Could You Survive? Building a Fire When it is Wet ©

 

A campfire warm and safe.  Could you light one if everything were wet?  Photograph by the Author.

 

I remember canoeing down the upper fifty miles of the Allegheny River, near Warren, Pennsylvania, more than a few years ago.  It had rained so heavily in the two days before the trip that the river was between five to eight feet higher than normal.  There wasn’t a bit of dry firewood or tinder in all of Warren County, wood that normally would have snapped when bent, just bent before cracking partway through, instead.  Even looking for dry tinder hanging evergreens branches was useless, everything was soaked!

 

But since my son and I were doing a reenacting canoe trip, with late 18^th century food, blankets, gear, and clothes, we didn’t bring a liquid fuel stove or Kelly Kettle to cook on or to boil water with.  We had to build a campfire at each of our stops, even if all we could find was wet wood and tinder! 

 

“Could You Survive”, January 12, 1982, from the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 15, the question...

Our situation was much like the question the author of “Could You Survive”, asked on January 12^th, 1982, which was “If you had a few matches in a dry match book, which of the following would be best aid in getting a fire started”?

 

Which would you choose?  Photograph by the Author.

So, what would you choose, some dry twigs stored in a tinder bag in your pack, some dry paper, another book of matches or a candle or two?

 

The author of “Could You Survive”, January 12, 1982, chose candles, photograph by the Author.

 

“Could You Survive”, January 12, 1982, from the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 15, the answer...

The author of “Could You Survive”, January 12, 1982, chose candles, and I agree with this whole heartedly!  If everything is wet you will need to have a sustained flame for ten to fifteen minutes to dry out your tinder and kindling enough to burn and to put off enough heat to dry out other material so that it can burn, which then dries out more material, etc., etc., etc.

 

Personally, I prefer tea candles because the foil cups will hold the melted wax and prevent it from spilling onto the ground and being wasted.  Also, once the fire is going, you can rake it out of you fire-set with a stick and save the leftovers for later.  I always keep one or two tea candles in my tinder-bag¹, unless I am reenacting the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, when I would use period correct candle stubs in order be as authentic as possible.

 

And using candle stubs is how I got those campfires going on that long ago trip down the Allegheny River.

 

For your reading pleasure here is the entire article.

 

“Could You Survive”, January 12, 1982, from the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 15, HERE.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Wild Strawberry Season is Almost Here ©”, where we will talk about how to identify wild strawberries and what types you might find in the woods.

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ The Authors tinder-bag

 

The author’s tinder-bag, clockwise, (1) Ziploc® bag with birchbark, dryer lint old jute twine and cotton pads, (2) my waterproof tinder-bag, (3) a tea candle, (4) strike-anywhere and UCO Stormproof matches and striker, (5) a mini-BIC^® lighter, (6) a Landmann Fire Starter and (7) petroleum jelly as a fire sustainer.

 

Sources

 

U.S. Airforce Survival School; “Could you survive?”, Spokane Chronicle, January 12, 1982, page 15, https://books.google.com/books?id=EutWAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8&dq=%22spokane+daily+chronicle%22+%22could+you+survive%22&article_id=7061,2461546&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz3YDv8N_wAhX0B50JHWFkDS8Q6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=%22spokane%20daily%20chronicle%22%20%22could%20you%20survive%22&f=false, May 23, 2021