BUILDING A FIRE
WHAT IS REQUIRED?

Your first step is to plan your fire - its location, and the materials needed. A few extra minutes spent now, will save you time, energy and frustration later.

The sequence for lighting a fire is:

SPARK - TINDER - FUEL - OXYGEN

All fires must have these four elements

SPARK

The spark can be created in many ways. Some of the more primitive methods need be used only in times of emergency. Here are the six different methods.

1. Matches -
   The most common method of starting a fire is to use matches. These should be carried at all times when you are travelling in the bush. Make sure they are the "strike anywhere" type and that they are waterproofed. This can be easily be accomplished by dipping each individual match  into either paraffin wax or fingernail polish. It's a good idea to place them with a piece of sandpaper in a waterproof container. Of course,   you can buy a wide variety of matches, including windproof, and waterproof matches which come prepared and sometimes already in a waterproof container. The choice is yours.
   
   
2. Flint and steel -
   A descendent of the stone age, the flint and steel method of fire starting is one of the safest and most reliable. Cold wet weather will not effect this fire starter. A few sparks aimed at a small amount of dry, fine tinder will get a fire going. When smoke appears, blow gently with short puffs of air until the tinder bursts into flame. Very fine tinder or charred cloth will facilitate ignition. Commercial versions with a processed flint and carbon steel striker are available, in the field use a sharp edged piece of flint or other hard rock strike with a knife, (carbon steel blades produce the best spark, stainless is poor). Once again direct the spark onto your tinder and fan once it begins to smolder. This can be a tricky method to master.
   
   
3. Cigarette lighter -
   An excellent source of spark even when you run out of fuel. Its a good idea to fasten a string or wire to the lighter and tie it to your belt.
   
   
4. Battery - 
   A rather dramatic method of starting a fire is to conduct the electricity from two flashlight batteries through steel wool: Use 00 or a finer grade steel wool roll, cut or tear it into 1/2 inch strips (approx. 2 cm wide). When unrolled, the steel wool will lengthen out to a 7 or 8 inch strip. Use two flashlight batteries; old ones will work as well as new ones. Place one battery on top of the other making sure that they are both in an upright position. Take one end of the strip of steel wool and hold it against the bottom of the lower battery, then take the other end of the wool and rub it across the top of the battery. After the steel wool sparks, place it next to the tinder and blow on it to start the fire. DO NOT DO THIS NEAR YOUR FUEL SUPPLY!
   
   
5. Magnifying glass -
   Focus a fine point of light  from the sun's rays onto a small amount of good dry tinder. This will cause the tinder to smoke and eventually break into flame. The lens from a camera, binoculars or any convex lens will often work.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Bow Drill -
   If constructed properly, a bow drill, consisting of a fireboard, a drill, a socket and a bow, will create heat that can light tinder. A notch must be cut in the side of a fireboard through which a drill will pass and rest on a flat grooved surface below. A socket (lubricated with grease) to fit the hand will allow the drill, operated with a string of a bow, to rotate first one way and then another until a fine, dust results. The dust will smoke when it becomes heated. Then it should be placed into the tinder and blown into flame. This method is tricky and tiring, but once you have mastered it you can light fire almost anywhere and in any conditions. * For this one, you really need to get together with others and work on it in order to master the skill.
   
   
7. Fire - Plough-
   
   A primitive but effective system, utilizing a hardwood 'rod' and a base of softer wood. Cut a straight groove along the base, it may help to carve a small notch at one end. Plough the blunt tip of the rod back and forth along this groove, as friction builds up small wood fibbers will become detached from the groove, steadily apply greater pressure, as the friction builds higher the detached fibbers will start smoldering and form a "coal" use this to ignite your tinder.

TINDER

Ideally tinder will burn with the addition of just a spark, in practice it can be a little more difficult. Good tinder will always be dry, in rainy conditions it can be almost impossible to find any, so it pays to prepare some in advance.

Tinder may be in the form of dead dry grasses, cotton, wax coated cardboard, and fine amounts of dry bark such as birch or cedar. You may be able to think of other good tinder. The finer the tinder the better. Start with a base of fine tinder and then form a teepee shaped pile with the larger tinder or kindling over the finer; about 5 cm high.

If you do find yourself looking for suitable tinder in damp or wet conditions there are a few possible sources, look on the underside of dead wood, you may find 'punk', wood decomposed almost to a powder, this makes fair tinder. In very wet weather, the most available tinder is the tiny brittle branches from dead limbs. No larger than a pencil lead, they will burn even when damp. Those from the evergreen trees are especially good. Select the ones which snap when broken. Soft woods make the best kindling and split branches burn faster than whole ones.

A cotton ball covered in petroleum jelly makes a great fire starter. Simply roll each cotton ball in the jelly until completely covered, then put it in a plastic film canister. (Each canister will hold about 30 balls.) To start a fire, put two or three cotton balls under your dry kindling and light.

Make another excellent fire starter by cutting an old, worn web belt or hiking compression strap into 8 cm strips. Soak them in wax and let dry. Next time you want to start a fire quickly, use one

NOTE: Tinder absorbs moister readily from the atmosphere and may be least effective when you most urgently require it. Keep your tinder dry!

FUEL

In going from the tinder to the fuel stage in fire lighting, remember large fuel materials require greater heat to ignite; therefore, it is essential that some form of kindling be used to nurture the fire until it is hot enough to ignite larger fuel. Kindling is fuel, which while not as readily ignited as tinder will burn easily with the application of a flame (your ignited tinder), dry twigs from the thickness of matchsticks up to about the diameter of a pencil are useful kindling. Starting with the finest, gradually add thicker twigs as the fire becomes hotter, once the pencil thickness type are burning readily you can start to add your main fuel.

A few suggested forms of kindling are:

• 1. Dry, dead evergreen twigs;
  
• 2. Birch bark, shavings, wood chips, or find splinters of resinous wood;
  
• 3. Feather or fuzz  sticks (dry sticks shaved on the sides in a fan shaped);

A good supply of fuel should be gathered PRIOR to attempting to light the tinder to maintain the fire. Different types of fuel are desirable for a variety of requirements. Use what is available, bearing in mind that all woods burn better when dry and that pitchy woods or wet woods smoke. The finer the wood is split the less smoky the fire will be. The denser the dry wood, the hotter the fire and usually the slower the burning.

Green wood will burn, but requires a hot fire to start. Split green wood fine and start with dry wood.

OXYGEN or VENTILATION

A fire requires oxygen. Ensure that the fire is well ventilated. Sometimes it helps to blow on the fire or fan it with a plate or pot lid, but be careful not to blow so hard that you put your fire out.

BSA TROOP 23

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Great Barrington, MA