning small fire first, feed it a little more kindling,  let it grow a little bigger and hotter, don't rush things.

6. Now that you have a steady small fire you may add more fuel in a proper structure,  I say proper because I have seen a lot of people simply throw a pile of logs in to their fire and snuff it out right there and then. Allow me to show you a method that I have observed to work great regardless of weather or situation. What you want to do is to build a "pyramid" around your fire. Place large logs around and close to your fire surrounding it in a square. Now begin to pile logs alternating directions on top of the base,  keeping your small fire in the hollow center,  you will begin with the larger logs and finish with the smallest. This will create a structure that causes a chimney effect that makes your fire burn hotter and also this causes the logs to fall in to the fire as they are consumed instead of the usual disaster that happens when a logs rolls of from the standard tepee structure.

You have now successfully created a fire that will aid you in your situation. Continue to feed it with the proper size logs through out the time you are using it. It is also an important part of fire craft  to practice fire safety, some simple rules are to never leave your fire unsupervised,  don't throw random objects in to the fire and ensure that the fire is completely out when you are done with it, this means no glowing embers.

Get a fire going and no matter what disaster you seem to find yourself in, it immediately seems to feel better. You find yourself looking into the flames and the  glowing embers and in your heart you just know that everything will be OK. This perhaps is the most important part of making a fire, that feeling, that confidence boost, that knowledge that you are not alone in your struggles. If allowed to, fire craft can become a very intimate experience between you and GOD, constant prayer takes place while I make my fires. For I know that I need the just the right amount of fuel and oxygen and I know that I can do little to control it, even when I make a wind shield, my tinder is dry and I have a solid spark. I know that much of the physical reaction of a fire is out of my grasp and I need GOD to help me. This is why fire craft is humbling at times. Even when you think you have it all together it simply does not catch flame and that my friend is when you begin to pray harder than before, let that be a life lesson.

I hope this helps you get a grasp on the basics of fire craft, and as always thank you for reading and being a part of our community.

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