In this episode of the Primitive Camping & Bushcraft Podcast, Chris Speir shares essential fire-starting techniques to keep you warm and safe in the wilderness. Learn about the fire triangle, the importance of tinder, kindling, and fuel, and the benefits of using a ferro rod and a Bic lighter.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back to the Primitive
Camping in Bushcraft Podcast.
Have you ever been in a
situation where it was cold,
it was starting to
rain, the wind was blowing,
and you really didn't
bring enough clothing for you,
and you needed to get a fire started
in order to keep yourself warm.
And if you didn't get this fire started,
you were gonna end up
with some hypothermia.
Well, I have been in that situation.
I have been in a situation
where I had to get a fire started
or I was going to get hypothermia.
I was starting to shiver,
and once you start shivering,
you're gonna just really start decreasing
your body temperature from there,
and it's gonna waste a lot of calories,
and then next thing you know, you're
gonna be hypothermia.
So today, what we're gonna do
is we're gonna discuss
the essentials of fire.
We're gonna discuss what
it takes to start a fire
and how to get it done
and how to get it ignited
and what are the elements that you need
to get a fire started.
If you haven't picked up your copy
of Primitive Camping in Bushcraft,
head on over to all
major online retailers.
They have a copy there, pick it up,
and then join the Facebook group,
Primitive Camping in
Bushcraft, over on Facebook.
Now, a good campfire is often called
the television of the woods.
How many times you've been camping,
you look down into the fire
and nobody's saying anything,
they're just staring into the fire.
Happens to me all the time.
I can sit and stare inside
of a fire for a long time,
and you know, one of the
great things about the fire
is that it provides
comfort, it provides warmth,
it's able to cook your food,
and it's able to get your
water rendered safe to drink,
and you know, it's the only thing
that the boogeyman is scared of.
So what is fire?
Fire is defined as the
phenomenon of combustion,
giving off heat and light from a flame.
So what does that really mean?
So think of it as a triangle.
On top you have heat,
on the bottom corners
you have fuel and oxygen.
So this heat is any ignition source,
such as a spark or flame.
And we're gonna dive into
this a little bit deeper
with a couple of the methods
of starting a fire in a minute.
The fuel is the material that burns,
such as a fire tender,
and then you're kindling.
And underneath that you have oxygen,
and this is needed to
sustain the combustion process.
Think of it as your lungs and yourself.
You're going to go
out, you're going to die
if you do not have oxygen.
A fire is the same way.
If it can't breathe, it can't live.
And a lot of people will say
that fire is living
and breathing, and it is.
It has to have oxygen,
and it consumes more fuel.
If it doesn't have oxygen,
it can't consume the fuel,
and it will die or burn out.
So how many times have you
ever heard, my fire died?
And it's the same thing with us.
If we don't have
enough oxygen, we will die.
If we don't get enough fuel in our
bodies, we will die.
And so it's the same
concept with the fire,
with the fire triangle.
If you've ever seen the recycling symbol,
and you have your
spark or your heat up here,
it comes all the way down.
You have a fuel, and then
you come around to oxygen,
and it just keeps making
that circle or that triangle,
you know, just like the recycle.
And that is the
perfect analogy of a fire.
So tinder, what is tinder?
Tinder is the initial material
that catches the spark or the flame.
So there's many ways to ignite a flame,
and we're gonna get to
that a little bit shortly,
but it should be, your tinder
should be very dry and fine,
and so that it ignites easily.
And, you know, tinder is any material,
natural or artificial
that can light with a spark.
And, you know, there's
gonna be many devices out there
that actually light your tinder.
And once we get into those,
some of them are just like
we carry on everyday basis.
But grasses leaves,
commercial firetenders,
products that you can buy,
like the Blackbeard fire
plugs, stuff like that,
they are all essential
to starting your fire.
You have to have some
kind of a tinder source
in order to get your fire started.
Now, it's essential
to gather these things
when you're walking through the woods,
if you walk upon some dog fennel,
you walk upon some goldenrod, you know,
there's got to be
other stuff all throughout
the United States that
different in the world,
you know, different regions
of the planet where you are,
that if you find these
things, you grab them,
collect them, keep them dry with you,
and you always have
some kind of fire tinder
to start your fire.
