Getting Fired Up!

Of all the skills that you can practice and own, fire making is probably the most difficult to master.  In an article I wrote a few years ago, I used a truism that states, “Fire is hardest to start when you need it the most.”  It has been estimated that there are probably a hundred different ways to start a fire!  However, it is better to truly own a handful of methods than to be acquainted with many.

The issue for most people is that they have never had to successfully start a fire in really bad weather.  The next time it rains, get out your matches, your Bic lighter, your ferrocerrium rod, your flint and steel etc. and practice, practice, practice!  When every thing is wet and cold, that is when you will discover if you own the skill of fire making or not.  The more you practice at anything the better you will get at it.  For many years now, I have forced myself to practice fire starting using methods other than matches or lighters.  You must become intimately familiar with types of tinder and kindling both natural and artificial, where to find it in all kinds of weather, as well as the various types of wood and configurations to give your fire the best chance to burn.  You need to know how fire behaves in dry air as well as humid air, how it burns in winter when it is below zero as well as in the summer.  You need to know how to make char cloth and use various types of bark and the list goes on.

Anyone can start a fire using even a magnifying glass in August when it is 95 degrees and it hasn’t rained for three weeks.  In fact, your problem may be too much fire!  But when your fingers are numb and your are shivering and everything is wet, that is when you need to own fire!

These are the basic methods you should own, from easiest to most difficult:

1.  Matches

2.  Lighter

3. Ferrocerrium Rod

4. Magnifying glass

5.  Traditional flint and steel

6.  Friction Methods

My favorite fire story in the Bible is from the life of Elijah.  After the prophets of Baal had finished their pleadings and contortions to their false god, Elijah had his altar thoroughly soaked with water and even had a trench dug around it filled with water.  After a short prayer to the True God, fire came from Heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the stones, all the water and even licked up the dust in the trench!  Now that is some fire making skill.  When you can start a fire by faith, that’s when you know you are living right and God is listening to your prayer!

James B.

PS. You can check out my website where you can set up training for many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.