- Joined
- May 25, 2011
- Messages
- 854
I thought Id fill you guys in on how James (my neighbors kid) is doing.
A couple of months ago, James came over and wanted to know if I was interested in having a bonfire so we could roast marshmallows. I had invited the kids (him and his sisters) over for previous bonfires and I suspect he thought the interval had been a bit long.
I agreed to the bonfire on one condition: he had to help gather the material to start the bonfire.
We began by gathering up a goodly amount of small twigs and sticks that had fallen to the ground. Once we had a pile of small twigs, we started gathering up a pile of larger sticks (thumb sized or so). Then we took a walk into the woods in order to find some larger braches.
I showed James how to gather firewood that was perfectly useable, and no axe or chainsaw needed. He thought it was neat how Id use the leverage of the dead branch between two close growing trees to break the chosen branch into manageable pieces for the fire pit.
Once we had a good amount of larger pieces for our fire, we began gathering material to start the fire. We started out by finding pitch wood and shaving it down to curls I showed him where to look for it, what it looks like and how it smells. We also found some dry bark from a dead Cedar and scraped the inside of the bark until we had a ball of fluffy dry fibers. We then gathered up several handfuls of dry leaves and set out to make the fire.
We built a platform out of some of the larger pieces of wood and then laid the piece of Cedar bark on the platform. We then made a pile of the pitch wood shavings and scooped out a place for the ball of Cedar bark scrapings.
James, at this point, was convinced that Id never get a fire going; his father always uses one of those waxed logs to start their fire pit and he (James) was sure that Id have to do the same.
We made a bet 25 cents and I took out my lighter and started the tinder bundle. We then broke up the small twigs and placed them, along with some dry leaves, onto the tiny flames (making sort of a teepee over the flames). In a matter of minutes we had a nice fire going and were able to graduate to using the larger pieces of wood. It took us all of 15 minutes to gather the material and get the fire going.
Oh and I won a quarter. (The marshmallows were good, too).
That fire must have sparked something in James (get it sparked?) because he wanted to practice making more fires and he wanted to learn different ways to start the fire.
Way back in the day, when I was in boy scouts, I had made a bow drill and actually started a fire with it. I told James about that method and he was completely in favor of trying it.
So we set out into the woods to find suitable materials for our project. We found a decent sized dead branch and broke it off into a manageable piece, and then we used a small hatchet to split it into a board. James then used his knife to drill the hole and cut out the notch. We found a dry stick to craft the drill out of and a somewhat green branch to fashion the bow out of. With a bit of cord, we soon had a bow drill that seemed capable of the task.
Not so much.
We used a bit of sand to create friction, but never could get smoke, let alone coals.
In the end, we both agreed that making fire with a bow drill was a lot of work.
About two weeks ago, I gave James a fire starter as part of his birthday present. Hes been begging me to try it out ever since then.
Last night James asked me about trying the fire starter out today. Weve had a lot of rain lately, and his mother thought things would be too wet to get a fire going, but I figured the somewhat wet conditions would be a very good lesson so I agreed that today would be the day.
I showed James how to use his fire starter and had him practice a bit on our brick patio.
Once he felt confident about using his fire starter, James wanted to build a fire.
This time I threw him a surprise: I told him that I would supervise, but he was going to build the fire by himself.
James gathered all the materials and found some pitch wood that he shaved into curls. He then set about finding something dry that could be used as tender. Pretty soon he was back with the dried stems from some wildflowers and set about collecting the fluff around the dead flower heads.
He took some bark and set the shavings in a pile, then rolled the fluff into a loose ball and set it into the shavings.
His first attempt knocked most of the shavings/fluff off the bark and he had to gather it all up so he could try again.
Several attempts later and still no success; he was getting sparks, but no flame. James was getting frustrated, but he was determined to start the fire. He then decided that he needed more tender and set out to gather up more of the fluff.
Once he had finished that, his very first scraping produced a shower of sparks that immediately caught the tender. James then carefully placed the bark on the layer of bigger sticks and began feeding the small flames twigs and dry leaves until he had a good fire going. He then fed it the larger sticks and we sat around the fire drinking hot chocolate while we enjoyed the warmth on a rather cold and dreary late afternoon.
Im really proud of James. Hes learned a lot and he made a successful fire from material he found in the woods. There are a lot of adults who couldnt do what he did today.
