Best Tips for making a fire in the snow?

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

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Oct 8, 1998
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I was just reading another thread that got me thinking...

What are your best tips for making fire in the dead cold of winter? ? ?

I had a failure a year ago, and I am not sure how I could get a success....

A big part of the problem I had, was that I got the fire started, but melting snow around the edge would put it out.... In hindsight, I should have been a great deal more aggressive in clearing the ground down to mineral soil, and for a good distance around...

What else have you all found to be best practices and top tips for winter/snowy fire making?

Marion
 
Actually, digging down to bare ground is one of the main mistakes people make when building a fire in the snow. You will have much more success by packing down the snow and laying a wood platform to build your fire on.

I can't remember the name of the fire right now but build your fire like burial pyre. Lay logs on the bottom in one direction then smaller logs across them and so on so that each layer lays across the lower layer.

This type of fire will also burn longer without maintenance as the coal fall and ingite the lower layer as each layer burns out, therefore, you spend less time getting out of your bag to stoke it up. You'd be surprised how much heat is lost just sticking an arm out. This type of fire also works very well with wet wood as the coals will dry the next layer as it's burning.

Remember to pack the snow down in the area that you will be sleeping too and pile it up behind you and all the way around your fire. The snow under you will insulate you from the frozen ground and the piled up snow will act as a reflector for your fire. Now I'm not saying it's the best, you will need a bag of some kind to sleep in, but it does work this way.

David
 
Agreed on building the fire platform. And as many others have noted in previous threads, prepare at least four times more small kindling than you think you will possibly need. Once you reach a critical heat level, the fire will burn fine. However, nursing it up to that point can take some patience and work.

DancesWithKnives
 
the only time i've had to make fire in snow was during winter camp,

we dug a large pit and lined it with rocks and had it elevated off the ground by a couple of inches.

once the fire got going and as we kept adding more wood to make the fire bigger the melting snow water ran off into the pit and i assume evaporated as the fire kept burning.

we used this for a weekend camping trip and had no problems of the fire going out due to snow melting. i guess its worth giving it a shot if you've got some rocks in your neck of the woods to elevate the fire off the ground with.


cheers

JC
 
I've never had a problem with even small fires, as long as you pack the snow first, and start on a layer of logs. by the time they burn through, the ashes form a buffer. lots more kindling than normal though. if you are in pine trees, then making a base out of branches layered up works as well, so long as it forms a barrier.
I've heard of starting the fire on a stump, but only do it if you know the soil underneath, as you could burn a stump down into peat, starting a groundfire
 
I agree with the platform.... I always do this regardless of the weather... Also I thin in general..most people want to get to the lighting part.. so they rush through setup.. a properly set up fire with a grapefruit size amount of tinder, and 2 fists each of 3 tinder stages will light almost always...and once going will burn almost anything... the 30-45 mins it might take to gather the right stuff and set it up, makes for a fire that will require very little maintenace later on...at least for me and my limited skill set. Firecraft is a seduction of sorts...I suppose
 
I kick away the snow to the ground, lay a platform, and make some fuzz-sticks, then I get a couple arm-fulls of some hanging dry twigs and slowly build the fire up from there with larger kindling then the limb size fuel. I don't bother with tinder unless I need to.
 
I have had good success building fires on the shoreline of the lake with a slope in behind the fire which acts like a chimney, and when possible with the snow dug out to bare rock or ground. Make a good base out of logs, then build the fire on top of these.

Winter fires take alot of wood, prepare ahead of time before lighting the fire and gather more firewood than you may think you will need, as you will probably use it up and need more anyways. Wood just seems to vanish under these conditions.

When we go icefishing we take the chainsaw, cut dead wood and drag the log whole behind the snowmobile, and then cut it up by the fireplace. It doesn't take long to gather up wood this way.
 
I had a platform that day, but I think, based on what I am hearing, that I did not make it thick/tall enough.

Thank you ever so much guys, that really helps.

M
 
I use dry pine boughs as a base for the fire, over packed snow. For me the trick is to get the fire burning well above the ground, then build it up. By the time the fire burns to ground level (at least 15 min) nothing short of shoveling a bunch of snow on it will put it out!
 
If you're ever wanting just a small fire and are only worried about keeping your base dry (from melting snow), a small folded up piece of aluminum foil is pretty handy & easy to pack.
 
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