Fire making is perhaps one of the most important skills to be first learnt, as it is a source of heat, a means of purifying water and cooking food. I was once told you should always have three means of making fire on you, preferably two physical means i.e. matches, flint and steel, etc. and the knowledge to make others i.e. bow drill, hand drill, etc. The theory of fire making is relatively simple, but, in practice it can be very frustrating, especially in wet or windy conditions. The key to success is preparation, practice and a bit of luck in finding the right materials for the job i.e. dry wood and good tinder. However, at the end of the day sometimes you just have to make do with what’s available, don’t give up and accept its going to take some time to start a fire.
Back to Index
Figure 1.1.0 : Matches, Lighter, Magnesium block, Firesteel.
Figure 1.1.0.1 : Magnesium block.
When you have them they make life so much simpler, especially when your cold and wet. Matches have the advantage that there’s nothing mechanical to go wrong compared to a lighter, however, they can suffer in damp conditions. Therefore, they need to be treated with varnish (full length) and stored in an air tight container. I use an old 35mm film canister as a match box, with red strike anywhere matches (not brown safety matches). Using Evo-stik, glue a piece of course sand paper onto the outside of the canister for a striking surface. Pack the canister with cotton wool (excellent tinder for sparker) to stop the matches rattling i.e. to prevent the matches from igniting by their own friction. Also include a spare piece of sand paper (wrapped in foil) in case the external piece becomes wet or worn. When striking a match, pressure should be applied down the match to avoid snapping i.e. do not bend the match to generate the required friction between the match head and the striking surface. The recommended technique is to push the match head into and down the striking surface such that the force is transferred down the length of the match. However, a different technique I have seen that is easier to do uses a sliding motion, supporting the match head with your middle finger when striking. Hold the end of the match between your thumb and index finger, placing the tip of your middle finger just above the match head. Pull the match head along the striking surface, using your middle finger to apply downwards pressure and to prevent the match from bending. When the match ignites swing the match away from your middle finger and cup it in your hands to protect it from the wind. Then enlarge the flame by lighting a stripe of birch bark (figure 1.1.2.2) or a bundle of pine needles (figure 1.1.1), before transferring the flame to the main fire. Tip, strike the match close to your prepared fire, the wind always has the bad habit of gusting at the wrong times. Disposable gas lighters have the advantage that they can be submersed in water and still work. They produce a hot continuous flame which is an advantage when trying to light damp tinder. Their main disadvantages are that grit can jam and prolonged use can melt the mechanical mechanism. When empty it can be used as a sparker, however, you need good tinder (cotton wool).
Figure 1.1.1 : Striking a match, lighting a bundle of pine needles
A good fire starter to use with matches or lighters is pine resin as shown in figure 1.1.2. Forms on damaged areas i.e. broken branches or where the bark has been striped away from the tree, easily scraped off with a knife. Tip, as resin dries on the tree, dirt / old pieces of bark stick to it camouflaging it, only revealed when scraped with a knife (white / yellow in colour), use an old knife as scrapping doesn’t do the blades edge any good. Roll the resin into a ball and light (easier to hold if pushed onto a small stick), can take a little while to melt the surface, but when a liquid surface forms burns well even if it has been submersed in water. Another source of Pine resin are "Fat" Pine knots. Find a fallen, rotten Pine tree as shown in figure 1.1.2.1, these tend to be waterlogged covered in slime etc. The old stumps of side branches can be knocked out of the trunk using the back of a billhook or an axe by repeatedly knocking them to and fro, working them loose. These stumps contain a lot of resin and burn very well. One method I’ve seen to prepare these Pine knots is to carve fine slices into the base, making them look a bit like a shuttlecock, increasing their surface area. The hard resin saturated layers of wood tend to form in the centre at the base of these knots. In theory these layers of wood are resistant to water and once the rotten outer layers have been removed will still burn, however, I find they work best if they are dried out a bit first. The method that works best for me is to cut away the outer layer of damp rotten wood until you reach the hard resin saturated core, then carve off slices to use as tinder. Thin slices (< 1mm) take a flame very well even from a knot that has just come out of a rotten log (which does seem fundamentally wrong), however they do burn away quite quickly. I found thicker slices (>= 2mm) don’t always take a flame straight away, any surface moisture needs to be removed by simply leaving them to dry in the sun for 10 minutes. These then light very easily with a match and burn with a plume of black smoke due to the high levels of resin in the wood. In figure 1.1.2.1 you can see how the resin has started to melt out of the wood.
