anyone ever try a "Scout" fire?

M

mtwarden

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Sep 27, 2009
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thought this was very interesting and possibly life saving, basically a very small fire w/ a blanket/poncho/etc pulled around you, it's not anything new- someone posted up that it was technique that was used while in hostile territory in the 1700's!

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/mincamp.html

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/basics/jlscoutfire.html

I'm thinking that maybe a small to medium candle might even be easier (safer too), combined w/ something like this

Sportsman%27sBlanket.Hooded.ForSite.2.jpg


adding a small sit pad would probably help too
 
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I've read of something similar using a contractor size trash bag and a large candle, but I've never tried it.
 
one of my Scoutmasters from the 50's (after his death learned that he had been OSS in the Balkans during the war) introduced us to this form of emergency shelter, and to the use of paraffin in the form of 1/2 filled Gerber baby food jars and relatively thick sash cord wicks.. dual purpose for heat and light...extra paraffin easy to transport in the 1/4# blocks....don't think we could afford real ponchos, but used heavy duty visqueen plastic for ground cloth/tarp shelter...glass marble in the corner to attach lines to
 
I have done something similar while hunting, pull a poncho around you and a tin can with charcoal in it. a little smoky but a coffee can kingsford ''stove'' will keep you toasty.
 
Nope.


I have used a candle under a tarp though and it worked pretty good for a heat source. Temps were in the high 30s and no wind. I am not to sure about using a fire though, if any embers poped that could really be a pain depending on where they landed.

Bryan
 
Potomac Valley Rescue Group said:
Heat tent: cut a hole in the top of the bag for your head, put it over you, and stick a candle on the ground below you. You'll warm up real quick! You may want to leave a gap open between the bag and the ground for the fire to breathe, and hot air will rise into the bag anyway so no big deal there.
Click to expand...

That's the quote I was looking for. Again though, I've never tried it.
 
I did that on a hunting trip:

I got soaked on that hunting trip by rain, so, I took my Trangia burner and set it to "low". I put a Trek 700 cup above it full of water for tea. I then wrapped a green sportsman's blanket around me, with just my head sticking out and sat back against granite boulders, with the running stove between my bent legs.

An hour later, I was almost completely dried out and was drinking hot tea in the bargain. The same trick worked again at about 10,000 ft. on Mt. Whitney.
 
Cool thread! In the historical narrative "The Frontiersmen" Simon Kenton would set huddled under a wool blanket burning bark off of a white oak while hunting in hostile country. Supposedly the white oak bark didn't give off much smoke. I would recommend that book to any woods lover!

Brandon
 
Erasmus said:
I did that on a hunting trip:

I got soaked on that hunting trip by rain, so, I took my Trangia burner and set it to "low". I put a Trek 700 cup above it full of water for tea. I then wrapped a green sportsman's blanket around me, with just my head sticking out and sat back against granite boulders, with the running stove between my bent legs.

An hour later, I was almost completely dried out and was drinking hot tea in the bargain. The same trick worked again at about 10,000 ft. on Mt. Whitney.
Click to expand...

very good to know- thanks!

^ I'll have to look that book up :)
 
I pulled many hours in a fox hole, er... individual fighting postion. covered by a poncho with a plumbers candle between my feet.
Allan
 
It works great! I've used it with a space blanket and a plumbers candle at one point to try it out. And again with a space blanket (the heavy duty type) when cold and wet with a nuwick candle, dried me out in about 30 minutes.
 
I have used a poncho and coleman lantern to warm up while fishing in the rain. I have also used a blanket and a candle lantern.
 
I ordered a hooded sportsman blanket and "72 hour" beeswax candle, going to give it a go next outing :)
 
I should add that at the time, my Trangia burner had the standard aluminum windscreen around the running stove/cup dealy as I dried out and the water warmed up. The most danger I was in was touching hot aluminum windscreen.

A candle with an open flame? You'll burn yourself up. Modern synthetics burn like napalm and catch fire readily.

Be careful with this, and try to implement it safely, peeps.
 
Les Snyder said:
candle lantern sounds like the safest solution
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that might work pretty well :)

^ agreed- be safe, candle would be safer than a fire, but still a risk of burning

clearly a survival technique, I wouldn't want to spend too many nights propped up against a tree w/ a fire between my legs :D
 
I read an old hunting magazine where the hunter carried a small hurricane lantern a milk crate and a light tarp put the milk crate over lantern and wrap up in the tarp. I have set the lantern under a tree seat and wrapped up in a military wool blanket and stayed toasty
Roy
 
the other thing I got to thinking about is this would be a nice technique for rainy/snowy weather as your heat source (be it candle/fire/lantern) is well protected from the elements- getting 6" of rain in the last couple of days probably helped me to think along those lines :)
 
I have done this with heated rocks. Mark Baker's LongHunter videos show this technique too. He buries the fire allowing a vent hole. The same way you would make char underground.
 
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