The Bird Nest and Tinder Bundle

10 Fire Starters You Probably Have At Home

Turn these unexpected items into a cheerful campfire

BY TIM MACWELCH

1. Crumpled Paper Products: Newspaper, paper towels, toilet paper, and scrap paper are go-to items for starting wood stoves and fireplaces. A dry bit of paper can be a lifesaver in campfire building as well. Bonus survival use: Crumpled balls of paper make good insulation if stuffed into your clothing.

2. Cotton Gauze: Raiding the first aid kit for tinder is a sure sign that you’re in an ugly situation. Paper-wrapped cotton gauze is there as a wound dressing, but it’s also very flammable.

3. Tampons: Cotton fiber feminine products serve both hygiene and medical purposes, and when ripped apart they make a great tinder.

4. Plant-Based Cloth: Any dry cotton, linen, or other plant-fiber clothing or cloth can be burned in a pinch. You won’t want to waste cloth if you are in the outdoors and your supply is limited, though. Tear off strips to burn, rather than using the whole item at once.

5. Dryer Lint: This dusty fluff is explosively flammable when it consists entirely of cotton fibers. Just keep it dry and it will light with sparks or an open flame.

6. Wood Shavings: While saw dust is flammable, a small pile of wood shavings will have a looser structure and a better surface-to-air ratio for combustion. If you are a woodworker, save some shavings to build your next fire.

7. Greasy Chips and Snacks: Fritos are not only a delicious snack with lots of calories, but they are a surprisingly good fire starter, as well. Just apply an open flame to the edge of any fatty chip and watch it burn like a torch. Most any chips you have in the cupboard will work.

8. Cardboard: This one is simple enough, but it can also be improved. Soak a little melted wax or grease into the cardboard for a better burn time. The wax will also provide some waterproofing.

9. Plastic Fiber Cloth and Rope: Unless the item has been treated with some flame retardant, plastic ropes and cloth will burn when exposed to an open flame.

10. Cotton Balls: Either dry cotton balls or ones soaked in petroleum jelly will make a great fire starter. The dry ones will burn for 20 seconds or so. Greased-up cotton balls will burn up to 5 minutes.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2013/01/10-fire-starters-you-probably-have-home

Self Feeding Fire - 14+ Hour Fire

How to Keep a Campfire Going Under Heavy Rain

Even a novice outdoor enthusiast will remember to bring something to start a fire with on his first foray into the woods. It can be as basic as a box of matches, a disposable lighter or the more exotic magnesium fire starter. Anyone of those mentioned will enable him to start a campfire; but can he accomplish the feat under a downpour?

A fire starter is useless during a downpour unless one has been schooled on survival skills or tutored by a how-to article such as this. A skilled outdoorsman will always have dry tinder on hand to start a fire with. Tinder is any material that catches fire quickly and easily.

It can be wood shavings, lint or newspaper strips. The most practical and efficient fire starters, in my opinion, are cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly (Vaseline). When saturated well, these cotton balls resists moisture absorption and burn much longer than ordinary tinder; the chance of getting a fire started during a rainfall are much greater.

Dukal 801 Cotton Balls, Non Sterile, Medium, White

The cotton balls are also very easy to pack and do not weigh very much. It is a necessary item on novice’s “must-have” list that needs to go into his backpack. He will also make sure that it is sealed in a waterproof container which, more often than not, is simply an ordinary ziplock bag.

The following scenario separates the novice from the seasoned outdoorsman. What do you do you are out of tinder but have an urgent need to get a fire started under the constant rain? Will frustration get the better of you and simply give up? Here’s what I would do.

Victorinox Swiss Army Pocket Knife

A Swiss knife is useful for uneventful camping trips. However, on extended hikes, where you will have to contend with the random whims of Mother Nature, I always advise people to pack a heavier knife. A Bowie knife or a similar one not only conjures images of the frontiersman of yore but is an essential piece of equipment for extended trips. Here’s why.

Winchester 22-41206 Large Bowie Knife

After a day’s trek, you finally reach your campsite only to find it waterlogged from the incessant rain. You’re chilled to the bone and need fire not only to warm your body but to also cook the evening’s meal with.

The wet conditions have exhausted your tinder and there isn’t a dry blade of grass or twig to start a fire with.