Figure 1.1.2 : Pine resin fire starter
Figure 1.1.2.1 : "Fat" Pine knot fire starter
Figure 1.1.2.2 : Birch bark tinder
Figure 1.1.3 : Firesteel, thistle (top), birch bark (middle), bulrush (bottom)
After matches and lighters this is the next simplest method of starting a fire. Like a lighter it has the advantage that it can be submersed in water and still work (can rust a bit). A firesteel is the modern equivalent of the traditional flint and steel, however, a firesteel will produce more and hotter sparks, allowing it to ignite a wider range of tinders. To generate sparks, the firesteel is scrapped with the attached steel plate. However, to produce a spark large enough to ignite poor quality tinder the back of a knife should be used. Tip, for this to work the back of the knife must be ground square, the side of an oil stone works well. Alternatively, the can opener attachment on a Swiss army knife also works well. The basic technique is, hold the knife handle in one hand and firesteel in the other, rest the back of the knife on the firesteel, use the thumb of the hand holding the firesteel to push the back of the knife down the firesteel with a firm, strong action, as shown in figure 1.1.3. The hand holding the knife handle acts as a pivot, controlling the speed, power and final finishing position of the knife tip. An alternative technique I sometimes use (middle frame of figure 1.1.3) is to hold the knife using a throttled grip, as this gives more control. For safety the blades edge is covered with a piece of old denim. Take great care when holding the blade in this position, if in any doubt hold the knife by the handle. Push the blade down at least half the firesteel, to remove sufficient material to generate a large spark. Tips:
The final technique (bottom frame of figure 1.1.3) holds the knife stationary and the firesteel is pulled backwards against it. The advantage of this technique is that it removes the danger of the knife hitting / dislodging the tinder bundle. However, the back of the knife needs to be quite ‘sharp’ as its more difficult to apply the required upwards pressure. Compared to the other techniques, this method tends to produce a shower of sparks instead of a focused stream, therefore, its best suited for finer tinders e.g. bulrush, or cotton wool. A useful compliment to a firesteel is a magnesium block as shown in figures 1.1.0 and 1.1.0.1. Using the back of a knife scrap a small pile of Magnesium shavings which can be easily ignited with a firesteel. Magnesium burns at a very high temperate allowing it to ignite poor quality tinder. However, it also burns very fast so you need a tinder to take and enlarge this initial flame e.g. fine wood shavings or a feather stick. Tip, find a sheltered spot as the shavings are easily blown away, the larger the pile of Magnesium shavings you can scrap off the better, but even a small amount can be enough to catch dry tinder. Note, scraping off Magnesium shavings can take a little time, helps if the back of your knife is ground square. If you don’t have a Magnesium block the tinder of choice for a firesteel is cotton wool, just a few sparks and you have a flame. To waterproof the cotton wool work in petroleum jelly until saturated. To light, tease out some fibres to catch a spark, igniting the petroleum jelly, this burns for a long time as a result less tinder is required. A natural alternative is scrapped birch bark or when no dry tinder is available a feather stick (described in later section). When trying to light a feather stick a slightly different technique is required. First produce a very fine feather stick, a mass of thin wood curls. Place the firesteel on the branch just above the wood curls, then using the back of a knife scrape the last 1 cm or so of the firesteel. The aim this time is to produce a single, large, very hot spark, that will land in the wood curls. Tip, the best technique is to use a strong scoping action i.e. a twisting action instead of a sliding one, when a flame is produced angle the feather stick to catch the remaining curls, or other feather sticks (these do burn quickly, good idea to make a few).
