If you have read some of our most recent blog posts, you’ll remember that we’ve been talking about a number of survival skills useful in the case of an emergency where you need to “rough it” in the wilderness. We are not wilderness experts, but want to get the juices flowing and challenge you to get excited about looking further into learning these valuable skills. In our previous post, we talked about staying hydrated, and today we want to talk about a specific skill that will help you to stay warm: how to build a fire.
If you decide to enjoy a campfire with friends, are you the one who builds the fire? If you’re not, perhaps think about becoming that person—or joining and learning from whomever typically takes on that role.
Here are a few tips to get you started on how to build a fire:
- Find a sandy or rocky area to build your fire, to avoid forest fires or brush fires. Having a supply of water or sand nearby is important, in case you need to put out your campfire quickly.
- If you keep matches on hand, it’s best to have waterproof and windproof matches, or even a flint striker, which can last you a long time!
- If you don’t have matches, you can create a spark with a cigarette lighter, flint and steel, the electric spark from an ignited battery coming into contact with a gasoline dampened rag, or the sun’s rays passing through a magnifying lens onto the tinder.
- Of course, tinder is another very important element of building a fire. When you’re choosing tinder, try to find dry grasses, bark, small pieces of wood, cloth, paper or lint. As long as the tinder is dry, it should work. And then these smaller pieces can be used to ignite larger pieces of wood.
- Collect all of your tinder and firewood before you start building the fire, because timing can be of essence, once you get the fire going.
- Ventilate your fire well. Whatever construction you create, make sure there are open spaces between the larger pieces of wood so that oxygen has access.
For more wilderness tips, feel free to delve into this handy online adventure network and tune in again soon to read about another important survival skill that will help to keep you warm: building a shelter!
Article contributed by Sophie Wooding – Avid gardener and cyclist in Victoria, BC and Content Writer for Frontier.io