Mistakes Newbie Fire Builders Make
- Thread starter 28 gauge
- Start date
If there's one thing I fancy I'm really good at, it's building and maintaining a good camp fire, although thanks to portable gas stoves and hazardous forest fire conditions having one is an increasingly rare experience anymore. I remember setting off into the mountains for a multiday stay with two friends and one of them getting into a panic because no one had packed any newspaper to start fires; I assured him that was not going to be a problem.
From my personal experience I'd say there is something in that pile that we can't see, there was a lot more gas poured on that fire than what we see in the video, or that isn't gasoline hes pouring...
pete dobinson
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Courtenay BC.
If you can get a fire going here on the wet coast you'll easily be able to get a fire going anywhere.
- Location
- West Central Alberta
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Years back I started using a pocket bellows and (for me) it was a game changer… especially in wet/ frozen conditions. A surplus telescoping antenna also works.
Here’s a video of the pocket bellows with the 5” Firebox (I have the smaller Firebox Nano).
[Aside: You could save the $100+ bucks and easily make one of these twig stoves (aka “multi-fuel stoves”)… my old one was a repurposed ~$5 Ikea utensil holder caller ORDNING — the only mod was to cut a slot for side-loading the twigs — it worked almost as well as the $100+ Nano, which is only better because it gets more air underneath, packs flat, and is titanium, about the weight of a typical pocketknife at 100g / 4oz.]
Under wet conditions:
Here’s a video of the pocket bellows with the 5” Firebox (I have the smaller Firebox Nano).
[Aside: You could save the $100+ bucks and easily make one of these twig stoves (aka “multi-fuel stoves”)… my old one was a repurposed ~$5 Ikea utensil holder caller ORDNING — the only mod was to cut a slot for side-loading the twigs — it worked almost as well as the $100+ Nano, which is only better because it gets more air underneath, packs flat, and is titanium, about the weight of a typical pocketknife at 100g / 4oz.]
Under wet conditions:
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
After doing fuel mod contracts in the fall/winter when everything is wet, I’m confident I can get a fire going in most scenarios. I prefer to have a lighter and some burn fuel but can improvise when I need to, as long as I can find some dry wood if some kind I can get things going.
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Dry branches/twigs, old man’s beard, birch bark, spruce, balsam or fir pitch. All work well as fire starter.
Ok, so you pack and carry a tent and a seeping bag just in case .... and when you go on a day hike?
What do you carry when you go on a backpacking trip? A generator and a fridge .... ?