From there, you had to have kindling.
Now, whenever I'm starting a
fire here in South Mississippi
in the camping season, you know,
September, October through
January, February, March,
stuff like that, you can always find
goldenrod or dog fennel.
Now, these two weeds
are prolific down here,
they're everywhere.
And once they blossom in the fall,
and they create these little flowers,
these nice little yellow flowers,
and dog fennel has little white flowers,
and they make all these flowers,
and then they pollinate and
do whatever they're gonna do,
and then they die.
Now, once they die, they dry out,
and once they dry out,
they create the most amazing,
cannot reiterate this enough
that this is the most
amazing fire tinder.
Now, you can use birch bark,
you can use shavings from fat wood,
you can use cotton ball,
you can use, you know, all
kinds of different things
to start a fire with,
but I have found that
dog fennel, goldenrod,
are the most amazing fire tinder.
You can have the tinder for your fire,
and you have kindling.
Now, kindling is a kind of tinder
that is a little bit bigger.
So, once you have your tinder ignited,
kindling is the next step.
It is a little bit larger,
it's used to build your fire,
as kindling consists of
small sticks and twigs
that catch fire quickly and
burn longer than the tinder.
So, gradually add your kindling
to build your fire's intensity.
So, what I like to do is I
will collect my goldenrod,
I will collect my dog fennel,
and they have a pith center,
and these things, once they dry out,
they become perfect
kindling to start a fire.
I cannot tell you how many
times I've started a fire
with these two items.
So, you ignite your tinder,
and once your tinder catches on flames,
then you just pile on all your kindling,
and then once your
kindling just starts really going,
you start getting good coals,
then you throw on your fuel,
and bigger and bigger and bigger sticks
till you get to the point
where you can add large logs.
Now, fuel is, like I just said,
your large logs, your bigger stuff.
Now, once your kindling
is going and burning well,
you can add larger pieces
of wood, also known as fuel,
and fuel burns longer and
provides sustained heat.
So, you need to ensure you
have a good mix of tinder,
kindling, and fuel for
you to start your fire.
You don't wanna have all
your tinder starts firing at,
oh, I don't have my kindling,
and then, or have your kindling
and not enough fuel to do it,
to put on there to burn longer.
So, what you're looking for is stuff
that is up off the ground
whenever you're doing your tinder
and your kindling.
You wanna find items
that are up off the ground.
If it's up on the ground,
it's gonna be wet, generally.
It holds in the moisture
and everything from the rain.
When the water come
up, flooded a little bit,
went down, if you're camping on a river,
you want to have the
stuff that's up off the ground
and you want to use that.
You can find leaves, you can
find all kinds of kindling,
stuff like that off there.
Now, be careful
whenever you're getting vines
and you're using
vines to start a fire with
because poison ivy, once you burn that,
it becomes dangerous.
And I've done an entire
video series on poison ivy
and it is bad.
It may be dead, but it
still has the oils in it.
And whenever you burn it,
it will cause you to have
a reaction and it could kill you
and or send you into the hospital.
So, now that we've got our tinder
and we got our
kindling and we got our fuel,
let's go talk about
how to start this fire.
So, there's various
tools that you can use
to start your fire.
And there's two that I highly recommend
carrying with you constantly.
And these two items are,
you have people out there
that are like bushcraft,
I don't know, idealists
or realists or genuineness
or whatever you want to call.
And in order to qualify as
bushcraft or survivalist,
you have to be able to use
a ferro rod, cut the stuff.
A big lighter is the most
economical, cost-effective way
to start a fire in modern history.
A big lighter, a big
lighter is the most reliable,
is the most long lasting
and it is less likely to break
than your other brands or
your other cheap off brands.
But any one of those lighters
are, they will start a fire.
Now, a big lighter is a simple,
lightweight, easy to use,
highly effective way to start a fire.
You can carry a few
lighters with you in your backpack,
you could put one in a fire kit,
which we're gonna get
into here in a few minutes.
