Firemaking 1. Ignition Vocabulary: tinder - the material that first catches fire - Example kindling - the quick-burning material - Example fuel - the slow-burning material - Example Any of these supplies will help you ignite a fire. A match or lighter (a) A 9 volt battery and a small pile of steel wool (b) A magnifying glass and the sun (c) Flint/quartzite and steel (d) a: Lighting a fire with a match or lighter is rather self-explanatory. If you're going camping and you need to waterproof your matches... Pour enough turpentine into a custard cup to cover the head and about one sixteenth of the match stem. Hold the matches head-down in the turpentine for 5-10 minutes. Put them on a sheet of paper to dry for half an hour. ...or if you realize that your lighter is dead... Wad up a bit of paper or tissue. Spray the wad with aerosol (bug spray works well). Hold your lighter to the side of the wad of paper and strike until a spark catches the ball. Toss the ball onto your other kindling. b: This is the a simple method. Take your 9 volt battery and sweep the terminals (the two protruding parts) lightly and quickly against the steel wool, then drop it on your tinder. c: Aerosol helps here as well, but isn't necessary. Take some paper, tear it into one-inch pieces, and place it on a flat surface that is easy to move (like a broken log or a thin rock). Hold your magnifying glass so that it creates a small dot of sun on the pile of shreds. The smaller the dot, the better, as more focus creates more heat. Hold the dot in the same place for at least 5 minutes. If you haven't ignited yet, adjust the paper, focus the dot, and try again. d: This is a tricky method, but it has saved many lives because it requires that you bring only one very common material (steel). The rest you can find in the wilderness. Find anything with a steel blade. A hatchet works best, but a pocketknife may also work, if you're careful not to damage it. Find flint Walk to a riverbed. Find a rock that appears rough, often with one very smooth edge. In color, it should be greyscale or a very deep blue. Test it with steel to see if it makes sparks. Strike the flint across your steel object near your tinder until a spark ignites. 2. Gathering tinder, kindling, and fuel Tinder: Lint Wax Paper bits Fungus Newspaper Char paper Dry needles Dead grasses or plants Kindling: Cardboard Dry twigs Wood pieces Dry bark Fuel: Dry logs Hardwoods Newspaper logs 3. Design Clear the area (a) Build the fire (b) a: Clear the area of any dry materials or grasses, leaving only dirt for two meters around your fire (more if it's particularly windy). b: Set up your fire. A few common designs are...Tepee: fuel arranged in a circle meeting at the top, with kindling in the middle. This is the simplest, and easiest to build. It offers little protection from wind. Log cabin: alternate sticks to build in a square pattern, usually around a tepee in the center. More wind protection More stable Simple Requires larger logs Pyramid: much like the log cabin, but it continues all the way across the logs with a closed top, gradually thinning to a small flat surface at the top, with kindling in the middle at the base. Requires much more logs Very stable Maximum wind protection
Good concept of the guide, however I think it lacks colour, pictures. Think the layout is ok, just add those things really. Not bad guide, you obviously have a good knowledge of this, and it's well written and informed. Just add bit of colours, pictures and it'll be a good guide.
I color-coded it some and added examples for each type of fire and material. :noworry: Any other suggestions?
