Next step to make fire

C

cybrok

Joined
Aug 7, 2005
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Hi

Summer is back so quite often, some friends of mine and I meet around a fire and drink a few beers.

I've read a lot here and try to start those fires the way I learned here. So when I need to, I will have the skills for.

Yesterday, it was a good one, no paper, only bark and wood shavings. Only one match was needed.


Next step I see is to start a fire without any match or lighter. What do you guys suggest?
 
FireSteel and cottonball next, when you get good at that, FireSteel and fatwood, next Firesteel and dry wood shaving and various other tinder, then Bow & drill. To me nothing is as cool as starting a fire with two sticks.

Ron
 
First of all, congratulationd for your "one match" fire!! :thumbup: I remember that this was a significant accomplishment for me. It requires proper preparation of materials, an understanding of what a fire "needs" and discipline. These will serve you well as you build your firebuilding skills.

As Myakka suggested, moving on to using a firesteel would be the next logical step. Start with "easy" tinders, such as cotton balls & vaseline or fatwood. From there, start trying out natural tinders that don't need to be carried along.

-- FLIX
 
FLIX said:
First of all, congratulationd for your "one match" fire!! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I'm more proud of the "no paper" part than the "one match" part.


Thanks for the imput guys, I'll try to get a firesteel and practice the technique soon.
 
Yep - I meant making a firee without "cheats" like accellerants, paper, etc.

One of my challenges was keeping my hunting buddy and his can of gasoline away while I was working! :D

-- FLIX
 
Firesteel and cotton
Firesteel and pencil sharpener shavings
Firesteel and shaving curls from a knife
Flint and steel with true tinder fungus
Flint and steel with homemade charcloth or charcoal
Bow and drill
 
Good going cybrok :thumbup:

Remember, the ultimate goal is to start with nothing but your hands and the knowledge in your head
and make fire with what you find around you.
Ready made firestarting tools are good and quick but what do you do if you have none with you when you need to make fire?
 
Yep, the ultimate goal, I just don't want to burn steps (sorry for the crappy joke).

Tought I had a link on making fire with almost nothing. Anyone have a good link on starting a fire from sparks?
 
Hey, nice coincidence. I recieved my first fixed blade and firesteel in the mail a couple days ago (Rat-3 in D2... its not that sharp and im not good at sharpening, more practice I guess).

So yesterday I took a walk outside of the hotel i'm staying in and looked for natural materials. I picked up a piece of fallen bark, some dandelion clocks, a whole bunch of dried pine needles (I think) and dried leaves.

I scraped up the bark, pulled all the little spores off the flower and started with my firesteel. Very first time doing any of this. Didn't even read about it in advance. Just my Survivorman Season 1 in my head and some determination. Didn't know effective technique, thought it would light easier. Well it took about 20 minutes of trial and error before I could experiment and turn some sparks into a flame. Then it died out fast. Regrouped with 3x the material (minus the dandelion stock, just bark shavings) and nurtured it a good amount till I made flame!! Total time was about 50 minutes from walking out the door to coming back in. I smelled like I myself caught on fire...

It was one of the coolest things i've done on this business trip. I really like this forum, it's a great place to read and learn for some neat hobbies.
 
Dinkum said:
Firesteel and cotton
Firesteel and pencil sharpener shavings
Firesteel and shaving curls from a knife
Flint and steel with true tinder fungus
Flint and steel with homemade charcloth or charcoal
Bow and drill
Click to expand...

Ya know, this is one of the reasons I have been dragging my feet with flint and steel. A lot of what I have heard is that it is really limited to very few, usually prepared & carried tinders. Are the sparks from flint & steel sufficient for "found" tinders, cattail fluff, bark, moss, etc.?

-- FLIX
 
What I have found to be of help is to separate firemaking into 2 parts,
the spark and the material.

Work on the material first till you get very proficient with it most everytime.
Use a match or lighter or whatever cause your perfecting your tinder skills.

Then, you can work on getting the spark.
 
I really recommend learning how to use a bow and drill, The reason is if you have this skill ALL the other fire making skills will become infinitely easer.
I have been teaching this for 30+ years and have proved this over and over again. All you need is a piece of cordage and you have fire. Of coarse cordage making is the next skill to master. I have taught people to make bow and drill fires and then let them use a flint and steel with char cloth and they always say "man that was easy"
The hand drill is the same skill it just hurts more. The place to practice is when you are alone, there is something about when people are watching that really messes up your time. It takes me around 5 minuets to make a fire with a bow and drill plus another minute or so for every person that is watching.
 
FLIX said:
Ya know, this is one of the reasons I have been dragging my feet with flint and steel. A lot of what I have heard is that it is really limited to very few, usually prepared & carried tinders. Are the sparks from flint & steel sufficient for "found" tinders, cattail fluff, bark, moss, etc.?

-- FLIX
Click to expand...

Sorry I dont know :o

I have done all the others and a fire piston but I haven't gotten around to the flint and steel yet. Jeff Wagner did some cool clips on a Brit site once I think.

Here you go, this is just Punk

http://www.wildersol.com/FlintSteel.html
 
cybrok said:
I'm more proud of the "no paper" part than the "one match" part.
Click to expand...
That is realy good!!!

As you can see I am not the first person to suggest firesteel (of some kind). The best thing around firesteel is that it works every time ..you don't have to check if it is wet, dirty ...just need a piece of an old saw or similar(high carbon steel) and some tinder preparation. << This is the important part. Some magnesium shavings helps to do the job when the tinder is wet:rolleyes:

...you can see a few steps on the pics I have done about a month ago
http://kvark.kss-loka.si/~ddolgan/fire.htm
 
I just finished reading a new book titled "Making Fire" by Stephen Blake and David Welch. It deals strictly with traditional fire making methods, mainly those used by Australian Aboriginals, but also other groups.

It was of particular interest to me as the authors are local and it deals with methods and materials found in Northern Australia, although the processes are more general. A bit pricey at $25 for around 100 pages but the book is well researched and very well illustrated with clear colour photos.

There are no accessories or modern aids (including knives) used - all of the techniques involve the use of things to be found in the bush.
 
Bought it today.

I also had a broken hacksaw blade in the house. I tried the non-toothed side as some suggested to see if the steel the firesteel came with was good. I had more sparks with the piece of steel it came with but I'll keep the old sawblade, just in case.
 
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