A couple of months ago, James came over and wanted to know if I was interested in having a bonfire so we could roast marshmallows. I had invited the kids (him and his sisters) over for previous bonfires and I suspect he thought the interval had been a bit long.
I agreed to the bonfire on one condition: he had to help gather the material to start the bonfire.
We began by gathering up a goodly amount of small twigs and sticks that had fallen to the ground. Once we had a pile of small twigs, we started gathering up a pile of larger sticks (thumb sized or so). Then we took a walk into the woods in order to find some larger braches.
I showed James how to gather firewood that was perfectly useable, and no axe or chainsaw needed. He thought it was neat how Id use the leverage of the dead branch between two close growing trees to break the chosen branch into manageable pieces for the fire pit.
Once we had a good amount of larger pieces for our fire, we began gathering material to start the fire. We started out by finding pitch wood and shaving it down to curls I showed him where to look for it, what it looks like and how it smells. We also found some dry bark from a dead Cedar and scraped the inside of the bark until we had a ball of fluffy dry fibers. We then gathered up several handfuls of dry leaves and set out to make the fire.
We built a platform out of some of the larger pieces of wood and then laid the piece of Cedar bark on the platform. We then made a pile of the pitch wood shavings and scooped out a place for the ball of Cedar bark scrapings.
James, at this point, was convinced that Id never get a fire going; his father always uses one of those waxed logs to start their fire pit and he (James) was sure that Id have to do the same.
We made a bet 25 cents and I took out my lighter and started the tinder bundle. We then broke up the small twigs and placed them, along with some dry leaves, onto the tiny flames (making sort of a teepee over the flames). In a matter of minutes we had a nice fire going and were able to graduate to using the larger pieces of wood. It took us all of 15 minutes to gather the material and get the fire going.
Oh and I won a quarter. (The marshmallows were good, too).
That fire must have sparked something in James (get it sparked?) because he wanted to practice making more fires and he wanted to learn different ways to start the fire.
Way back in the day, when I was in boy scouts, I had made a bow drill and actually started a fire with it. I told James about that method and he was completely in favor of trying it.
So we set out into the woods to find suitable materials for our project. We found a decent sized dead branch and broke it off into a manageable piece, and then we used a small hatchet to split it into a board. James then used his knife to drill the hole and cut out the notch. We found a dry stick to craft the drill out of and a somewhat green branch to fashion the bow out of. With a bit of cord, we soon had a bow drill that seemed capable of the task.
Not so much.
We used a bit of sand to create friction, but never could get smoke, let alone coals.
In the end, we both agreed that making fire with a bow drill was a lot of work.
About two weeks ago, I gave James a fire starter as part of his birthday present. Hes been begging me to try it out ever since then.
Last night James asked me about trying the fire starter out today. Weve had a lot of rain lately, and his mother thought things would be too wet to get a fire going, but I figured the somewhat wet conditions would be a very good lesson so I agreed that today would be the day.
I showed James how to use his fire starter and had him practice a bit on our brick patio.
Once he felt confident about using his fire starter, James wanted to build a fire.
This time I threw him a surprise: I told him that I would supervise, but he was going to build the fire by himself.
James gathered all the materials and found some pitch wood that he shaved into curls. He then set about finding something dry that could be used as tender. Pretty soon he was back with the dried stems from some wildflowers and set about collecting the fluff around the dead flower heads.
He took some bark and set the shavings in a pile, then rolled the fluff into a loose ball and set it into the shavings.
His first attempt knocked most of the shavings/fluff off the bark and he had to gather it all up so he could try again.
Several attempts later and still no success; he was getting sparks, but no flame. James was getting frustrated, but he was determined to start the fire. He then decided that he needed more tender and set out to gather up more of the fluff.
Once he had finished that, his very first scraping produced a shower of sparks that immediately caught the tender. James then carefully placed the bark on the layer of bigger sticks and began feeding the small flames twigs and dry leaves until he had a good fire going. He then fed it the larger sticks and we sat around the fire drinking hot chocolate while we enjoyed the warmth on a rather cold and dreary late afternoon.
Im really proud of James. Hes learned a lot and he made a successful fire from material he found in the woods. There are a lot of adults who couldnt do what he did today.