You could put one in your first aid kit,
you can have one in each
cargo pocket if you want.
And you can have, I
mean, they make devices now
where you could put it
in and it's waterproof
and you can carry it around your neck.
I mean, let's just give
credit where credit's due.
A big lighter is the most
amazing way to start a fire.
Now, back to the ferro rod.
The second easiest way to
start a fire is a ferro rod.
And I noticed I didn't
include matches in there.
Matches get wet, matches
are, you lose your dexterity
if you're cold enough to strike it.
Matchsticks break and, you know,
so I'm going with two
of the most easiest ways
to start a fire.
Yes, matches are
easy, but we did those out
due to the possibility
that they can get wet
and rendered useless, and
as well as dexterity issues
with striking it or losing the actual
striker to strike it.
You know, of course some people,
but you got to strike anywhere kind.
Well, there's not always
anywhere to strike them,
to be honest with you.
But a ferro rod or a ferrocerium rod
is a reliable fire starting tool.
I covered that extensively in the book,
"Priminter Camping in Bushcraft."
It produces hot sparks
and can ignite tender
even in wet conditions.
This is true story when
I went on a camping trip
and I could not get it to
light with my big lighter,
but I did get my fire to
start with a ferro rod.
Explain that to me.
I don't know.
I don't understand why.
I met all the different
criteria of the fire triangle,
but the stuff was wet.
Now a ferro rod
generates 5,000 degree sparks,
up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
And these sparks are just like,
if you use a ferro rod in combination
with a carbon steel knife,
you're going to have
molten lava coming off that rod,
and it's going to start you a good fire.
Now a ferro rod is durable,
can be used thousands of times,
and you practice using your ferro rod,
it can be used in wet
conditions, in windy conditions.
It could be, a ferro
rod is all around amazing.
I have a ferro rod with me
every time I go into the woods
as well as a big lighter.
Now, let's get into
the benefits of a fire.
Let's talk a little bit
about a fire kit first
before we get into
the benefits of a fire.
Let's go over that,
that I wrote it here in
the book about a fire kit,
you know, on page 162,
the importance of a fire kit.
Now a fire kit is an amazing little item,
is easy to put together.
You can build it the way
that you want to build it.
You know, you could put it
in waterproof containers,
you know, stuff like that.
You always have
multiple ways to start a fire.
And the reason why you want
multiple ways to start a fire,
is because one can get
lost, one can get broke,
one can, you know, not work.
And you got another item
in there that will work,
you know, for a certain
fire starting situation.
Now, a fire kit is a collection of items
that can be used to start a fire.
And the size of this
kit can vary depending
on how comfortable you are
with starting
primitive fires in the woods.
Essentially, whenever I
head out into the woods,
I have a big lighter.
I got numerous ones.
I got one in my pocket.
I got one in my first aid kit,
and I got one in a fire kit.
Like, you know, I'd usually
carry three lighters with me.
I have a ferro rod in my pocket.
I have a ferro rod in my bag.
Then I have a ferro, I
have a magnification lens,
and then I have a magnification mirror.
Now the mirror and the magnification lens
are also gonna be in my first aid kit.
So, you know, I don't always
per se carry a fire kit with me,
but sometimes I do.
Now I made the fire kit
out of a wax canvas bag.
I went to Hobby Lobby and
bought the bag for $1, $1.50.
And then I came home
and I dipped that puppy
in some melted wax.
Now that's not gonna make it waterproof,
but it will make it water resistant
and it will keep the
water from soaking up
everything in there.
I do have char cloth in this fire kit.
I made char cloth in a tin,
and I do have the flint
and steel in there as well.
Now, you can make it as
extensive as you want.
Really, what you need
is you need something
that creates a spark,
something that creates a flame,
something that
generates heat from your solar,
and then that's about it.
You know, if you cover those three areas,
you got a ferro rod or
you have a flint and steel.
All right, that creates your spark.
Then a flame, you got a lighter, okay?
That creates a fire right there.
And then you have
something from the solar
generates flame or heat from solar.
And that would be a magnifying lens
or a magnifying mirror or both.
Now, I mentioned the
magnifying mirror earlier.
