My humbling experience

N

NB16

Joined
Jul 22, 2006
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I would like to share with you an embarrassing experience i had last night.
Here in St. Louis it is a lot colder than usual and last night the fire starting task for our winter camp out was appointed to me as I was the best in camp. Usually I am able to start a fire with one match or a few strikes on my firesteel but, last night was not the case. With temps in the lower 20's and wind chill at 12 degrees I was humbled by the fact it took me at least an hour to get the fire going. Cold hands and rushed preparation were the factors that put me through fire making hell. Just sharing my embarrassing moment and a good lesson to walk away from. Im sure we've all had a couple of these moments....sorry no pictures
 
Dont worry its taken me 20 minutes to start a fire in perfect conditions before. Cold hands are a serious issue. Congrats on not giving up and pulling through!
 
Fire making is a humbling experience.

I failed to get a sustained fire going the other day. Lack of proper prep and rushing was the main culprit. Luckily I wasn't far from the house and it was just more of an exercise than a necessity.

If you learned you won.
 
Not a big deal. I always notice that when it's time to start a fire most people seem to have some other urgent task to do instead. When all else fails throw in a vaseline covered cotton ball or a wad of drier lint. These will get a fire going even in damp conditions.
I make my own with egg cartons,saw dust and wax and they burn for a solid 15 minutes before they go out. Even wet tinder will dry out in that amount of time and catch fire.
 
Good thing you're not out there tonight, 8 degrees by my weather station outside at the moment with a steady breeze.
 
I hear you loud and clear brother. 90 percent of a good fire is prep work....unfortunately regardless of how cold it is this step cannot be skipped...I learned this the hard way through my inability tpo light several fiores in front of other people in cold weather...Also a big break through for me came with the disovery of the kindling platform..(this is just a layer of sticks laid next to eachother to cover the bottom of the fire pit) than bulid your fire on top of that..it prevents the fire from wicking up moisture from the ground when in its infant stages... I feel your pain good luck
 
i find that whenever i am with others, i have to make a concious effort to slow down my prep, or else i will want to try to put the flame into the fire before everything is ready...i think it might be because others are looking foward to the fire as well as myself, or maybe because i don't want to look like a dunce...

i find that if you just take your time about gathering lots of kindling and intermediate wood, you can get a fire going alot faster than starting over two, three or four times (as i have had to do before).

its good that you learned, and i hear you on the cold hands...makes everything harder.
 
So, if you took anything from your experience last night, what would you do differently next time?
 
you did get the fire started, but took some time to train in unfavorable conditions, so what is the deal, just a little character building exercise.

alex
 
I think there is something to be said for what Tom Brown used to say - you did not 'ask permission' from the fire.

If you stop - take your time - ask permission you will prepare more - calm down - and it seems to work.

Who knows - maybe brother fire can hear you.

TF
 
It took me several tries with coleman fuel and dry weather one time several years ago car camping.

Funny thing is, I am pretty successful under adverse condotions/solo hiking etc..

It happens.
 
Never ceases to amaze me how the Aboriginals manage to get a fire going in under 1 min with 2 pieces of wood but even they have problems in wet season - I would suggest you carry a Magnesium block - v light and can save you lots of grief when it's wet n windy
 
Hell just the other day with Big Mike, I had trouble getting a fire started due to poor prep. We didn't quit, slowed down, and got the right material which lead to success.
 
I had near the same thing once. Was really confident in my Bow drill technique normally got a coal everytime in no time. Tried to show a class it and failed miserably.
 
One thing that I have noticed with fires is that I have to chop it twice as thin as I usually would because the others I am with will smother the fire otherwise. They seem to think that logs burn well whole.
 
I agree with John about the platform; especially in the winter building over snow or ice.
 
I think just to slow down and prep better...maybe some gloves while im doing everything... obvious
 
NB16 said:
I would like to share with you an embarrassing experience i had last night.
Here in St. Louis it is a lot colder than usual and last night the fire starting task for our winter camp out was appointed to me as I was the best in camp. Usually I am able to start a fire with one match or a few strikes on my firesteel but, last night was not the case. With temps in the lower 20's and wind chill at 12 degrees I was humbled by the fact it took me at least an hour to get the fire going. Cold hands and rushed preparation were the factors that put me through fire making hell. Just sharing my embarrassing moment and a good lesson to walk away from. Im sure we've all had a couple of these moments....sorry no pictures
Click to expand...

Man, you should be one happy guy! An important lesson, we've all forgotten at one time or another - don't rush the prep. If you do, you usually end up taking twice as long, and you have to do it the right way anyway. And think about it, relearning the lesson, didn't cost you any fingertips or toes or possibly your life.

I was thinking about your post earlier tonight (actually it was a couple of hours ago), when I was relearning some of the lessons of the cold (-4F with wind chill -20F - yes Fonly, I know - a Spring day). Damn humbling experience and I guess that's a good thing.

I've also had similar experiences to Aquacopter - rushing friction fire demos and getting skunked!

We have to take as much time as necessary to do whatever. If the people around are in a hurry, let them do it.

Anyway, my 2 cents, back to my rye and coke. :D

Doc
 
Hell, I've had trouble setting dry toilet paper on fire with a firesteel before. Talk about humbling.

I've gotten better lately, but my fire-fu is still not that strong.

When all else fails (My middle name is All-else), I like to have a modern more fool-proof way to make fire. Just in case. :D
 
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