Tips on Fire Lighting
Introduction
Fire lighting is one of the key survival skills in Bushcraft. Other skills include being able to find or make a shelter for protection from the elements, being able to purify water for drinking, and providing food.
Bushcraft in general and fire lighting in particular are large subjects and fire lighting can be very challenging and involved under certain circumstances. Here are some basic tips on how to light a fire in dry conditions, using basic tools and materials.
You can find a more in-depth discussion of fire lighting and bushcraft in Ray Mears' book ‘Essential Bushcraft’.
Area Preparation
Choose the site of your fire carefully. You will want to be able to leave no trace after your fire, and prevent setting the surrounding area on fire.
Clear away any ground debris at the fire site so you light your fire on bare earth. If your site is on grass, cut a section of turf out and set it aside. You can replace this after extinguishing your fire.
Keep you fire well away from any combustable materials near by, especially in dry forests or woodland. Do not light a fire on peat: this can burn underground for weeks after you have extinguished your fire, and cause wild fires later.
Lighting a fire next to a river, lake or seashore allows for water to wash away any traces of your fire.
Gathering Materials
Wood
Wood which has been lying on the ground will be damp and it will be very hard to use it as fuel so gather your wood from off the ground. Often dead wood can be found hanging in branches. Trees which have died but are still standing (dead-standing trees) provide excellent wood. Often dead branches which are wet on the outside can be split to provide dry combustible fuel on the inside. Green or living wood should not normally be burnt.
Gather two handfuls of fine twigs, no thicker than match sticks and about two hand spans long for initial fuel. Gather a variety of thickness of twigs and branches from match stick thickness to thumb thickness. This wood will be used to get your fire to a sustainable state, Gather sufficient main fuel ( thumb thickness or thicker ) for your purposes.
Ignition and Kindling
Gather some birch bark from the outside of the bark from a silver birch tree. This contains resin which acts as an accelerant for fire lighting and will be used to receive a spark and kindle the initial flame.
Preparation of Materials
Good preparation is essential to successful fire lighting.
Size Ordering
Order your materials by thickness. Set aside a couple of wide lengths of birch bark to create bark dust for ignition, and also tear up thin strips of birch bark to catch the fire from the birch bark dust. Sort the rest of the wood by thickness, from the kindling twigs ( two handfuls ) up to main fuel.
Splitting and cutting wood
Longer lengths of wood can be snapped, broken or sawn to a useful lengths. Thicker pieces of wood can be split into thumb size thickness by batoning. The technique of batoning involves using a heavier length of wood to strike or batten the bush knife. Steady one end of the wood to be split on a firm surface, and place the middle of the blade on the other end of the wood. Initially, storage the middle of the blade with the batten. Once the blade has sunk into the wood a little, strike the blade at the tip until the wood is split. Continue splitting the wood until the desired thickness is reached.
Feather sticks
Feather sticks are used as kindling once an initial flame is created from a spark. They can be used instead of the two handfuls of fine twigs, and can even be ignited from a spark if no birch bark is available. They are made by carving multiple fine shavings from a finger-thick length of wood. The shavings remain attached to the stick and are densely bunched together.
Birchbark dust
When you are ready to ignite your fire, it is time to prepare your birch bark dust. To do this, take one of the wider pieces of birch bark and with the blade of the bush knife, scrape the outer side of the bark to create a fine dust. You will need a pile about the size of a thumb nail. Protect this from being blown away!
Choosing a Fire Lay
There are many ways to build a fire or create a Fire Lay, depending on the use for the fire. One of the early goals in most fire lays is to create a bed of hot embers, which can be used as a source of heat for cooking and boiling water, but also to maintain a sustainable fire. From a bed of embers, a fresh fire can be quickly built up simple by adding more fuel.
Base Layer
Lay three or four thumb size pieces of wood to create a platform for the fire. This keeps the initial fire off the ground, insulating it from the cold ground and keeping the kindling dry. It also provides early fuel to contribute to a bed of embers.
Ignition Area
It is often easier to ignite your fire a little away from main fire area. You give yourself freedom of movement without disturbing your fire lay.
Kindling Layer
This is your two handfuls of fine twigs, one placed over the top of and at right angles to the other over your ignited birch bark or feather sticks. Adding more feather sticks also provides excellent kindling.
Log Cabin Lay
The Log Cabin Lay is a great way to build an initial fire because it quickly creates a good bed of embers. These can be used for cooking, or to form the basis of a different fire lay. Lay one layer of sticks in one direction over the fire, then another layer at right angles to the first. Continue building up layers until you have four or five layers.
From Ignition to Sustainable Fire
Everything is prepared. Your wood is sorted and easily accessible. Your fire platform is set with some strips of birch bark or a couple of feather sticks on top. A small way away from the main fire area, use the Fire Stick tool to introduce a spark to the birch bark dust or feather stick. To do this, you hold the fire stick scraper still and firmly whilst you pull the fire stick steadily away from your ignition dust. Sparks are thrown into the dust or the feather stick causing ignition.
Once you have ignition, introduce a strip of birch bark or a feather stick, and use these to transfer the fire to your main area and ignite your fire base kindling. Now add your two handfuls of fine twigs or more feather sticks as described. Once the flames reach through the top of the kindling, progressively add thicker tricks and sticks, always allowing the fire to reach the top of the last laid wood. Once you have added wood up to thumb thickness you can add some of your main fuel (thumb thickness and above).
At this point you have a sustainable fire. The fire has a bed of embers and is not going to go out unpredictably. You can add more fuel as and when you want to depending on your purpose, and you can leave it without fear of it going out.
A Sustained Fire
A sustained fire can be used for a wide variety of purposes including to keep warm, to cook, to sterilise utensils, to purify water, to create char-cloth or to signal. It is a good idea to have sufficient fuel for the duration of your fire close at hand. Some of this can be pre-prepared, and some can be gathered from nearby material as your fire progresses.
From Extinguishing to making sure to ‘Leave No Trace’
It is good safety practice to have water near by to extinguish your fire if you need to. When you are ready, pour water on your fire to put it out. You can also simple let the fire burn itself out. Carefully test the embers and ground with your hand to make sure there is no heat. You can now gather all the ashes and embers and scatter them over a wide area. Then pour water into the ground where the fire was to make sure there is no residual underground smouldering.
Replace any ground cover debris which was removed when you first began to prepare your fire area. If you set aside an area of turf, replace this now and water it. Your fire area should not be detectable now. You will leave no trace. Remember: “Take only Memories, Leave only Footprints”.
