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Fire bow and drill are my favorite. I always carry my 5" 8x glass magnifying lens with me too. I like starting fires that way when the sun is out. It requires no physical strength to do. Just pin-point a sun beam into a pile of dry tinder and in a few. . .poof, you have fire!
how do i use this piece of flint for fire? i think i should break it until i get kind of a sharp piece but i dont want to damage it until im sure of what to do with it. also what can i use as a makeshift striker?
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Hit it with the first rock you see, or try the backside of your knifeblade. Did you get sparks? There ya go
Yes make a good sharp edge (it doesn’t have to be so sharp it will cut you) and for a striker you could probably use a horseshoe. On post # 24 I posted instructions on how I do it.
To strike a spark with flint you have to have steel with a high carbon content. Stainless and some tool steels will not make a spark with flint. 1095, 5160, D2 (just a few examples) have enough carbon in them to make a spark.
Stainless (420, 440, etc.) will not produce a spark. Axe and hatchet heads do work though! ;)
A good striker is any American made file. Grind down the striker edge as to not eat too much of your rock.
I use to make up flint and steel kits years ago and sell them at the diff. arts and rock shows. Basically it was an Altoids tin that I had thrown in the fire to burn the paint off, popped a little pin hole in the top, using the tin I would make up some char, put a little piece of leather over the char and stick in a piece of chert and a 1.5" x 2" horse file.
Would show them how to strike it and make a fire with the kits they just purchased. Worked out well as I found a great deal on old horse files at a yard sale.
Always had alot of men and boys around my booth, while the ladies checked out all the girly stuff.
Flint and steel fires are really easy
what you need to do first is find dry (dead grass) feild grass. or dry juniper bark, after you have foraged enough of this bundle it tightly
next make what is described in another thread as fuzzsticks or feathersticks
now gather small sticks and logs(enough for however long you will be staying there for
another material that i love to have is dry rotted wood, as when it is broken and rolled in your hands it will turn to a sawdust like powder( i like to call dry rotted wood "Rotwood") How about you guys heelp me market that word as it is my newest coinage
now to make the fire
take your bundle of tinder and place it on the ground where you want the fire to be. throw some of the powder from the rotwood on the bundle. Take you flint and angle it adjecent to the bundle, now take your knife or striker and scrape itn along the flint just right so that the spark lands in the bundle do this until you make a flame, after the flame is large place the fuzzsticks onto the tinder bundle, now if you want you may place chunks of rotwood on the bundle, now place slightly lager sticks onto the flame let it brn for tirty seconds then go to larger sticks ...keep increasing the size of the firewood until you get to the desired size log.....congrats, hopefully you've done it. if not dont get discouraged just try again
Dom Borelli
If you are useing a lense to make fore you must have the beam of light at its focal point( the point at wich all light that passes trough a lense is consentrated at) place the focal point on a piece of rotwood and get an ember going placce the ember in a fire nest and sqweeze the ember inside the nest...blow on it until you get a flame.Quote:
Originally Posted by owl_girl
It's easy to be caught by surprise by severe weather conditions. And in certain parts of the country, blizzards have been known to occur as early as October and as late as April. If you are caught off guard in the backwoods by a blizzard when away from a shelter, the ability to build a fire could save your life. Here's how to get that blaze going in the most severe weather.
Step One...Head for timber. Any tree you can get to will help. Try to find a tree with a protective well or hollowed out area around it. That means that it will provide some protection from the storm.
Step Two...Dig or stamp down the area. This will give you a place to build your fire, and give you further protection.
Step Three...Get an adequate fuel supply. It doesn't do any good to build a fire if it will only last for 10 minutes. If you can see trees with dead branches that are within reach, this is your best bet for a fuel source. You can probably break off some of these branches without needing an ax or saw.
Step Four...Build a platform. Green branches are the best for this, since they won't burn as quickly. Lay some of your branches side by side, and then make another layer on top of these. This will give your fire a good base and keep it from burning down to snow level too soon.
