Could You Survive...Starting A Fire©

 

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

The weather is not helping with my nearly smokeless fires  archaeology experiment; it rained last night.  The problem with the rain is the white, puffy “smoke” initially seen when starting a fire is mostly steam.  The heat of the fire evaporates the moisture, from the wood or the ground, which then condenses into visible steam droplets in the cooler outside air.  The rain throws extra variables into the results of the “Nearly Smokeless Fires, Experimental Archaeology 102” test, so I’m postponing it.

Instead let’s talk about the best way to start a fire when it is wet.  You have a handful of dry twigs, a field notebook, an extra book of dry matches and a candle in your pack.  Which will be the biggest help in getting your fire going when everything is wet?

 

Which did you choose?

 

A few dry twigs you carried in your pack.

Two or three sheets of dry paper from your notebook.

Another book of dry matches.

A candle from your pack.

Survival expert U.S. Air Force SMSgt. John Dzedzy recommended the candle and I totally agree.  For example, a Coughlin’s Emergency Candle which stands 5 to 5 ¼ inches tall, by 1 ¼  inches (approximately 13 cm tall by 3 cm wide) and is designed to provide 8 to 10 hours of burn time per candle, and a standard tea candle will typically burn for 3 to 5 hours.  This is more than enough time to dry out the fire materials.  Everything else on the list are fantastic tools for fire starting, and you should definitely carry them, however they just won’t burn long enough and hot enough to dry out wet fuel and kindling. 

 

My tinder bag is perhaps a bit of overkill, but as a guide, if I needed a fire for signaling, or warming up a hypothermic person, or just comforting a bunch of people new to the wilderness on a rainy day; I wanted it NOW!  No excuses.

 

Weather permitting tune in next week for “Nearly Smokeless Fires, Experimental Archaeology 102”, where we will make a fire and see just how much it smokes.

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

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!

 

Sources

 

Dzedzy, John, SMSgt.; “Could You Survive?”, Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 6, 1981, https://books.google.com/books?id=gltOAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq=%22could+you+survive%22+fire+starting&article_id=4998,1164093&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvtcyQg--UAxWSrokEHTx5BF0Q6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=%22could%20you%20survive%22%20fire%20starting&f=false, accessed June 6, 2006