Tried to make some tea

[upnorth]

I went out late this afternoon to make myself some tea in the snow. I failed. Yesterday we had freezing rain then another snow dump. I tried to bang the ice off of my materials but it was a stubborn coating. I had a dandy fire going in the Emberlit many times (with the help of fatwood) but it took constant effort because much of the heat was used to dry out the next piece of frozen damp material. I tried to bust out some old dead dry stuff, but it seemed half rotted and so-so for use. I got the kettle up to a mild steam but nothing like a roilling boil. I got a slightly coloured cup of tepid weak tea before I left. I put about 45 minutes into it. I saw a rabbit on the way in and caught one darting under some bank brush on my way out. Lessons learned: 1. I needed a bit of shelter from the cool wind (caught this on arrival but wanted to use the stove on ice). 2. I should have brought my hatchet or axe to whack open some dry wood. 3. There seems to be a reasonable rabbit population this year, not sure if going up or down on their cycle. I'll put some snares out this winter. The fire just used up too much energy trying to dry fresh material. I tossed some wood into a box for the trunk, free fuel for the stove whever I am. I should bring it in and dry it though.

 

[JV3]

i like that orange bahco - for some reason, only the o.d. green is widely available here...next time i need to buy one i'll hunt for one of those.

 

[fmajor007]

Great post Upnorth! Take it all in stride..... I'm pretty sure if you were determined, you could've coaxed a hot cup 'o tea out of that wet, soaking mess - it just would've been in the dark!!!

I was 'skunked' last year in similar conditions. I was up on the side of a mountain in this nifty place i liked to visit. The area had had several wet, heavy snows, but was just warm enough for everything to remain almost liquid-y.... The day i was out there was a nice easy, light snow which is generally not a problem, but all the dead-fall around was pretty much soaked through and through. I batoned some drier stuff out from the dripping wet, but it was still very moist. I failed miserably with my firesteel and PJCB's, but did get things sorta going via Bic. However, not enough to get my Kelly Kettle rocking along. The wet snow just kept coming with greater intensity (to near white-out) so i got a case of the sphincter and bailed WITHOUT MY HOT COCOA.

I know from many other successes in similar conditions i can get things moving, but recreationally speaking, it sometimes just isn't worth it. Like you, were i in a "bad" situation where there is not an option of not succeeding i would have persevered. It's all a matter of necessity (or not!).

 

[Codger_64]

This is why I've taken to carrying along a couple of bars of Coghlan's fire starter sticks with my Emberlit stove. Perhaps two similar sized sticks of rich fatwood would work as well. But the two bars, together about the size of a candy bar, will pretty reliably bring a pot of cold water to boil on the Emberlit. Or one bar will prod damp wood into a good burn. I still keep some trioxane on hand, but the heat output and longevity of these seems far better than trioxane. They will soot a pot though, compressed wax parrifin and sawdust blend I think. Thanks for the pictures of your outing. I've been housebound for a bit and miss getting out.

 

[upnorth]

i like that orange bahco - for some reason, only the o.d. green is widely available here...next time i need to buy one i'll hunt for one of those.

Yes the orange helps my aging eyes in poor light. I wish I knew were my orange ESEE 6 went. I haven't seen it for weeks.

 

[upnorth]

Great post Upnorth! Take it all in stride..... I'm pretty sure if you were determined, you could've coaxed a hot cup 'o tea out of that wet, soaking mess - it just would've been in the dark!!!

I was 'skunked' last year in similar conditions. I was up on the side of a mountain in this nifty place i liked to visit. The area had had several wet, heavy snows, but was just warm enough for everything to remain almost liquid-y.... The day i was out there was a nice easy, light snow which is generally not a problem, but all the dead-fall around was pretty much soaked through and through. I batoned some drier stuff out from the dripping wet, but it was still very moist. I failed miserably with my firesteel and PJCB's, but did get things sorta going via Bic. However, not enough to get my Kelly Kettle rocking along. The wet snow just kept coming with greater intensity (to near white-out) so i got a case of the sphincter and bailed WITHOUT MY HOT COCOA.

I know from many other successes in similar conditions i can get things moving, but recreationally speaking, it sometimes just isn't worth it. Like you, were i in a "bad" situation where there is not an option of not succeeding i would have persevered. It's all a matter of necessity (or not!).

Thanks. I try to keep it real. And my mistakes or miscalculations are learning moments. Some of this is just experimentation to see what I can do and or what works or doesn't for me. I really thought that the ice coating on the sticks would not be a deal breaker for my fire, I was wrong. It was good to see the rabbit and tracks after the fresh snow though. It made me interested in putting some wire out again.