Figure 1.1.4 : Flint and steel
1. Image : reference -
The strike-a-light, or C steel is made from hard carbon steel and flint (quartz, flint the darker the better), the origins of the modern firesteel. When the steel is struck against the flint, the harder flint shaves off small pieces of steel, the energy involved causing them to glow red hot. Note, if the steel is too soft the flint will cut into the steel rather than shaving off small pieces of metal. Obtaining the correct metal for the steel to make one yourself can be difficult. The normal advice is to use an old file, but this can be easier said than done as modern files don’t always work i.e. they are made out of the wrong mixture of metals. Tip, a good test for a suitable file is if it is completely covered in rust. An alternative method I saw on a YouTube video was to use an old hacksaw blade as shown in figure 1.1.5. At first the blade I had did not work, it had to be hardened to get a spark i.e. heated using a blowtorch until red hot, then quenched in water. To strike a spark, hold a fragment of the blade vertically (angled slightly towards the flint) between your thumb and finger tips, striking it down against a sharp edge on the flint i.e. the steels edge is scraped along the edge of the flint (non-toothed side). The trick here is not to hit the flint hard, but to hit it fast, varying the angle of the flint slightly to get a spark. To catch these sparks a good tinder is required, normally charred cloth as shown in figure 1.1.5.1. To make char cloth you need to heat a cotton fabric to a high temperature in the absence of air. This drives off the flammable materials in the fabric as a gas, leaving a carbonised cloth (the same process as making town gas, leaving coke), capable of catching a small spark, smouldering with a hot ember. To make char cloth is quite simple, place a roll of cloth into a small tin e.g. in this case pieces of old jeans and an old paint tin. Make a small hole in the lid and heat. Tip, don’t pack the tin too tightly, as the cloth at the top of the tin will be insulated from the heat i.e. will not char. As the tin is heated, smoke will be driven out of the hole, which can ignite. The cloth inside the tin will not ignite during heating, as air cannot enter the tin whilst these gases are being driven out (assuming the tin has a tight fitting lid). When the tin stops smoking (reduced smoke) take the tin off the heat and allow to cool. To ensure the char cloth does not ignite you can plug the hole with a stick. Alternatively I now use a counter sunk bolt loosely secured in the hole with two nuts (on the inside), such that the bolt has 5 – 10mm of free travel, allowing smoke to be released when under pressure, but blocks the hole whilst cooling. When cool remove cloth and store in a sealed plastic bag or container. Normally not all the cloth will be charred and must be removed (a lighter colour can be reheated), good char cloth has a pure black colour, is soft to the touch, easy to tear, but retaining its shape and fibres when handled. A quick way to make this type of tinder is to use cotton wool, flatten out and set on fire. Allow to burn until completely blackened, then pat out (the charred / burnt cotton fibres catch the spark). Place the tinder on top of the flint, along the edge where the spark is to be struck (the bulk of the tinder forward of the impact point). When a spark is caught, gently blow to enlarge the ember. Once established the ember is very robust and easy to handle. An alternative approach is to strike a spark down onto the charred cloth. Place a square of charred cloth onto a sheltered dry surface (approx. 2cm square). Hold the flint and steel above the tinder as close as possible to maximise the heat of the spark when it lands. I find this technique slightly easier than the first as the tinder does not get in the way when striking a spark. However, you do need a larger piece of tinder i.e. to maximise the chance of the spark landing on the tinder and a good sheltered working position to use this technique. Tip, the frayed edge tends to catch a spark easier than the centre. When a spark is caught, the charred cloth burns to produce a very hot ember allowing it to ignite most tinders, as shown in figure 1.1.5.2. In this example wood shavings have been used (placed on small bed of dried willow herb, not really needed) ignited using a firesteel. An additional pile of shavings are then placed on top and blown to flame. Tip, blow from the base using a hand to hold the wood shavings in place. The char cloth burns like a piece of charcoal maintaining its shape and glowing red hot when blown on. Below are some useful documents on char cloth ive found on the web (due to possible copyright conflicts these are only accessible from the local machine) :
Figure 1.1.5 : Flint and steel, charred cotton wool tinder
Figure 1.1.5.1 : Charred cloth
Figure 1.1.5.2 : Starting a fire with charred cloth
Figure 1.1.6 : Lens, plastic convex lens (left), flat Fresnel lens (right)
Figure 1.1.6.1 : Lens with cramp ball tinder
In good sunlight the power of the sun can be focused with a lens to produce and ember, some examples of cheap plastic convex lenses and a flat Fresnel lens are show in figure 1.1.6. Tip, a larger lens will capture more light allowing an ember to be formed on days with lower levels of sunlight. Angle the lens towards the sun, varying its distance and angle from the tinder, focusing the suns energy to a small point on the tinder bundle. I’ve experimented with cramp balls, char cloth and Amadou, all of which work very well, in fact its surprising how easily an ember can be formed. Tip, due to the bight spot of light it can be difficult to tell if an ember has formed, therefore, after a good quantity of smoke has formed remove the lens and shade the tinder to see if an ember has formed. I have also tried wood shaving and birch bark, however, these just char / smoke without forming an ember. I was surprised how well the flat Fresnel lens worked, this is the size and thickness of a credit card (a little thinner), forming an ember with char cloth as easily as the larger convex lens. It also worked well with the other tinders, but required a little more time compared to the larger lens.
Figure 1.1.7 : Lens with char cloth tinder
Figure 1.1.7.1 : Lens with bulrush tinder
Below are some useful documents on making fire with lenses ive found on the web (due to possible copyright conflicts these are only accessible from the local machine) : Back to Index