04-07-2004, 06:30 PM
Starting a Fire
HOW IT'S DONE: Fire and Ice
Starting a fire when you need it most
Now you've done it: gone through the ice or walked into a blizzard. Whatever your story, you need fire and you need it fastÑbefore your fingers freeze. To make matters worse there's a good 2 or 3 feet of snow cover in every direction. Let's assume you're not totally unprepared: You have waterproof matches or a workable lighter. Here's how to spark an inferno no matter how much snow is on the ground.
-- T. Edward Nickens
Follow These Steps:
(Diagram at right)
[1] Start busting brush. You'll need a two-layer fire platform of green, wrist-thick branches (cold weather makes snapping thick branches easier, but a hatchet or small saw is indispensable) to raft your blaze above deep snow cover. Lay down a row of 3-foot-long branches, then another perpendicular row on top. Stay away from overhanging boughs; rising heat will melt snow trapped in foliage. [2] Collect and organize plenty of dry tinder and kindling and twice as many larger branches as you think you'll need. Superdry tinder is critical. Birch bark, pine needles, wood shavings, pitch splinters, cattail fluff, and the dead, dry twigs from the sheltered lower branches of conifers are standards. Place tinder between your hands and rub vigorously to shred the material. You'll need a nest at least as large as a Ping-Pong ball. Is it pouring rain and snow? Think creatively: dollar bills, pocket lint, and a snipped piece of shirt fabric will work. [3] Plan the fire so that it dries out wet wood as it burns. Place a large log or dry rock on the downwind side of the fire and lean the wet wood across the fire a few inches above the flames. Don't crisscross; laying the wood parallel will aid the drying process.
[signature]
HOW IT'S DONE: Fire and Ice
Starting a fire when you need it most
Now you've done it: gone through the ice or walked into a blizzard. Whatever your story, you need fire and you need it fastÑbefore your fingers freeze. To make matters worse there's a good 2 or 3 feet of snow cover in every direction. Let's assume you're not totally unprepared: You have waterproof matches or a workable lighter. Here's how to spark an inferno no matter how much snow is on the ground.
-- T. Edward Nickens
Follow These Steps:
(Diagram at right)
[1] Start busting brush. You'll need a two-layer fire platform of green, wrist-thick branches (cold weather makes snapping thick branches easier, but a hatchet or small saw is indispensable) to raft your blaze above deep snow cover. Lay down a row of 3-foot-long branches, then another perpendicular row on top. Stay away from overhanging boughs; rising heat will melt snow trapped in foliage. [2] Collect and organize plenty of dry tinder and kindling and twice as many larger branches as you think you'll need. Superdry tinder is critical. Birch bark, pine needles, wood shavings, pitch splinters, cattail fluff, and the dead, dry twigs from the sheltered lower branches of conifers are standards. Place tinder between your hands and rub vigorously to shred the material. You'll need a nest at least as large as a Ping-Pong ball. Is it pouring rain and snow? Think creatively: dollar bills, pocket lint, and a snipped piece of shirt fabric will work. [3] Plan the fire so that it dries out wet wood as it burns. Place a large log or dry rock on the downwind side of the fire and lean the wet wood across the fire a few inches above the flames. Don't crisscross; laying the wood parallel will aid the drying process.
[signature]