STARTING A FIRE

In many survival situations, the ability to start a fire can make the difference between life and death. Fire fulfils many needs: It will keep you warm, you can use it to cook food on fire. Fire can be used to purify water, sterilise bandages, signal for rescue or provide protection from animals. It also brings comfort for your mind - fire builds a feeling of security. You can use fire to produce tools and weapons too.

Fire however can be dangerous. It can cause forest fires or destroy essential equipment. It can also cause burns or carbon monoxide poisoning when used improperly.

Fire triangle

Before learning how to build a fire it is good to understand basic fire principles. We can call them the fire triangle, because to light a fire three ingredients are necessary. These are:

  1. Heat
  2. Fuel
  3. Oxygen (air)

When lighting a fire, you must ensure you take into account all off the above ingredients. Removing any of them will extinguish fire instantly.

Fire site selection

When preparing to light a fire, the first important thing to do is fire site selection. If you choose an improper place for your fire, it will first of all be difficult to start it, then to provide fuel and last but not least - the site may turn out to be very inconvenient for your needs. In your fire site selection process, you should consider the following:

  • Your tools - do you have anything that can help you start a fire? If you have matches or a lighter you are in a perfect position and starting a fire will be much easier. Nonetheless you still should consider other factors as they may save a lot of effort and matches. If you do not have any fire starting tools, you may still have something else which will be useful. Perhaps you have some flammable cosmetics or dry fabric, from which you take out some threads and use them as tinder.
  • Type of area you're in:
    • is your surrounding dry or damp? - if it is damp, you will have to find a piece of something dry, on which you will start your fire. It would be extremely difficult to start a fire on wet grass or ground. Examples of such bases would be dry wooden boards, various fabric or even some dry bark, which is very flammable.
    • can you expect rains? - especially if you do not have any fire starting tools, staring a fire may be very difficult. Once you succeed, you do not want to have your life saving flame extingushed by rains. If in your area rains can be expected, you should consider building a shelter for your fire. A field-expedient shelter should be perfect for your needs. Of course you can first start a fire and build a shelter afterwards, but in your site selection you should consider enough space for a shelter.
    • will you have to stay in close proximity of fire? - is fire necessary for you to stay warm? If so, you should have it near or even in your shelter. Again a field-expedient shelter will be appropriate. Yet if your climate is very cold, you should build a very high fire reflector wall, leaving just a narrow gap between it and the roof to let the smoke come out. You have to be careful though not to get poisoned by carbon monoxide! - the gap cannot be too small!
    • is the site protected from wind? - it is very difficult to start a fire in windy conditions. Your fire site should be protected from wind. If it is inconvenient for you to have a fire site in a wind-protected place, you can start the fire there and once the flame is strong, move it to a different location, which you chose for a permanent fire site.
  • Material - how much and what sort of fuel will you have? Will it be wood or grass or hay? In some parts of the world people use animal excrements to light fires. Dried waste of a camel, cow or a horse is perfect for that. Below you can find a vast list of good fuels. You have to decide how long will you need the fire for and obtain appropriate amount of fuel. You should check also if the fuel is dry or damp. If dry, it will burn easily but quickly. If it is damp, you will have to allow additional times to dry it and while burning it will produce significantly more smoke. Once your fireplace is set up you will have to dry damp fuel by putting it in close proximity to the fire and keeping it there for a while, before tossing it in. Also starting a fire with damp fuel requires much more effort.

Preparation of a fire site

If you are in a wooded or brush-covered area, you should clear the brush and scrape the surface soil in the spot you selected. You should clear a circle at least 0.5 metre in diameter so there is little chance of the fire spreading.

Fire wall

survival lean to shelter with fire wall

As mentioned above, if time allows, you can construct a fire wall using logs or rocks. A fire wall will help to reflector the heat to where you want it. It will also reduce flying sparks and cut down on the amount of wind blowing into the fire. However, keep in mind that you will need enough air to keep the fire burning (remember the fire triangle). If you decide to use rocks, stay away from wet or porous ones. Such rocks when heated rapidly may explode.