Your heavy knife now comes to your rescue. How? Here’s the first answer to that “how” - to keep a fire going it must be under some kind of shelter or roof. You need to have poles to erect a shelter with and a Swiss knife simply wouldn’t be up to the job of chopping heavy branches.

The second answer to the “how” is this – when everything around you is waterlogged, only the stoutest dead tree limbs will have a dry inner core. You need a heavy knife to chop into the dry core and shave tinder with.

This activity can only be done under the shelter of course so it is assumed that your tent has been pitched prior to this activity.

Another “must have” that needs to be in your backpack is a couple of large heavy-duty trash bags. They can be used as emergency raincoats or in this particular case, as a waterproof roof for your campfire enclosure.

Let me point out that in Tropical countries plants with very large leaves are abundant and make excellent waterproof roofing materials. The Ti plant has such leaves but nothing will better the huge taro leaves which are virtual umbrellas.

I digressed. To continue, a length of paracord is another vital “must have” that has to go into your backpack. You never know when you need to hang something to keep it away from wild animals or perhaps jury rig broken equipment with paracord. In this particular rainy scenario, the paracord will be used to tie the spreaders onto the posts of the temporary fire shelter.

Here are some tips when building a roof shelter for your campfire

• The 4 posts of the structure should be stout enough to carry considerable weight. Remember that everything will be waterlogged and much heavier. The attached drawing will provide you with a good idea why stout posts are needed. I usually use at least 1 ½” diameter posts to support the aggregate weight of drying firewood, a firestop fashioned out of forest debris found on the ground and odds and ends to weigh the trash bag cover in place.

How to Keep a Campfire Going Under Heavy Rain

• ​The distance between poles should at least be 20” to prevent them from being scorched by the fire and also to dry firewood of ideal length.
• The fire should be started on a bed of logs to elevate it from the saturated ground. This also negates the need to dig a runoff ditch around the shelter and as the fire burns into the logs you will have the long-lasting ember.
• Never use rock as a platform for your fire. This is quite dangerous unless you know how to identify rocks that can withstand extreme heat and not burst like a grenade. I know what kind of rocks to use because we actually used them for cooking our “kalua” pig in our “Imus” (underground oven) back in the days in Hawaii. But I am digressing once more, google this Hawaiian method of cooking if you want to find out more about it.
• The roof of your cooking shelter must at least be 30” from the ground to prevent the rising heat from scorching your plastic trash bag (or even a spare jacket or raincoat for that matter). Remember that the low part of the roof slope must be away from you for better access into the fire shelter.
• A drying rack must be incorporated into your shelter to enable you to stock up on firewood and kindling in anticipation of more rain.
• Source:https://gigacamping.com/keep-a-campfire-going-heavy-rain/

5 Tarp Shelter Setups for Bushcraft and Camping in the Woods

I hope you agree that this video is very useful :)

The Dakota Fire Hole

By Survivalman

Unless you are a survivalist, you are probably not aware of the Dakota Fire Hole, and even some of you who are adventurers may not know about this gem. Sometimes referred to as the Dakota Fire Pit, this way of building a fire is superior over all others. In fact, most people who try one for the first time, never go back to other fire building methods.

The Dakota Fire Hole uses less firewood and fuel to keep it going, even though it may take longer to build and require more effort. It is well worth it in the end when you realize how efficiently it works. The fire is hotter, it requires less maintenance, and is safer than other fires. It is also easier to cook with and has limited smoke. When you want to stay hidden this is a big plus, in addition to the pit concealing the fire flame.

Location

The location in which your build your fire is important. You want soil that is sturdy but soft enough to dig into.

• Do Not try to build in …

–Rocky dirt

-Wet dirt

-Water filling up hole

-Dirt with thick tree roots

-Dry and loose soil

Building Your Dakota Fire Hole

• The Materials:

–Shovel or stick to dig with

• The Hole:

–Dig a circular hole, in grassy dirt, that is about 10 to 12 inches around.

-Dig about on foot deep, and pull the grass plug out to save for later

-At a foot deep, dig a few inches wide going in all directions. This will make room for longer fire wood.

-Now you have 12 foot wide hole that goes down a foot and then gets wider to      about 15 inches around.

-The neck is the chimney, and the wider part is for the firewood.

• The Airway

 –This is one of the most important parts of the Dakota Fire Hole and what makes it so efficient.

-Determine wind direction by licking a finger and holding it up to the wind. The      side that dries fastest is the side the wind is coming from

-The airway will be built on the side from which the wind is blowing.

