Fire Flashcards
Fire Preparation
Have a way to put the fire out BEFORE starting a fire.
Check to see if it’s safe to make a fire. Is it too windy? Is there a way for smoke to escape an enclosure? Is it too dry? Are flammable things nearby or above you?
Clear the area of leaves, pine needles, sticks, roots and anything else that can catch fire.
Place dry rocks in a circle to prevent the fire from spreading.
Fire Extinguishing
Dirt or sand: The fire will be extinguished but remain hot.
Water: Use only as much as you need to put out the flames and embers. Hot steam can burn you. Try dribbling small amounts until the fire and embers are extinguished. Pouring a large quantity of water on a fire can push it around in unexpected ways.
Wet Shirt, towel or cloth: Use wet fabric (maybe even the clothes you are wearing) to “whap” at a fire that has gotten out of control.
Fire extinguisher: Aim at the bottom of the fire, not the flames themselves.
Natural Fuel
Prepare piles of fuel according to size:
- Tinder (the most important): Dry, fluffy and a lot of it. Things like dead grass, wood shavings, birch bark, cottonwood fluff, cat tails, etc.
- Pencil-sized sticks and smaller
- Thumb-sized sticks
- Logs
Fire Starting with the Sun: Fresnel Lens
On very dry tinder, and without damaging your eyes, use a Fresnel lens to create an ember.
Fire Starting with Electricity
Gum wrapper: Peel off the paper layer, cut the aluminum so that it looks like a bow tie with a “bridge” in the middle and touch it to both ends of a battery. The “bridge” will catch on fire and go out quickly. You only have one chance to ignite some tinder so be ready. (Note: Try to keep the battery away from flames when you’re done.)
Steel Wool: Touch a 9v battery to steel wool, which will instantly start to burn it. When it’s burned up, it will not reignite so try to tear the steel wool into chunks to give yourself more chances.
Other ideas: Thin wire from a broken cord?
Making Charcloth
Charcloth is a very effective tinder but you have to make it. One spark will often create an an ember on the cloth.
Put cloth in a metal tin and put the tin on a fire. When it stops smoking, use a stick or a leather glove to take it off the fire. Let it cool. Voila!
Artificial Fuel for Fire
Charcloth
Vaseline with cotton
Hand sanitizer
Duct tape (don’t breathe it in)
Fluff scraped from fabric (a towel, clothing, etc.)
Swedish Torch
Cut a log with a saw.
Split it into four sections with a knife or hatchet.
Carve off the 90 degree angle.
Using a metal wire, bind the pieces together and stand it upright on a level surface, clear of flammable material.
Shove tinder down into the hole.
Light it on fire.
Warning: Don’t touch the wire—it’s hot!
You might be able to place a cup or pot on top of the torch to boil water or cook food.
Bow Drill
This is a difficult method for creating fire.
Wood as Fuel
Wood should be as dry as possible.
Standing dead wood is best.
Listen for the snap.
Avoid wood on the ground.
Wet/damp wood doesn’t burn as well and it makes a lot of smoke.
Lighters
Practice using an ordinary lighter.
Don’t burn your thumb!
The metal part can be hot even after the fire goes out.
Practice using an elongated lighter—it’s the easiest way to start a fire.
How to use a lighter that is out of fluid: Break off the metal part. Shove tinder in there and hopefully the sparks will ignite it.
Preserve your lighter’s fuel—don’t waste it.
Having a lighter doesn’t mean you can skip using tinder.
Try to shelter the lighter’s flame from the wind.
Keep the lighter dry or it might not work until it dries out.
Flint and Steel
Find flint, quartz, or another hard rock.
This requires a lot of practice.
Resin
Resin burns very well—I think that’s because it has a kind of alcohol inside it.
If you melt it you can put it on a wound (after it’s cooled a bit) and the alcohol in it can help kill germs.
Melt some resin with ground up charcoal and you just made a glue called “pitch”.
Primitive Torch
Coat a pine cone with melted resin. Split a branch and put the pine cone between the splits. You now have a primitive torch—just watch out for hot drips—they can fall on you and burn you! Don’t let flaming drops of resin burn down the woods either.
If you don’t have a pine cone you could use an extra sock or a wire-together bundle of twigs. Be creative. Whatever you do, watch out for flaming bits coming off the torch! Hold it away from your body.
Fire Starting with the Sun: Bag and Water
Without damaging your eyes, use water in the corner of a twisted, clear plastic bag to create an ember.