Underground fire

In some situations, like very windy conditions with rain, you may find that an underground fireplace will be best for your needs. It conceals the fire and is very convenient for cooking food.

survival fire in a hole

Yet, bear in mind that building such a fireplace which will sustain fire requires some practice. If you need a fireplace fast and have not tried this type before, it is better if you build one on ground first. Your second one can be this one. To make an underground fireplace you need to follow the steps:

  • Dig a hole in the ground
  • On the upwind side of this hole poke or dig a large connecting hole for ventilation. Be careful only not to dig it too shallow as that can cause the whole construction to collapse.
  • Build your fire as illustrated.

If you are on the snow

survival fire on the snow

If you are in a snow-covered area you usually cannot light a fire straight on the snow. If you can, you should dig a hole to the ground and light the fire there. Snow walls will additionally protect the fire from the wind. Yet, if the snow layer is too thick, you will have to create an artificial base for your fire. To do that you can use green logs which will make a dry base for your fire, just as presented in the picture. Trees with wrist-sized trunks can be easily broken in extreme cold. Cut or break several green logs and lay them side by side on top of the snow. You should create more than one layer. Lay each layer of logs in the opposite direction to the one below it.

If you set the fire on top of the logs, they will not burn as the heat of the fire goes up, leaving the wood below more or less unharmed.

Fire Material

To build a fire, you need three types of materials:

  • tinder
  • kindling
  • fuel
If you have a lighter in many cases you may go without tinder, but if you do not - all three types of fuel are a must.

Tinder

Tinder is dry material that ignites with little heat - even a spark starts a fire. Only if the tinder is absolutely dry, you can be sure that a spark will ignite it. If you have a device that generates only sparks, charred cloth will be almost essential. It holds a spark for long periods, allowing you to put tinder on the hot area to generate a small flame. You can make charred cloth by heating cotton cloth until it turns black, but does not burn. Once it is black, you must keep it in an airtight container to keep it dry. Prepare this cloth well in advance of any survival situation. Add it to your individual survival kit.

Good fire fuels

Tinder

  • Birch bark
  • Shredded inner bark from cedar, chestnut, red elm trees
  • Fine wood shavings
  • Dead grass, ferns, moss, fungi
  • Straw
  • Sawdust
  • Very fine pitchwood scrapings
  • Dead evergreen needles
  • Punk (the completely rotten portions of dead logs of a tree)
  • Evergreen tree knots
  • Bird down (fine feathers)
  • Down seed heads (milkweed, dry cattails, bulrush or thistle)
  • Fine, dried vegetable fibres
  • Spongy dreads or dead puffball
  • Dead palm leaves
  • Lint from pocket and seams
  • Charred cloth
  • Waxed paper
  • Outer bamboo shavings
  • Gunpowder
  • Cotton
  • Lint

Kindling

  • Small twigs
  • Small strips of wood
  • Split wood
  • Heavy cardboard
  • Pieces of wood removed from inside of larger pieces
  • Wood that has been doused with highly flammable materials, like gasoline, oil or wax

Fuel

  • Dry standing wood and dry, dead branches
  • Dry inside (heart) of fallen tree trunks and large branches
  • Green wood that is finely split
  • Dry grasses twisted into bunches
  • Peat dry enough to burn (this may be found at the top of undercut banks)
  • Dried animal dung
  • Animal fats
  • Coal, oil


Modern and primitive methods of lighting a fire

Having chosen a fire site and having collected enough tinder, kindling and fuel, you can get down to lighting a fire. Choose a wind protected spot - it is crucial at first moments of ignition that no wind will blow your small flame out.You yourself, if you kneel down with your back facing the wind, may prove a good enough wind screen. Ensure also that you have enough tinder, kindling and fuel within your reach, so that you will not have to run around gathering it, once you get the first small flame.

Over the years, humankind has developed many ways to start a fire. Depending on your situation, and mostly - on your gear, you will have to choose between the methods. You will notice that they are divided to modern and primitive, basing on tools used. We present them in order: from the simplest to the most difficult.

Modern methods of fire lighting

  • Matches, fire starter (lighter)
  • Convex lens
  • Battery
  • Gun powder

Primitive methods of fire lighting

  • Flint and steel
  • Fire-plow
  • Bow and drill