Step Five...Gather fire-starting material. Break small twigs off of dry branches, and use lichen from trees if it's available. You need as much of the small stuff as possible to give your fire a good start. Don't waste your precious matches until you're really prepared.
Step Six...Form a windbreak. Whatever you can do to block the wind is helpful. If you happen to have a piece of plastic and some rope, building a windbreak is the best thing you can do. If possible, pile up snow and pack it down to form a wall.
Step Seven...Build the fire. Make a little tepee with your kindling material. Light your match, cupping it carefully in your hand, and then light your twigs and whatever other dry, small material you've found. Keep protecting your fire from the wind and continue to add larger and larger material to your fire without smothering it.
Step Eight...Add a ring of rocks. If there are rocks near by, these are helpful to trap the heat of your fire so you can stay warmer and keep your fire going longer.
Be prepared before you go. Most people do not stand much chance of starting a fire in a blizzard unless they have matches or a lighter with them in case of emergency.
It's important to stay as warm and dry as possible. Hypothermia is one of the most imminent dangers you will face when caught in a blizzard.
I hope you don't mind if I disagree with you. I've been in some blizzards that, I promise, you would not get a fire going with a flame thrower in a lumber yard. When the wind is howling and the snow is blowing visibility drops to near nothing. Sometimes a lot lower. Finding any fuel source would be lucky at best and you'd waste tons of valuable calories trying to find any.
You're main concern is obtaining some shelter from the wind. That's the quickest killer in a blizzard. Whether that's in the form of the protective well beneath the tree you described above or some simple snow wall that forces the wind up and over you if you happen to be on a broad open plain. You have to find some break from the wind. A snow cave if the snow is deep enough, a snow trench or even the snow wall. Between that, your clothing and your survival gear you should be able to wrap up and hunker down out of the wind until the storm blows by. Being partially buried by the snow will even provide additional insulation from the wind.
I'd be interested to hear from our Canadian friends. I'll bet they've been through this a time or two.
Rick, I don't mind if you disagree with me especially if you can back it up. Remember back beginning Wednesday January 25, 1978, when Indiana was paralyzed by a snow storm that came to be known as the Blizzard of 78, the worst blizzard on record for our Hoosier state. I lived in Carroll County when the storm hit and I was out in the woods with a fire that I started during the storm. I had about 3 days of supplies with me so I made it through without freezing any body parts. Rick, Here's a little reminder how the blizzard was.
When the blizzard ended early in the morning of the 27th, several Indianapolis snow records were set and have yet to be broken. The 15.5 inches of snowfall was the most for a single storm. The 20 inch maximum snow depth during the storm was the most ever recorded on the ground. The 30.6 inches of snow for January 1978 was the most for any month in Indianapolis history. Maximum snow amounts from the storm reached 20 inches over parts of Central and Southern Indiana and up to 40 inches over parts of Northern Indiana.
The weight of the snow caused several factory and warehouse roofs to collapse. The roof of a school near Muncie also collapsed and a Shelby county man was found dead in a snow drift between his house and his office. The Indianapolis International Airport was closed as 350 travelers became stranded in the terminal for three days along with pilots, other airline employees, airport workers, and the staff at the National Weather Service.
Blizzards are defined as storms with sustained winds or frequent gusts above 35 mph combined with considerable blowing or drifting snow reducing visibilities to under a quarter mile for three hours or more. The Blizzard of 78 easily matched these criteria.
Like the "Perfect Storm," this blizzard began as two unrelated low pressure areas, one in the Northern Plains, the other in the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf moisture and arctic air collided over Indiana near midnight on the 25th as the two systems merged.
On day one, January 25, a heavy snow warning was issued at 430 am and was upgraded to a blizzard warning at 345 pm that afternoon. The day began with five inches of snow on the ground. Only one inch was added by 7 pm, but by 10 pm, snowfall became heavy. Arctic air blasted in just before midnight with frequent gusts above 35 mph creating blizzard conditions. These conditions continued unabated for the next 24 hours.
