Hello everyone. As you already know, there are a gazillion tutorials on the web already about making fire. There are some very educational ones out there on primitive fire making skills like the Fire Plow, Fire Bow, Drill Bow, and so on.
Quick visual tutorial on the fire bow. You need the bow, the cap, the spindle, and the plate. The cap prevents your hand from getting torn to bits, or burning. The plate piece needs to have the air notch cut in to it in order for the ember to get into the tinder when it drops off the spindle .
All are very informative for making fire. But let me ask you this. Do you ever see yourself at that point realistically? They are good skills to learn in case of absolute dire situations, without a doubt. With that being said, here are my instruments for making fire. It's always best to have a backup to your backup. I take it a bit further in this case as fire is an absolute essential. Here are 9 other options.
I'm a smoker, so I ALWAYS have one or two handy.
Backup #1. Make sure you have extra flints for it, and preferably a small bottle of fluid.
Backup #2
Backup #3. These are beasts! Scrape the flammable compound from the block, and use the flint on the other side to start it. It burns very hot.
Backup #4
Backup #5
Backup #6
Backup #7
Backup #8
You should be carrying at least 2 or 3 of the above items. They take up practically no room at all and will get a fire going quick. There are always a few small things you can pack in your gear in case you need a little help. Take some corn chips, the small lunch size bag. They are A:) Food B:) A flammable substance. Most people don't know that corn chips burn very well.
If you carry a zippo lighter, chances are you will have a small bottle of fluid. Just a small squeeze is needed for damp material.
A tissue works really well also, and if you manage to find any bird feathers, cattails, moss, dry pine needles, dry grass, etc., these are all great sources of tinder. Bird feathers usually contain a trace of oil which is a water repellant for them. The heads of a cattail can be popped open and a huge amount of down-like tinder is inside. Moss can sometimes be found growing in tree branches. The ground moss will probably be too moist to burn well. Pine needles contain ascorbic acid, which burns well, but the dry needles catch and burn very quickly.
CatTail
Indigenous North American non-migratory Corn Chip
If the tinder is a bit too moist to self ignite, a few sprinkles of this will get it going.
Triox tablets are usually US and NATO military issued items. They burn white hot and can also be used for cooking. For starting a fire, you need only a few scrapings.
This is very easy. Practically any battery (including a cel phone battery) can be used. The fine fibers in the steel wool act as a conductor, but they overheat very quick making it cherry red, and the woll will burst into flames. Do not leave the battery connected. As soon as the wool begins to burn, remove the battery to avoid risk of battery damage or explosion.
To get a fire started, you need very fine, flammable material as mentioned above, and a smathering of small dry twigs is also a good foundation to start with. Having a bit of wood tinder gives the initial fire time to heat and has a longer burn duration as to get the kindling started well.
Small handful of tinder to start the fire. Feathers, moss, dry grass, and such, are good sources of starter.
Once you get the prime fire started, you can slowly grow it with Kindling. It's a bit bigger than the tinder and will burn hotter and longer. But it will only burn for a few minutes. Keep in mind you will need your tinder, kindling, large kindling (sometimes called keeper wood, as in keep'er going), and fuel wood all nearby, so you don't lose your fire while gathering. Gather it all up first. Once the kindling is burning well, add the larger kindling and give it a minute or two to catch. After it catches and starts burning well, you can add the large fuel wood to keep it going as long as needed.
Other Tips:
=Be patient but expedient when starting a fire. Monitor your progress and know how to be flexible when getting one started.
=Do not build it too close to tree canopies as it may catch the tree on fire.
=Do not build too close to your tent as the radiant heat may melt the vinyl or embers may fall onto the tent and create a rain hole for you.
=Do not build too close to riverbanks or streams as a rise in water level will wash your fire downstream. Then you get to start from scratch again.
=Do NOT ever use river rock to make a fire pit. The are still wet inside, and the rapid expansion of steam (which can't escape fast enough) will make the rock explode. This isn't even a funny joke to play on someone. Hot rapidly moving rock into the eye is a dire situation. It will keep burning, steaming, and spalling, inside the skin, and you cannot remove it very easily. I've seen rocks explode with the intensity of a real M-80, so don't even consider it.
=When you finish eating from a tin can, toss the can into the fire and let it burn away the label and contents. Burning the contents out removes the food scent from the air, so less midnight camp visitors. You can still use this can for cooking/boiling, and many times the lid can be used as a cutting edge. Remember, in the woods, waste nothing. Even the label can be saved for later as good dry tinder.
=Always build the fire to use only what you need. A bonfire has a potential of floating hot embers into the air and may land downwind on flammable material such as pine straw or dry grass/leaves.
=For signaling, a bonfire is best at night, and during daytime signaling, throwing green wood or pine branches on the fire will create a dark smoke visible for many miles.
