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Firestarting in Winter?
- Thread starter msu124
- Start date
Get the fire base off the wet ground. Making a platform of rocks or sticks to let air through is important. Winter wood is damp and so needs lots of draft, to get it started.
1. Something good to start. You can make cheap firestarter by filling cardboard egg cartons with shredded paper, drier lint, then dripping in melted parafin canning wax. Simple cotton balls (pure cotton) soaked in petroleum jelly work well, but don't burn as long. For sure you can go the natural way and look for pitch from spruce or pine.
2. Lots of shavings to kick up a flame.
3. Dry wood. If you are in an area with conifers then dead lower branches split up fine to get to dry stuff inside work well. Otherwise you're stuck with looking for dead logs. By creeks here, there's lots of driftwood, but you need some tools to get it split. The stuff can be darned hard to section up and split, if the dampness has settled into the outside and you have to go to bigger logs.
the whole idea is to get a progressive fire to dry out the bigger stuff as you go. Don't go too big too soon.
1. Something good to start. You can make cheap firestarter by filling cardboard egg cartons with shredded paper, drier lint, then dripping in melted parafin canning wax. Simple cotton balls (pure cotton) soaked in petroleum jelly work well, but don't burn as long. For sure you can go the natural way and look for pitch from spruce or pine.
2. Lots of shavings to kick up a flame.
3. Dry wood. If you are in an area with conifers then dead lower branches split up fine to get to dry stuff inside work well. Otherwise you're stuck with looking for dead logs. By creeks here, there's lots of driftwood, but you need some tools to get it split. The stuff can be darned hard to section up and split, if the dampness has settled into the outside and you have to go to bigger logs.
the whole idea is to get a progressive fire to dry out the bigger stuff as you go. Don't go too big too soon.
i concur with the others. the most important thing is tinder that will burn, even when wet. you need time to get your fire going and heat. so make them yourself or get some trioxane fuel tabs. other than that, you need something to start the fire with.
some hardcore people will want to use a stick and board, but that should be considered last resort. carry a couple of lighters in different pockets. if you don't smoke, you don't have to worry too much about the fuel. i have had a bic lighter in my pocket for several years and it still has plenty of fuel. i check it once in a while to make sure the darn thing will light. you can also invest in one of those windproof piezo lighters. have some waterproof matches. keep a firesteel on you and you should be able to light just about anything in the woods.
this is assuming you know how to build a good fire.
fiddler
some hardcore people will want to use a stick and board, but that should be considered last resort. carry a couple of lighters in different pockets. if you don't smoke, you don't have to worry too much about the fuel. i have had a bic lighter in my pocket for several years and it still has plenty of fuel. i check it once in a while to make sure the darn thing will light. you can also invest in one of those windproof piezo lighters. have some waterproof matches. keep a firesteel on you and you should be able to light just about anything in the woods.
this is assuming you know how to build a good fire.
fiddler
Trioxane - never leave home without it.
Actually, I was building a fire with wet wood about 2 months ago and it is a real pain. The trioxane started the tinder and smaller sticks but it takes a LONG time to dry out larger pieces of wood. My fire would burn good for about a minute and then go down to coals. A little blowing on the coals would bring it back to life but it would only last another minute. It was a lot of work! After 20 or 30 minutes of this it would still not keep burning by itself. If it were a survival situation I could have made it work. But, as it was, it was dark and I had a warm sleeping bag waiting for me so I gave up on the fire.
My advice, use some type of fire starter and have LOTS of smaller pieces of wood that you can feed the fire until it really catches. Also, if you are not good at starting a fire - get lots of practice in good conditions before you need it in a bad situation.
Actually, I was building a fire with wet wood about 2 months ago and it is a real pain. The trioxane started the tinder and smaller sticks but it takes a LONG time to dry out larger pieces of wood. My fire would burn good for about a minute and then go down to coals. A little blowing on the coals would bring it back to life but it would only last another minute. It was a lot of work! After 20 or 30 minutes of this it would still not keep burning by itself. If it were a survival situation I could have made it work. But, as it was, it was dark and I had a warm sleeping bag waiting for me so I gave up on the fire.
My advice, use some type of fire starter and have LOTS of smaller pieces of wood that you can feed the fire until it really catches. Also, if you are not good at starting a fire - get lots of practice in good conditions before you need it in a bad situation.
