There are a lot of different techniques for starting camp fires in the wilderness, from primitive methods like bow drills and flint and steel to ferro rods with chemical tinder and wind-proof butane torches. My favorite option for quickly making fire are the UCO Stormproof Matches™. These matches are longer than standard matches and have a larger head. They go off somewhat like small road flares, they flare very hot for 8 to 10 seconds, and they will burn for around 10 more seconds afterward if protected from wind.
This fire lay was done on wet ground, the day after an all night rain. There was very little prep work involved. First I made a base for the fire from branches collected off the ground that were roughly one inch in diameter. Then I placed small dry twigs, also collected off the ground, on the base. I started with twigs just a little larger in diameter than tooth picks and match stems, and worked up to ones roughly the diameter of a pencil and a little larger. After that I gathered as much fuel as I could from as far off the ground as I could find it. That was the extent of the prep work.
The next step was to strike the match and push the burning tip into a gap in the smallest kindling material as quickly as possible. You can see the match is just starting to flare up good in this photo, and some of the smallest twigs have already caught fire. The initial flames of the fire have ignited in less than half of the burn time of the match. At this point the match would still be flaring for 5 or 6 more seconds, and then the match stick itself would burn another 8 or 10 seconds after that.
Here you can see how the match had burned. The flare has finished and the stem has a small bit of flame still going. Yet inside the pile of kindling you can see that some of the twigs that are a good bit larger than the match stem have caught fire, are burning well, and that the flames are already beginning to spread through the fire lay. These matches aren't all that big, and they don't take up a lot of room, however they do pack a pretty powerful punch and bring a lot to the table.
The next step was to establish sustained fire by adding a good bit of fuel. I started with some about the size of a finger in diameter and a little larger, and then gradually stepping from there. That is the trick with starting fires in wet or damp conditions. Staying with the smaller twigs would cause them o burn out too fast and require a lot of fuel to create any warmth. Going with too large of fuel too soon would only result in a smothered fire, due to there being more moisture in the wood than the available amount of heat heat could dry out and still have enough energy to ignite it. In this photo you can see the amount of moisture rising from the heated wood.
In a short period of time the fire was strong enough, with a substantial bed of coals below, to add larger fuel and create more heat. To me, living in a temperate rain forest, the storm proof matches are an important part of my kit. I spend a lot of time out in the field, and whether I am cold and wet, and in dire need of warmth to prevent going into hypothermia, or it is late when I make it to my campsite tired and hungry, I want a fire starting system that gives me what I need the quickest. So far this is the most reliable and consistent system I have found.
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“Flesh runs from steel”. That’s an old Filipino expression. You can probably recall the last time you accidentally cut yourself. We’ve all had it happen to us. When that blade touches your skin, you retract your hand or pull away. Getting cut hurts and we all have a visceral reaction to the idea of it. Compound this idea with thoughts of your kids or kids entrusted to you and your blood pressure and stress levels will skyrocket. You never want to see a child in pain and yet there will come a time when you must teach a child how to use a knife because one day, they’ll need to. This task can be daunting but there are some very easy rules a kid can follow that you are probably already familiar with. When emotions overpower how we think, we can default to a proven method of breaking down safety by looking to another tool kids should know how to use. If you’re familiar with the 4 Rules of Firearms Safety popularized by Jeff Cooper, you’ll appreciate this methodology.
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Brian Griffin
Author
Brian Griffin is an author, photographer, wilderness and survival skills teacher, knife enthusiast, outdoor gear researcher and product development consultant. He has a decades-long history of using and developing outdoor related tools and gear.