On day two, just a half hour after the arctic front blasted through, the Indianapolis International Airport was closed due to whiteout conditions. At 3 am, the blizzard produced peak winds of 55 mph. Temperatures dropped to zero that morning. Wind chills remained a bone chilling 40 to 50 below zero nearly all day.
The governor declared a snow emergency for the entire state the morning of the 26th. Snow drifts of 10 to 20 feet made travel virtually impossible, stranding an Amtrak train and thousands of vehicles and weary travelers. During the afternoon of the 26th, the Indiana State Police considered all Indiana roads closed.
Nearly every Hoosier who experienced the Blizzard of 78 has a story to tell. It certainly was one for the records, one to remember for Hoosiers.
I lived in Illinois at the time. Remember it well. Perspective is everything. While it shut just about everything down, I'll bet our AK and Kanuckistan friends went, "Pfffft, 15.5 inches. So?" I was at Steven's Pass, Wa one year right after they opened the pass. They had about 460 inches or so on the ground. 460 inches! I told 'em that was God's way of tellin' 'em they shouldn't live there.
Rick....Changing the subject now, aren't ya!
You boys talking snow here in the Cailf. Serra's snow is not measured in inch's but in feet :D and I am kidding :D
I'm not talking about snow, Rick is...he changed the subject :D. I'm talking about starting a fire in a blizzard.
Wait a minute. Who went into the whole Blizzard of '78 thingy? I just followed up. My point about the Steven's Pass comment and my request of our Kanuckistan friends was starting a fire in a blizzard? I should have stated it better.
Road flares for starting a fire in a blizzard. Now that we are back on track.....
i don't even get excited for that, ah the good ol days i too recall the storm of 78 living in the snow belt it was fun for me, anyhow, i think we can all agree that we all have different strengths and weaknesses,so
as you all know i always advocate being prepared, if you are planning on doing a jaunt into the bush look at the weather channel first. now i know those yahoos are never right so lets move on, pay attn to the weather around you, ok now lets say you were so engrossed at mushroom hunting that you were unaware of the weather or the big bear behind you, so lets say the storm starts, what's your first decision? do you head for the truck or look for shelter. shelter must be first you want out of the wind. hopefully you have dressed properly or brought suitable clothing in your pack. i mean really have you learned anything from this site. so lets say you was a good student and you brought proper clothing, did ya tell anyone where you where headed?
ok so we have shelter if dressed properly we can survive just the way we are as long as we r out of the wind it won't be to bad, if it was that cold it wouldn't be snowing, now would be a fun time to practice making a fire should be enough wood around, let's see what it takes to make a fire go in a blizzard then when we get back we can go to wareagles thread "what i learned today" and tell everyone the joys and sorrows of starting a fire in a blizzard.
always be prepared...
ps when we do our wolfpack gathering i vote that corndog and rick pair up..
Okay, Wareagle. I forgot my good clothes, my survival kit is still in your truck. We're too far out to go back. Here I stand fat, dumb and shivering. The blizzard rages all around us. My only hope for survival is your knowledge. Tell me how to start that fire.....no, you can't kill me off. It would be cheating. Besides, my wife already has dibs on that.
mmmm smart woman:D(j/k)!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
ok obviously i found you in this condition because you would have not gone into the bush with me so ill prepared. a quick scout around shows a blown over pine tree with large roots and some dead fall around i have given you my jacket and a space blanket to stay warm covered the shelter a little more with some dead fall and brought the branches in to start a fire, now seeing as how this is an emergency i'm using my flare to start a quick hot fire so my city slicker friend doesn't die on me here, how's you extremities warm? can you feel them? no i won't kill you i wanna watch you wife do that or maybe she'll kill me for saving you hows you life insurance policy.