Swedish Fire Torch (Or is it Finnish?)

averageiowaguy

averageiowaguy

Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
1,084
Here is a way to make a Swedish (Finnish?) fire torch. It makes a nice little cooking fire and pot stand all in one. I just saw a video by Ray Mears on the subject so I thought I would try it. I varied just a little from the method he showed. He used a chainsaw to cut an X in the top of the log, I just split it. I'm gonna try his way next time.
[video=youtube;IrRDdHHXyN4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrRDdHHXyN4[/video]
 
Thanks for posting.

Looking to make one of these this Xmas. More as a source of light around the garden than to cook on but I may just find time to pop a kettle on to keep me in tea.
 
I would like to try it with pine. Looking at the wood I was using a little more closely, I think it was oak and it wasn't all that well seasoned. It was all I had though.
 
Awesome vids as usual AIG, I wonder how hard would it be for the the anal retentive guy to start a fire using a match?
 
I know it totally defeats the purpose of it, but try using a leaf blower on it next time(hehe). Now all you have to do is make a dakota fire hole!
 
Great stuff...all the better for the bacon (and cameo from your hyperactive terrier! ;))
 
How much heat does it give off? Would 3 of these arranged in a triangle provide reasonable warmth in non-extreme weather?
 
UPDATE:
One of my commenters told me that it is, in fact, Finnish and was used by lumberjacks in Finland. I even found a website with detailed instructions on how to build the original version. It just dumped a whole ton of snow on us. I'm gonna go out today and try to find a suitable log.

Knowing how these things work, it is probably BOTH Finnish and Swedish. It is probably an ancient fire method used by people who lived in the area before there were distinct borders. I very well could be talking nonsense though, because I'm just guessing.
 
Last edited:
averageiowaguy said:
Knowing how these things work, it is probably BOTH Finnish and Swedish. It is probably an ancient fire method used by people who lived in the area before there were distinct borders. I very well could be talking nonsense though, because I'm just guessing.
Click to expand...

That's a very good guess! You are not talking nonsense. :)

The Finns originally came from North Central Asia, and speak a language related to Turkish and Hungarian. But they are otherwise European in culture. Their country has been ruled by Sweden and by Russia at different times. They still have a Swedish minority in Finland.
 
Have you ever seen the version whereby you take a bundle of wrist or so thick logs and use them in a similar way? I remember seeing it somewhere, not sure how they 'bound' it together but it seemed to work well, and is prehaps a bit more 'accessible'.

averageiowaguy said:
Knowing how these things work, it is probably BOTH Finnish and Swedish. It is probably an ancient fire method used by people who lived in the area before there were distinct borders. I very well could be talking nonsense though, because I'm just guessing.
Click to expand...

I think you're probably right there.

Good luck with MkII, I'll look forward to the update.


ps. I love what you did with the video...the effect on it I mean.
 
Last edited:
averageiowaguy said:
UPDATE:

Knowing how these things work, it is probably BOTH Finnish and Swedish. It is probably an ancient fire method used by people who lived in the area before there were distinct borders. I very well could be talking nonsense though, because I'm just guessing.
Click to expand...

It's often very difficult to say that "this and this" is defo clearly Finnish or Swedish, we have societies, people and customs that are often very much alike. People and ideas have indeed flowed freely from country to another, for centuries and millennia long before the current borders. And to and from Russia as well, it was only after about 1920 that it became such a closed border. Which actually was a bit of a shock and nuisance to the locals who had been used to going about their business in whichever country they liked, without much thought to where they were at a given time.
 
Last edited:
Frankki said:
It's often very difficult to say that "this and this" is defo clearly Finnish or Swedish, we have societies, people and customs that are often very much alike. People and ideas have indeed flowed freely from country to another, for centuries and millennia long before the current borders. And to and from Russia as well, it was only after about 1920 that it became such a closed border. Which actually was a bit of a shock and nuisance to the locals who had been used to going about their business in whichever country they liked, without much thought to where they were at a given time.
Click to expand...

Do you have any thoughts on the method for constructing the fire torch? And can I quote your post in the next video? It makes a lot of sense.
 
averageiowaguy said:
Do you have any thoughts on the method for constructing the fire torch? And can I quote your post in the next video? It makes a lot of sense.
Click to expand...

Well I'm more of a city slicker myself so I've never made one of those. If it works it's good to go. I've done some amount of hiking and bushcrafting, but certainly not all of us in the Nordic countries are wilderness experts. Some folks I know would not step into the woods even if chased by wild dogs. :)

Comments and quotes free to use, of course.
 
scruffuk said:
Have you ever seen the version whereby you take a bundle of wrist or so thick logs and use them in a similar way? I remember seeing it somewhere, not sure how they 'bound' it together but it seemed to work well, and is prehaps a bit more 'accessible'.



I think you're probably right there.

Good luck with MkII, I'll look forward to the update.


ps. I love what you did with the video...the effect on it I mean.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've seen that one too. It's on YouTube somewhere under Swedish Fire Log. It's a realistic option to those who don't tote a chainsaw around. :D
 
Perhaps we'll have to call it the Scandinavian fire torch just to be politically correct :P If I ever forget my pocket rocket or run out of fuel this is the backup plan to make dinner
 
zcd said:
Perhaps we'll have to call it the Scandinavian fire torch just to be politically correct :P
Click to expand...

Except that, strictly speaking, Finland is not part of Scandinavia. Fennoscandia is one name that does include us, geographically, as does Nordic countries. But all this is mainly splitting hairs. :D
 
Frankki said:
Except that, strictly speaking, Finland is not part of Scandinavia. Fennoscandia is one name that does include us, geographically, as does Nordic countries. But all this is mainly splitting hairs. :D
Click to expand...

Fennoscandian fire torch does seem to roll of the tongue nicely..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top