Dry tinder is the deal. It's vaseline/cotton balls and a fero rod for me, these days. When I was college, it was generally some dry paper and my Bic or zippo, because they were always with me.
DanielL wrote:
I've had that happen to me as well, but it has usually been when I didn't want to bother splitting the wood. Out of curiosity, were you splitting the wood?
Patrick
DanielL wrote:
I've had that happen to me as well, but it has usually been when I didn't want to bother splitting the wood. Out of curiosity, were you splitting the wood?
Patrick
I know this is cheating and may not be what you are looking for, but for a last ditch, need to start a fire now or freeze something off use an automobile road flare. It will dry out and start anything. It will even burn a hole in a piece of metal(if you don't believe me try it).
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2001
- Messages
- 428
Works for me.
Just watch out for fumes
Just watch out for fumes
Outdoors -
You are right. Splitting the wood exposes the dry interior. Much easier to light!
I was on a backpacking trip and traveling light. Without anything larger than a 7" knife, I could not split the wood. In addition, wood was scarce so I had to use what was available. I was trying to burn a limb that was about 6" in diameter. Since I had my MSR stove to cook on and it was not cold outside, the campfire was just for entertainment. After 30 minutes of messing with wet wood, I had all the entertainment I needed.
You are right. Splitting the wood exposes the dry interior. Much easier to light!
I was on a backpacking trip and traveling light. Without anything larger than a 7" knife, I could not split the wood. In addition, wood was scarce so I had to use what was available. I was trying to burn a limb that was about 6" in diameter. Since I had my MSR stove to cook on and it was not cold outside, the campfire was just for entertainment. After 30 minutes of messing with wet wood, I had all the entertainment I needed.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 1999
- Messages
- 1,209
I've found that starting a fire in the winter is a lot like starting on in the summer except that you need more tinder and kindling. It starts slower, and takes longer to get hot, so you compensate. In the summer, I can start just about anything with a third of a triox bar or one vasiline/cotton ball. In the winter, I use a whole triox bar or a half dozen little cotton balls.
Velitrius
Gold Member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Messages
- 4,802
I was in the camping section at Wally World one time, and I got a package of these little sticks. They look kinda like a waxy granola bar. A good waterproof match gets one going and it won't quit. Really good stuff. You can pack a half dozen of them in just a coat pocket. Get it off the ground and pile the dry tinder on and it is foolproof.
Up here in the woods, there are lots of old stumps. A decent fixed blade will allow a person to get into the interior of the stump. In there is the motherlode of dry tinder. Get some of this stuff going and you can put all the sticks you want on there. Voila'... fire.
Up here in the woods, there are lots of old stumps. A decent fixed blade will allow a person to get into the interior of the stump. In there is the motherlode of dry tinder. Get some of this stuff going and you can put all the sticks you want on there. Voila'... fire.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 1999
- Messages
- 1,209
I think I know what you are talking about. They sort of look like compressed wood or fiber board right? You can shred them and fuzz them with a knife too, and they will burn faster but also hotter.
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- Apr 20, 2001
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- 18,423
ferrocerium rod. aka firesteel. much better than flint and steel when trying to get sparks. with a ferro rod, you can usually get a shower of large hot sparks which will start good dry tinder everytime.
combined with trioxane, fuel impresses tinder or homemade stuff, guaranteed to start a fire anywhere as long as you know how to build a proper fire.
fiddler
combined with trioxane, fuel impresses tinder or homemade stuff, guaranteed to start a fire anywhere as long as you know how to build a proper fire.
fiddler
The Last Confederate:
A comparison of some ferrocerium firestarters is here.
Firestarters
I haven't yet added some new ones like the one here:
4"Rod
It's a petty good deal and a 1/2" rod will throw enough sparks to get most tinder going. The 4x1/2" rod is pretty heavy - but can be cut into two shorter rods. The easiest firestarter to use is the Blastmatch.
A comparison of some ferrocerium firestarters is here.
Firestarters
I haven't yet added some new ones like the one here:
4"Rod
It's a petty good deal and a 1/2" rod will throw enough sparks to get most tinder going. The 4x1/2" rod is pretty heavy - but can be cut into two shorter rods. The easiest firestarter to use is the Blastmatch.