-At about a foot from your chimney hole, dig a 6 inch wide circular hole. Dig down             more than a foot, angling toward the base of your Dakota Hole, and intersect it by             digging into it. You should not be able to place your hand in the airway hold and   see it appear at the base of your Dakota Hole.

-Add kindling wood to the base of your Dakota Hole, filling it partially.

-Start the fire, preferably with a FireSteel. It will be harder with another kind of       lighter.

How It Works

• Hot air rises up the chimney creating a suction that pulls air into the airway tunnel, feeding the fire. Since it’s build on the windward side of the Dakota Hole, there will be sufficient wind.
• With oxygen continually feeding the fire, it burns at a hotter temperature and more effectively than fires that sit on top of the ground.
• You will use less wood to keep it going and the heat is funneled upward towards you.

Cooking

You can easily cook on the Dakota Fire Hole by placing a flat rock partially over the hole to use as a cooking surface. If you have camp gear for cooking, you can place a grill over the hole, or use pans on the hot rock.

Cleanup

This is where the dirt plug comes into play. Shovel dirt into the hold to cover the fire, which will smother it and put it out. Then place the dirt cap on top.

Summary:

A Dakota Fire Hole is great for camping or for survival in the wilderness. When using for camping, you can use your own cooking gear. If you are in a dire situation where you are hiding out and do not want other people to find you, this fire creates the least amount of smoke and the flame is hidden from view at night. When you clean up, there is no trace that you were ever there. The dirt cap hides everything, and you can re-use the hole at a later time.

A fire is essential to any camper or survivalist. It provides warmth and cooking ability. It is important to know how to build a safe fire, and also to learn how to keep it going. You don’t want to be expending all your energy feeding your fire which is why the Dakota Fire Hole is one of the best choices in fire making. Once it is built it is pretty self sufficient, with the airway feeding the flames which burn hotter and longer than a conventional fire. Always be safe and never build a fire near wild fire risk locations.

Source: http://survivalprofile.com/2017/07/15/dakota-fire-hole/

Best Ways to Build a Campfire: 7 Campfire Building Techniques

Campfires have kept people alive for thousands of years.

They provide warmth and comfort, cook your food, and can keep predators at bay.

If you want more than just a small flame, you have to build that fire up.

There’s more than one way to build a fire.

Do you need something easy, for a few marshmallows with friends?

How about one that will keep you warm throughout a wintery night?

Or do you need to cook an animal you just trapped?

Below are seven different ways to build a campfire that suits your purpose.

Teepee Campfire – Easy to Make

Chances are, you already know how to make this type of campfire, even if you don’t call it a teepee fire.

To make this type of campfire, you lean logs against each other so they form a pyramid shape.

It’ll look like a teepee.

You can build them over unlit kindling or put the fuel wood in place after the fire has started.

This is a good type of fire for making a lot of warmth.

However, as it burns, the logs can come crashing down, sometimes away from the fire!

Surely we can do better, right?

Lean-To Fire – Wind Resistant

Instead of leaning all of your sticks into each other, let’s lean them on top of a large log.

Figure out where the wind is coming from then place your biggest piece of wood perpendicular to the wind.

Start your fire on the downwind side of that log, right next to it.

It’ll block the wind from putting out that fire.

The fuel wood should be leaned on top of that big log and over the kindling.

By the time the big log ignites, your fire will be big enough to withstand the wind.

Plus the smaller pieces of wood are much less likely to fall away from the fire when they collapse.

However, what if you only have small pieces of wood?

You can use a large stone as the windbreak.

Make sure that it’s dry, though.

You don’t want any trapped moisture to heat up and cause the stone to shatter!

Star Fire – Small and Easy

If you don’t have much fuel or are making a fire for a shelter, you want something small.

A star fire, also called an Indian fire, produces a small flame that doesn’t use up fuel too quickly.

Get your kindling going, then stick the ends of several logs into the fire.

As the logs burn, push them into the fire.

This type of campfire won’t produce a big roaring fire.

That’s a good thing.

You don’t always want the biggest fire possible.

You can be warmed just as well by a small fire as by a large one.

Just sit closer!

Dakota Smokeless Pit Fire – Wind Resistant and Smokeless

Also called a Dakota fire hole, this campfire method is used by the US military.

The design takes a bit of work, but produces almost no smoke or light and is protected from the wind.