 

[upnorth]

This is why I've taken to carrying along a couple of bars of Coghlan's fire starter sticks with my Emberlit stove. Perhaps two similar sized sticks of rich fatwood would work as well. But the two bars, together about the size of a candy bar, will pretty reliably bring a pot of cold water to boil on the Emberlit. Or one bar will prod damp wood into a good burn. I still keep some trioxane on hand, but the heat output and longevity of these seems far better than trioxane. They will soot a pot though, compressed wax parrifin and sawdust blend I think. Thanks for the pictures of your outing. I've been housebound for a bit and miss getting out.

Interesting Codger. I probably have 4-5 different commercial fire starting products including some that you have mentioned. I keep 95% of the in emergency packs though because I am a little block headed with trying to use local natural materials if I can. Maybe I should get out of that mind set and just use whatever I have that works, when my natural materials are in poor shape. If I was really starving or freezing I would use/burn anything that would work. I have to experiment still.

 

[neeman]

I had a dandy fire going in the Emberlit many times (with the help of fatwood) but it took constant effort because much of the heat was used to dry out the next piece of frozen damp material.

Out of interest

Did you feed the wet wood into the fire?
or
Did you use the fire to heat wood over the stove to dry it out, then put it in the stove?

 

[Codger_64]

Interesting Codger. I probably have 4-5 different commercial fire starting products including some that you have mentioned. I keep 95% of the in emergency packs though because I am a little block headed with trying to use local natural materials if I can. Maybe I should get out of that mind set and just use whatever I have that works, when my natural materials are in poor shape. If I was really starving or freezing I would use/burn anything that would work. I have to experiment still.

You certainly are not the first among us to fail to make fire. Luckily for you, it was not a desperate situation where firemaking was essential. I had an experience many years ago when it was a pretty desperate situation and I like to think that I learned from it. That experience taught me to carry an alternate compact fuel which has a very low failure rate from the usual suspects, wind, rain, humidity, damp found wood, high ignition needs. Initially I carried and used the little bars of mil-surp trioxane and later added tea candles. Since experimenting with the fire starter sticks, I include those instead.

My epiphany was a two week solo winter canoe trip that ended in unexpectedly low temperatures and a wet snowfall. I got thoroughly drenched and in retrospect, waited too long to beach, erect a shelter and try to light a fire. My tender, both found and carried, failed to burn hot enough to ignite a sustainable fire with found wood. It was not a whole lot different than the scenario in Jack London's "Light A Fire" story. But in my case, the fall-back was "power-paddling" for miles until I reached a sheltered spot, erected a better shelter, started a better fire and hunkered stripped in a dry bag until my hot drink and soup was steaming. I've gone better prepared since then and taken fewer risks.

 

[upnorth]

Out of interest

Did you feed the wet wood into the fire?
or
Did you use the fire to heat wood over the stove to dry it out, then put it in the stove?

I initialy just stuffed the small stuff in thinking that it would dry quickly, but it didn't. It was only later that I thought of placing material over the heat to pre dry. I also didn't think to bring a hatchet which would have helped a lot. I have usually found it easy to get a fire started and maybe I was complacent. Ho-hum, I'll just whip this fire up in the new stove. It bit me in the rear and I was knocked down a peg.

 

[upnorth]

You certainly are not the first among us to fail to make fire. Luckily for you, it was not a desperate situation where firemaking was essential. I had an experience many years ago when it was a pretty desperate situation and I like to think that I learned from it. That experience taught me to carry an alternate compact fuel which has a very low failure rate from the usual suspects, wind, rain, humidity, damp found wood, high ignition needs. Initially I carried and used the little bars of mil-surp trioxane and later added tea candles. Since experimenting with the fire starter sticks, I include those instead.

My epiphany was a two week solo winter canoe trip that ended in unexpectedly low temperatures and a wet snowfall. I got thoroughly drenched and in retrospect, waited too long to beach, erect a shelter and try to light a fire. My tender, both found and carried, failed to burn hot enough to ignite a sustainable fire with found wood. It was not a whole lot different than the scenario in Jack London's "Light A Fire" story. But in my case, the fall-back was "power-paddling" for miles until I reached a sheltered spot, erected a better shelter, started a better fire and hunkered stripped in a dry bag until my hot drink and soup was steaming. I've gone better prepared since then and taken fewer risks.

Wow. Great story and a bad scene that you over came. My worst was in the far north were I could feel that I was rapidly loosing dexterity in my fingers and it was insanely cold. That was alarming. I had a lighter and there was no playing around with fire steels then. If I had a can of gas I would have tossed it on first. I suppose that I've had a few scary experiences and that may be partial impetus for me to practice in poor conditions, while still in a low risk environment. Lately I have been experimenting with different types of wood and tree saps locally.