Whether you are lost in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the night, desperately looking for a source of heat, or you simply want to impress your friends with a proof of your boy-scout skills, knowing how to get the right bait. to light a fire can prove to be really useful. The key to having the right bait available is to get easily flammable pieces of wood or something dry that can feed the flame and transfer heat to the firewood.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Material Available in Nature
Step 1. Peel pieces of bark from a tree trunk
The type of tree varies depending on where you are, but the important thing is that the bark is dry. Detach the innermost part of the bark and chop it up; make strips or splinters of wood, depending on the hardness of the bark.
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Get strips of cedar bark. Cedar has a red-brown fibrous bark that is easy to break with your hands.
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Remove pieces of bark from black poplar using a sharp tool. Carve the bark until you reach the innermost part. The bark of the black poplar, like that of the cedar, is rather easy to break up.
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Step 2. If you are near a body of water, look for cattails
Cattail is a fairly common plant in Europe and abounds near ponds.
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You will need to use the bushy part at the top of the stem, which blooms in the fall when the plant lays its seeds. Simply unplug it and set it on fire.
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Towards the middle of summer, the cattail blooms developing a brown sausage-shaped inflorescence at the top of the stem. This part of the plant is very good for starting a fire. Detach and break it to extract the driest part.
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Step 3. Find trees on whose bark tinder mushrooms have grown, a really excellent material for starting a fire
Peel off a fairly large specimen and cut it into small pieces, but only use it if it is dry enough.
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Tinder mushrooms grow mainly on birch trees (easily recognizable by the white bark) and look like dark protuberances of the bark.
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If the mushrooms are wet, you can dry them by putting them in the air and then use them later.
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Step 4. Carve a bamboo cane to make shavings
Holding the knife with the blade facing away from you, slide the blade back and forth to get some chips. They should turn out similar to sawdust
Step 5. Collect any other materials available in nature
Simply put, any plant material is fine, as long as it is dry: dry grass, leaves, sticks, pine needles, lianas. Lighting a fire with these natural fuels can be difficult but, in the absence of anything else, you can still try.
Method 2 of 2: Synthetic material
Step 1. Carbonize pieces of fabric
Cotton patches are an invaluable resource to take with you on a hike.
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Put some rectangles (2.5 cm on each side) of cotton in an airtight container that can withstand the heat (a metal bottle, for example).
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Put the bowl on the stove for about five minutes.
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Remove it from the heat using a pair of tongs and let it cool.
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Open the container and take a look at the patches, they should have turned dark.
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Step 2. Get some iron wool
Iron wool, commonly used to scrub pots and available in any supermarket or hardware store, is an excellent bait, just simply set it on fire.
Step 3. Collect the fluff that forms on the dryer filter
Finally, that lint that you have to remove every time you use the dryer seems to have a purpose! Pick it up, make it into an elongated lump and set it on fire.
Step 4. Dip some cotton balls in petroleum jelly and store them in an airtight container
Vaseline catches fire very easily.
Step 5. Cut out some elongated shreds of paper
A rolled up newspaper, a novel cover or any other paper object at your disposal will do well as bait. Starting a fire with paper can take longer than the methods described above, but it works equally well.
Advice
- Once the fire is lit with matches or a lighter, feed the flame by blowing on the material you used to light it until it glows and incinerates. This will ensure that the heat is transferred to the firewood.
- Chop up the material. In this way the flame will spread more easily.
- Steel wool sprinkled with petroleum jelly is particularly good.
- Store your bait in a suitable container. Common items like aluminum bottles, old pill boxes, travel toothbrush holders, etc. are fine.
- Keep the bait dry. A good fire bait can save your life in a wild environment, especially if it's raining and cold. When you have collected a good amount of material to start the fire, store it in a waterproof container. Particularly suitable containers can be purchased in hiking equipment stores.
Warnings
- After lighting and using a fire, extinguish the flames with sand or water.
- Whenever you deal with fire, be cautious and take proper precautions.
- Make sure you have the necessary permits before lighting a fire outdoors. In certain situations it can be considered as an outlaw act.
- When you light a fire on public land (and not only) always monitor the flame, as prescribed by the authorities.
