- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
- Messages
- 9,786
Great post FLIX!
Basically one of the misunderstandings that seems to be happening here is confusing the role of tinder with the role of kindling. Tinder is used to catch a spark and get a flame going. Really it serves the purpose of a slightly, and really only slightly, longer burning match. You want the flame long enough to transfer to your kindling. The kindling is then introduced as the first fuel that will build up the fire to level that it can accept larger pieces of wood and become relatively maintenance free (or at least until the next log needs to be thrown on).
There are no hard and fast rules between what constitutes kindling verses fuel wood, rather it is a continuum. However, in all likelihood, what you have in your pocket or firekit is not likely going to serve as kindling. I suppose in an emergency you can use that chunck of fatwood to get the fire going, but then you've blown the 40 or 50 new fires you could start with it as kindling.
So in wet and damp conditions, more important than anything else is the need to find good dry kindling. This usually means standing wood, or if the wood has fallen, it should be off the ground and preferrably something that is vertical in orientation. This way the rain it is exposed to over time rolls off the bark rather than contributing to rot. You might also have to break wood or split it to get at dry material inside. As FLIX highlighted and I would re-iterate the real discipline comes in the preparation of kindling. You want to prepare ahead of time and make sure you've acquired and stacked enough kindling of good quality. This takes time and effort to do. Most failures of fires come not from getting a flame, but from having the right piece of kindling in place to nurse a fire into health.
Unfortunately, and it is a matter of logistics, most of us practice getting a small flame going routinely. In part, this is because it is easy and quick to do and once you've accomplished your mission you stamp it out with your foot, maybe pour a bit of water over it, make sure it is completely out and leave. However, getting a kindling bundle together takes time and really the commitment to build a fire. Once you do so you are then responsible for that fire and ensuring it is extinguished properly which again takes much longer to do than simply getting a little flame going as per the first step above.
Overall this leads to a bit of bias in the types of "fire building stories" we read here. Everybody keeps talking about what works in terms of getting a little flame going under different conditions, but few reports are presented about problems or difficulty in getting appropriate kindling or nursing that little fire into a real one. The reality is that this can be as complex as the first part. Keep practicing and good luck!
Basically one of the misunderstandings that seems to be happening here is confusing the role of tinder with the role of kindling. Tinder is used to catch a spark and get a flame going. Really it serves the purpose of a slightly, and really only slightly, longer burning match. You want the flame long enough to transfer to your kindling. The kindling is then introduced as the first fuel that will build up the fire to level that it can accept larger pieces of wood and become relatively maintenance free (or at least until the next log needs to be thrown on).
There are no hard and fast rules between what constitutes kindling verses fuel wood, rather it is a continuum. However, in all likelihood, what you have in your pocket or firekit is not likely going to serve as kindling. I suppose in an emergency you can use that chunck of fatwood to get the fire going, but then you've blown the 40 or 50 new fires you could start with it as kindling.
So in wet and damp conditions, more important than anything else is the need to find good dry kindling. This usually means standing wood, or if the wood has fallen, it should be off the ground and preferrably something that is vertical in orientation. This way the rain it is exposed to over time rolls off the bark rather than contributing to rot. You might also have to break wood or split it to get at dry material inside. As FLIX highlighted and I would re-iterate the real discipline comes in the preparation of kindling. You want to prepare ahead of time and make sure you've acquired and stacked enough kindling of good quality. This takes time and effort to do. Most failures of fires come not from getting a flame, but from having the right piece of kindling in place to nurse a fire into health.
Unfortunately, and it is a matter of logistics, most of us practice getting a small flame going routinely. In part, this is because it is easy and quick to do and once you've accomplished your mission you stamp it out with your foot, maybe pour a bit of water over it, make sure it is completely out and leave. However, getting a kindling bundle together takes time and really the commitment to build a fire. Once you do so you are then responsible for that fire and ensuring it is extinguished properly which again takes much longer to do than simply getting a little flame going as per the first step above.
Overall this leads to a bit of bias in the types of "fire building stories" we read here. Everybody keeps talking about what works in terms of getting a little flame going under different conditions, but few reports are presented about problems or difficulty in getting appropriate kindling or nursing that little fire into a real one. The reality is that this can be as complex as the first part. Keep practicing and good luck!