Bill Siegle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2000
- Messages
- 6,972
I have to chime in here with the importance of a good, wide, solid base! Whatever the method for firestarting,you don't want to watch your new flame sink into the wet snow and die out. Learned a real good lesson on this at Greg Davenport's winter survival class. We had to constuct a fire real fast as an exercise and it was damn near impossible without the base. After repeated attempts we got a fire going but only after the first couple tries had formed a base of it's own. Use a wide piece of bark or lay down some poles to build on. Have fun!
Bill
Bill
Strangely Greg's book and pages are the only ones that stress the importance of the base. Hopefully within a few weeks I'll have some pictures up on my pages.
How do people here shelter their fire - assuming that they live in really wet snowy places like me?
How do people here shelter their fire - assuming that they live in really wet snowy places like me?
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2001
- Messages
- 108
I started a fire in the bush last weekend, and it is winter here. (Well, not officially, but it's -20C w/18 inches of snow.) Preparation is the key. It took me and a friend about 20 minutes to gather the material for this fire. Once we had a good fire going, then we gather the rest of the wood.
I had difficulty finding a flat piece of bark to pile shavings on, so I had to just pile them onto the base of green spruce bows - I use green wood as a base, because I save the dry stuff to burn - Without a solid sheet of bark, I needed to shave twice as much dry wood to compensate. Finding standing dead fall is quite easy in a jackpine forrest, so I split out an armful of dead 1-3 inch sticks and piled them in a teepee over the tinder and some 1/4 inch split dry kindeling. One Redbird match and 20 seconds later, the fire was going, and in full roar in five minutes. Then I start laying 3 foot sticks from 3-6 inches in diameter on the fire parallel to one another. This a trick the Indians here use to make the fire easier to cook over, because you can rest a pot on a bunch of sticks lying side by side.
Anyway, this method works for me. BTW, to knock down and split wood, I used my fallkniven F1, saving the edge on my Dozier Yukon for game.
Unfortunately, we didn't see any. Next time!
Hope this helps
Jet
I had difficulty finding a flat piece of bark to pile shavings on, so I had to just pile them onto the base of green spruce bows - I use green wood as a base, because I save the dry stuff to burn - Without a solid sheet of bark, I needed to shave twice as much dry wood to compensate. Finding standing dead fall is quite easy in a jackpine forrest, so I split out an armful of dead 1-3 inch sticks and piled them in a teepee over the tinder and some 1/4 inch split dry kindeling. One Redbird match and 20 seconds later, the fire was going, and in full roar in five minutes. Then I start laying 3 foot sticks from 3-6 inches in diameter on the fire parallel to one another. This a trick the Indians here use to make the fire easier to cook over, because you can rest a pot on a bunch of sticks lying side by side.
Anyway, this method works for me. BTW, to knock down and split wood, I used my fallkniven F1, saving the edge on my Dozier Yukon for game.
Unfortunately, we didn't see any. Next time!
Hope this helps
Jet
As with all fire - the basics:
Oxygen, fuel, heat source.
Tinder, Kindling, and fuel.
Frequently in the winter, available fuel is damp or even wet. It is wise to carry dry tinder with you along with some type of firestarter. Always carry at least a small supply of matches, preferably water resistant. A magnesium firestarter is a good option too.
Even in the dampest areas one can usually find dry tinder, kindling, and fuel. Turn logs over and dig out dry whatever dry tinder and fuel. Dry grasses can often be found as it drys out quickly. Cattail heads make good tinder, and pine cones work well. They can ge broken up and the pine cone "leaves" can be further broken up for tinder. Turn over brush piles to find dry fuel.
And like others said, try to build your fire on a dry base such as rock or gravel or even on a base of wood or brush.
Fire building skills are an essential skill that everyone should learn.
Oxygen, fuel, heat source.
Tinder, Kindling, and fuel.
Frequently in the winter, available fuel is damp or even wet. It is wise to carry dry tinder with you along with some type of firestarter. Always carry at least a small supply of matches, preferably water resistant. A magnesium firestarter is a good option too.
Even in the dampest areas one can usually find dry tinder, kindling, and fuel. Turn logs over and dig out dry whatever dry tinder and fuel. Dry grasses can often be found as it drys out quickly. Cattail heads make good tinder, and pine cones work well. They can ge broken up and the pine cone "leaves" can be further broken up for tinder. Turn over brush piles to find dry fuel.
And like others said, try to build your fire on a dry base such as rock or gravel or even on a base of wood or brush.
Fire building skills are an essential skill that everyone should learn.