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Fatwood, My Daughter, And A Firesteel

D

Don M

Joined
Apr 30, 2000
Messages
847
Today my 16 yr-old daughter wanted to go for a walk. She wanted to hike up Mt LeConte in the Smokies (I told her that last week there were 32" of snow on top), but by then it was too late to go. So we went into the 100 acre woodlot across the street.

We went to the stump mentioned in this thread

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=693060

so I could show her how to find fatwood (she had been with me on previous unsuccessful searches). I cut a little more, then we came home. I cut shavings off the fatwood I had previously collected there, and took them outside to see if I could light them with a fire steel, which I had never done before. It took a bit, but they did light. It works! The medium grade lit relatively easily, but I cut the high grade shavings too big and had to work at it.

Later my daughter said that mom wanted a fire, but I'm not sure whose idea it really was. She asked if she could light the fire using fatwood. She built the fire, cut and scraped shavings, and went to work. It took her a while, but SUCCESS, and she used it to light the fire. She was pleased with herself. She used her own knife and her own firesteel.

It sure is nice to still have somebody in the house who likes camping, backpacking, shooting, and outdoor skills.
 
Don M said:
.......She built the fire, cut and scraped shavings, and went to work. It took her a while, but SUCCESS, and she used it to light the fire. She was pleased with herself. She used her own knife and her own firesteel......
Click to expand...


Ya gotta love those moments!
 
Great stuff. Nothing like starting a firesteel fire! Especially your first one :) :)
 
Very cool indeed. that little lesson in firstarting may very well save her life someday.

Does she have a firesteel yet that she keeps with her?

Bryan
 
My daughter is 2 yrs and 3 months and has taken an interest in my cooking and camping knives...We are doing the camp fire thing tomorrow after sledding and she and her little friends are gonna roast marshmallows...her favorite part is bringing me twigs for the fire though...I am looking forward to when she is old enough to have her own knife.

Start em young!
 
My daughter (and her younger sister) were camping before age 1. We even had birthday cakes baked in the Dutch oven.

She does not keep her firesteel with her all the time - but any time she carries a pack she has it (LMF Scout). She has done cotton balls with PJ before, but this is her first natural tinder fire.

And we have toasted marshmallows in the fireplace at home, set up tents inside, etc. It's great entertainment for the kids.

I do envy your sledding. It does not snow around here much.
 
Nothing beats the first fire, with a firesteel. I can still remember the first time I got one. :thumbup:
 
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