Fire starters? 🔥 🔥

[dsayer]

I've never had a problem starting a fire at 10,000 feet.... The beauty of high elevation is that there is less humidity....Makes starting a fire easier. Water evaporates quite quickly....
I think Aspen has a nice inner bark like most poplars...suitable for a birds nest...

It is work noting that I don't generally use the typical birdnests any more....Punkwood and shavings do the job....But you should have no problem finding dry grass, punkwood or anything else you need at elevation....

If you find a beaver pond, you'll likely find dead trees, chewings, bark, and tall grass....just don't drink the water.... :grin:

True story on the beaver pond water... My wife had giardia once, yikes. :barf:

I was thinking aspen probably had a good inner bark but have never really paid attention and definitely punk wood all around up there. I've been able to get away with being quite lazy with my waxed egg cartons at camp, and just pile up a bunch of thumb-sized sticks around it. :idunno:

 

[Black Hand]

I've been able to get away with being quite lazy with my waxed egg cartons at camp, and just pile up a bunch of thumb-sized sticks around it.

Camp is the best place to practice. You should be able to get a fire going with Flint & Steel under ideal conditions in less than 5 minutes, though it might take a few minutes longer to figure out the technique. With practice, you can easily get from striking a spark to nest blown into flame in 30-60 seconds...

 

[necchi]

7 seconds from first strike

 

[coloradoclyde]

On more than one occasion I have started a fire by simply taking a handful of punkwood and a handful of sticks, igniting the punkwood, pile on the sticks and walk away and do other camp chores....It smokes a lot until it burst into flames....but hey....That gets rid of the mosquitos. :wink:

 

[tenngun]

I have had sparks fall in uncharted tow and catch and hold a spark. Would not want to depend on it but it has happened

 

[dsayer]

Camp is the best place to practice.

Yes, even when I'm on scouting trips there's lots of dead time around camp. Looking forward to getting out there. I'm very impatiently waiting for the snow to melt in the high country... Can't wait to get up there.

 

[Black Hand]

Don't you have a deck, porch, yard or garage? Why wait until the snow melts to practice...?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Don't you have a deck, porch, yard or garage? Why wait until the snow melts to practice...?

Amen!...I never learned anything by procrastinating....

 

[dsayer]

Don't you have a deck, porch, yard or garage? Why wait until the snow melts to practice...?

Amen!...I never learned anything by procrastinating....

Sorry guys, wasn't fully clear. Didn't mean that camp would be the only place I'd practice. In fact, I just cleared a bunch of dead tree limbs from my backyard last weekend and have a big practice stash. I often use a firebox nano stove when I backpacking and it will serve as my "at home" fire pit.
https://www.fireboxstove.com

 

[coloradoclyde]

I often set one of these next to the picnic table and build a fire in it...I call it my "campfire in a can".....Just enough warmth and ambiance. Sometimes I cook over it too....

 

[coloradoclyde]

As small as the firebox stove is you would probably boil water with just some charred punkwood....

 

[dsayer]

I often set one of these next to the picnic table and build a fire in it...I call it my "campfire in a can".....Just enough warmth and ambiance. Sometimes I cook over it too....

Good idea. I have one of these as well. Figured I may as well practice at home with the stove I use while camping.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I've been using homemade charcoal a lot lately....
About 2.5 billion people world wide use wood, charcoal or animal dung to cook with...
Charcoal is lighter than wood, almost smoke free, burns clean, has a reduced fire hazard, is easy to light, doesn't soot your pots as bad, and gives off a lot of heat.

 

[tenngun]

Once you ignite your tinder nest you don’t need to go on to light a fire. To practice you can catch a spark, put it in your fluff and blow to a flame. Drop that stamp out and repeat.
After you have ignition building a camp fire is no different then a match or a bic

 

[nhmoose]

...then we got to go to that byproduct of a fungus infection of grain...

Are you referring to Ergotism...?

Robin Cook wrote a best seller about that!

Reptilian part of the brain was sweet.

 

[fleener]

those fire box stoves are cute little things, thanks for providing a link.

Fleener

 

[Rifleman1776]

Thanks everyone!

What have you had success with at high elevations (10,000+ feet)? Lots of dead pine from the beetle kill and aspens where we hunt.

10,000 foots up? I'm getting woozy just thinking about that. :wink:
Practicing fire starting is different everywhere. The bayous of Louisiana are a lot different than Colorado mountain tops. Methinks that tree moss might be good stuff but never tried it.

 

[Black Hand]

Methinks that tree moss might be good stuff but never tried it.

Moss seems to suck moisture from the air and can be difficult to light. When burned, moss can also produce much smoke...

 

[Black Hand]

It is also my understanding that in some places (like the Southern USA), moss is a great home for insects such as chiggers...

 

[dsayer]

those fire box stoves are cute little things, thanks for providing a link.

Fleener

I like it for my solo ultralight trips.