I use that because if you
get something in your eye,
you can see or harder to see spots.
You can look and see if
you got ticks or whatnot,
but I don't burn the
ticks off in the sunlight
with the mirror that would hurt.
But anyway, you can
use a magnification lens
to see the splinters or in the vent
that you lose your glasses
or you're trying to tie something,
something like that.
So it has multiple purposes.
Everything you have
should have multiple purposes.
So fire offers numerous
benefits in a survival
or a primitive camping situation.
Fire will create warmth.
And we talked about shelters last time
and combined with a good shelter,
a fire is gonna provide warmth,
which is crucial to
preventing hypothermia.
You know, like I said before,
you can have
hypothermia in the summertime.
People don't believe
that, but it is possible.
And I've seen it before, cooking.
And fire is paramount
for cooking your food.
You don't want to cook,
you don't wanna eat a lot of raw foods
because it can introduce
diseases, stuff like that,
illnesses and bacteria, you know,
into your system and make you sick
and ultimately cause you to
be done for for your trip.
Purifying your water,
boiling your water over a fire
is an effective way to
purify it for drinking.
And it will actually
render it safe to drink
from all biological contaminants.
We're gonna go over water here soon,
the book, and we're
gonna be talking about it.
And then signaling for help.
You know, fire can be used
to signal rescuers for help.
So if you get lost in the woods,
don't panic, start a fire.
If you light them woods on
fire, people's coming to look.
People's coming out there to find you.
I promise you that.
You know, I'm not condoning anybody in.
I'm not recommending
anybody light the woods on fire.
I'm just saying, if in
the event that you was lost,
you need help and you need out of there,
that's a surefire way.
That's why they call it surefire.
That's a surefire way
to get yourself found.
Now also on top of
that, boosting your morale.
And if you're down, if
you're out in the woods
for a couple of weeks, you get tired,
you're feeling lonely,
you're ready to come home,
you know, fire off is comfort
and a sense of security
when you're in the woods.
Especially at
nighttime, it provides warmth,
it provides you entertainment,
and it actually gives
you a sense of security
because it wards off
certain nighttime critters.
And you know, they're not
gonna come around a fire,
they may stay out there and look,
but they're not gonna come up to it
because it's gonna scare them off.
But there's so many
other ways to start fire.
There's so many ways to go over fire.
I've done in this book,
"Preminative Camp in the Bushcraft,"
you know, start fire with water bottles,
make it fire wicks, all kinds of such.
So, you know, that's it for today.
That's it for this episode on going over,
talking about fire.
Remember, fire is an
essential skill in the outdoors.
You have to be able to start a fire
if you're gonna be an outdoor enthusiast.
Practice these methods.
Practice starting fires
with different fire tenders,
using different fire kindlings, using
different materials.
Next week, we're gonna
get a little bit more
into fire starting techniques,
and I'm gonna talk
about some things there.
But right now, I just
want you to concentrate on,
you know, finding a
different kind of fire tender.
Tender is one of the most overlooked,
often looked aspects of your fire,
because people don't think,
"Oh, I could just rub
two sticks together,
and they're gonna catch on fire."
No, that's not how it works.
And, you know, "Oh, I
could just burn leaves."
No, that's not how it works.
You need something fine,
something that's
actually gonna accept the spark
and turn into a flame.
So, work on finding different fire
tenders and kindlings,
all right?
Different fire tenders.
There's tons of natural
fire tenders in your area,
or the area that
you're gonna be visiting,
that you can use to start a fire.
You know, from grass to cotton balls,
you know, doll fennel to, you name it.
There's different
natural materials out there
that you can use to start a fire.
Go ahead and pick up a copy
of the primitive camp in the bushcraft
on all major outlets right now,
Amazon, Walmart, all those,
Books of Man, Barnes and Noble,
all those right now.
It is on sale at Amazon
for 15% off right now.
So, if you go over to Amazon,
and if you picked up
a copy, don't forget,
please leave a review.
Let me know what you think.
Hey, I hope you enjoyed this video.
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And until the next
video, I'll see you next time.
God bless you.
(upbeat music)