Fire in the Snow

[Col. Cornelius]

Howdy,

Coming back from a work trip yesterday, I decided to stop and practice my firemaking skills in the snow. I intentionally didn't put on gloves, so my hands would be wet and cold from gathering wood.

This is a link to some pic's and description I posted in the W&SS section of the forum:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=730907

It was good practice. It's easy to start a fire when everything is dry and your hands are warm, but this is typically not the case when you NEED to start a fire to survive.

 

[PayetteRucker]

One advantage the high desert has as far as starting fires on wet or snow covered ground, is there is plenty of sagebrush. I personally build a platform about 3 layers thick of sagebrush bark insulating the fire from the wet ground, at least long enough for it to get going. I know they look gay but for many camping purposes, the fingerless gloves with the foldover mits are really practical. They keep your hands as warm as possible while giving you the dexterity you need to do things like build a fire. I have a 5 dollar pair of fleeze woolrich ones from Sierra Trading Post that usually do the job nicely.