This makes it a good choice for when you’re hiding from an enemy.

Or, you know, when there’s a lot of wind.

To make a Dakota smokeless fire pit, you need to dig two holes.

The first one is straight down. It contains the fire.

The second starts away from the first and slopes down to meet the first hole at the bottom.

This allows the fire to draw in air through the second hole to make the burn more efficient.

More efficient fire produces less smoke.

Also, since the fire is in a hole, wind has a harder time putting it out.

You can partially cover the first hole with stones or place it near a tree to further disperse the smoke.

Log Cabin – For Cooking

Let’s go back to something a little bit easier.

A log cabin campfire is made a lot like, well, a log cabin.

You get the tinder and then kindling going, then stack logs around it.

Place two of about equal size, parallel to each other, next to the burning kindling.

Then place two more sideways, to form a box.

Go ahead and continue stacking until you have it four layers high or more.

This is an excellent fire for cooking, for two reasons.

The first is that the logs at the top can support the weight of your pot or pan.

The second reason is that this type of fire burns slowly.

A slower fire is better for evenly cooking your food.

However, log cabin fires can be tough to get started.

You can overcome this by building a teepee fire in the middle and then building a log cabin around it.

Inverse Campfire – For Sleeping

You’ve been in the woods for a long time now, and it’s time to go to sleep.

However, it’s cold enough that you’ll need a fire burning to keep you from freezing.

Most campfires require additional fuel added to them as they burn.

Not all.

You can build a self-feeding campfire.

Fire prefers to burn upward since that’s where the flames go.

But the coals still produce heat that travels downward as well.

Let’s take advantage of that.

For this to work, you need to have fuel wood in a variety of thicknesses.

Take your thickest logs and lay them on the ground, parallel to each other.

There should be enough to roughly form a square.

Lay your second thickest logs on top of those, perpendicular to the bottom layer.

This second square should be slightly smaller.

Keep layering up until you have no more fuel wood. Everything should still be pretty much flat.

Build a small teepee fire on top of the pyramid of wood.

The teepee fire will burn into coals, and the coals will burn down through the fuel pyramid through the night.

Now you won’t have to get out of your sleeping bag to put another log on the fire!

Sideways Campfires – Good for Wet Ground

We’ve turned campfires upside down, so why not sideways?

There’s a type of campfire called the Swedish torch, but it’s a little difficult to do in the woods.

With a Swedish torch, you lay a log on its end, then use a chainsaw to cut down into the top to create wedges.

Only cut down about three-quarters of the way.

Start a fire on top, where the wedges meet, and it will burn down.

The log will burn from the inside out.

This campfire is also excellent for cooking.

But, if you’re like me, you don’t take a chainsaw with you when backpacking.

You can do a similar type of fire by bundling together your fuel logs.

Use something natural, such as cotton, twine, or vines, to tie up the bundle.

Turn it on one end and start your fire on top.

You can even place your fire in a stream and it will still burn for quite a while!

So, it’s good for starting a fire on wet ground.

Which One is the Best Method?

All of the fire building methods above can be useful for certain purposes.

Regardless of which method you choose, be safe. Keep the ax in the wood, not your arm.

Even the teepee fire!

That one is good for spending a casual night outdoors with friends.

But in a survival situation, you need a much better fire.

The Dakota fire pit is an excellent choice when you plan on staying in one place for a while.

It’s efficient, good for cooking, and is stealthy.

But it requires more work than the other methods.

If you are going to be on the move but need a little fire, I recommend building a star fire.

However, if you’re done for the night and need a long lasting fire, try the inverse campfire.

The log cabin fire is good for cooking.

Sometimes weather can work against you.

Also, don’t forget to extinguish your campfire properly!

If the ground is wet, try a sideways fire.

But if the wind is blowing, try a lean-to fire.

The best campfire depends on your current situation.

That’s why it’s important to know how to make more than one type of fire.

Conclusion

There are many types of campfire construction methods.

The seven (eight, really) methods of making a fire here are but a sampling of the methods possible.

If you learn how to make these campfires, you’ll be set for most conditions.

It’s a good idea to practice how to make these fires before you’re subject to those conditions, however.

Oh, and if you can’t get a fire going, why not use a solar cooker?

Remember, practice your skills before you need to rely on them for your survival!

Source: https://knowpreparesurvive.com/survival/skills/best-campfire-building-methods/