Where about's are you Geoffers?
Where about's are you Geoffers?
Kris MacLeod
Youtube Channel
Made this a few years ago hope it helps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3YxIJfC0c
Kris MacLeod
Youtube Channel
I'm a Lancashire lad, living a few miles north of Manchester.
Useful video, thanks. I certainly didn't have the amount of kindling you had there so that's something to note.
Hi Geoffers
The great thing about practicing fire-building is: you get to play with fire for a GOOD reason.
In wet conditions, having birch bark as your main tinder, or mixed in with your tinder bundle as Kris (Rough Rambler) showed in his video, is a huge help. Using the video as a guide, I'd probably double or triple (treble? ) the bundle of kindling, again for wet conditions and bring half in from each side and kind of "tent" it over the tinder bundle after the tinder catches. Using Jon's recommendation (OakAshandThorn) of a couple of sticks to lift the kindling up to let it breathe is fantastic.
Lastly, remember the two most important rules for success:
1. Never reveal everything you know.
All the best!
Josh
"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time..." ~Steven Wright~
We did a video on Feather stick making a few years ago, I hope it's of some use to you:
You don't have to light them by spark, but once you get good at preparing them it's good thing to practice.
Also in terms of Fire building, I produced a video here which may be of some help:
I hope that helps and thank you for sharing your experiences with us.
RE: my "how to start a fire" video, that is how I build and start a fire, but as the seasons change so do sometimes the technique, for example at this time of year I would say use a larger amount of the initial kindling that goes on (the stuff thinner than a pencil) probably double / tripple the amount the amount I had in the video.
It all depends on the dryness of the next-stage wood you need to ignite, obviously in the UK in Autumn / Winter it's all generally wetter and harder to ignite.
Remember to skuff off some of the bark on some of the finger thickness stuff you collect to check how much water is being held underneath the bark, different species of tree and different stages of decay will mean they hold varying amount of water underneath their bark, so don't assume it's always dry inside if it feels dry on the outside.
Feather-sticking - even only a little bit will obviously tell you the condition of the wood inside and out.
Really helpful, thanks