Mistwalker
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2007
- Messages
- 19,051
You're in the woods, or at least many of the woods in the Eastern U.S. and Western Europe that I am sure of, it's been raining for days on end and you need a fire but only have a small knife and a firesteel....
So, how do you go from this...
To this...
With only these?
Well...if you know that nature produces a natural accelerant that won't absorb water, ignites easily, and will even burn in lighter rains called fatwood... and that it is often found disguised as a rotten looking remnant of a tree. And if you have some basic skills with a small knife, then it's really not difficult at all.
First you'll want to gather some of this fatwood, and then something for a base that will dry much quicker than wet ground such as a piece or bark which will work well for making your tinder pile on.
Then you'll want to gather some dead branches that have been hung up in trees or laying on top of other logs, not laying on the ground and bring them to you fire spot, and start breaking them into smaller pieces and making piles. You'll want to separate them by size and moisture content, you'll see that the ones that have been off the ground will be much dryer than the ones that have been laying on the ground
Then taking up the fatwood you just make a few different textures of material. First make some fuzz either by scraping the edge or or spine of the knife on the wood in line with the grain in a planing type motion. It's better done with the spine if it's sharp enough as this will preserve your edge. Next make some thin slivers of fatwood, and then some thicker slices. Then arrange this is an order so that the fuzz is on bottom and the thicker slices are on top but with an area of the fuzz exposed to catch the sparks....and then spark it.
So, how do you go from this...
To this...
With only these?
Well...if you know that nature produces a natural accelerant that won't absorb water, ignites easily, and will even burn in lighter rains called fatwood... and that it is often found disguised as a rotten looking remnant of a tree. And if you have some basic skills with a small knife, then it's really not difficult at all.
First you'll want to gather some of this fatwood, and then something for a base that will dry much quicker than wet ground such as a piece or bark which will work well for making your tinder pile on.
Then you'll want to gather some dead branches that have been hung up in trees or laying on top of other logs, not laying on the ground and bring them to you fire spot, and start breaking them into smaller pieces and making piles. You'll want to separate them by size and moisture content, you'll see that the ones that have been off the ground will be much dryer than the ones that have been laying on the ground
Then taking up the fatwood you just make a few different textures of material. First make some fuzz either by scraping the edge or or spine of the knife on the wood in line with the grain in a planing type motion. It's better done with the spine if it's sharp enough as this will preserve your edge. Next make some thin slivers of fatwood, and then some thicker slices. Then arrange this is an order so that the fuzz is on bottom and the thicker slices are on top but with an area of the fuzz exposed to catch the sparks....and then spark it.
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