If it's raining and all the wood you touch seems sopping wet, all is not lost! It's amazing how many people get disheartened because they think all the wood is wet, sound dead wood won't be wet inside! Take a look...
If it's raining and all the wood you touch seems sopping wet, all is not lost! It's amazing how many people get disheartened because they think all the wood is wet, sound dead wood won't be wet inside! Take a look...
That is a really good video chaps. A good challenge for an outing to the woods this weekend.
Martin
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
How about giving this a go then.
http://www.youtube.com/user/LearnBus...14/u8exsZHfAUU
Check out his wet hand drill too.
Now there's a challenge.
[SIZE=4][COLOR=#8b4513]Wake me up when things are over, and I'm Wiser and older.
Maybe a wee but of topic but Luresalive and I went out purposely in a rainstorm to see if we could get a fire going with only what we could find around us, we also set ourselves the challenge that we were only aloud to use our ferro rods. After trying feather sticks and a few other things we found that nothing can beat the good old birch bark and old hog-weed stems, we had a crackin blaze going using them, we did try feather sticks but we found that no matter how we tried to shelter them they were still getting wet but that's not to say they wouldn't have lit if we were using matches or a lighter.
It can be a pain getting a fire started around here sometimes. We have rather high humidity. I try when possible to start a fire with my firesteel and what I can find laying around. Something I find that helps though is a bit of charcloth. There is some sort of grass that grows around in fields on along the woodline, almost looks like a rye grass. But when it is dry it lights quite well with a bit of charcloth, even when wet from rain.
I like Shewie's idea of surrounding it with the pieces of bark. I imagine that helps quite a bit. Have to try that next I'm out.
Good vid lads
Not seen the chest grip idea before, clever that
Another way I've tried is using a tea light candle inside a kind of pyramid made up of small feathersticks and twigs, some thicker stuff on top and then encasing it with bark to create an oven effect.
The featherstick video is the best guide to making feathersticks i've seen. It gives a couple of handy tips that you don't get in books.
Love this video and in my opinion feather sticks are a must for anyone wanting to light a fire, i understand about birch bark grass etc but you wont always have these in some of the woodland you might inhabit. I like to make my sticks so that i have actually graded my tinder on the stick from very fine shavings getting slightly thicker you then get a good sustained burn through out. I have made fires in all weathers and have always had success but One thing i have learned is you cant make a fire quickly and if you try there is a good chance you will fail.
excellent video! Always remember though that to split the wood that is dead but still standing.