Knowing how to make a fire is one of the most important survival skills there is. If you spend a lot of time in the woods you run the risk of getting lost and being stranded over night. If you do end up stranded in the woods making a fire will provide warmth, help dry out clothing and be a source of light once the sun goes down.
The following is a guide on how to make fire:
Step One:
When making fire, you need to start small and build it up gradually, beginning with small pieces of wood and thin tree bark, then progressing to larger pieces as the fire gets stronger. There are three levels of fire material tinder, kindling, and fuel.
(side note: Make sure you start looking for fire materials before it gets dark and gather enough to last you as long as possible it is better to have to much fire wood then run out early in the night.)
Step Two:
Make a small pile of tinder to ignite with a small amount of kindling on top of it. Once the tinder is lit you will want to feed your small flame with small pieces of wood and other materials that will burn until you have established a sustainable flame. After you have a sustainable flame you can start to add larger pieces of wood that will burn longer. Continue to gradually build it up until you are using large piece and the fire and survive by itself with little maintenance.
Step Three:
Once your fire is sustainable, you can begin to add on large pieces of wood. These pieces will burn longer and require less maintenance then kindling or timber. Logs burn for a while but you will need to feed your fire a new log every 15 or 20 minutes to keep it going over time.
Required Fire Supplies
Tinder:
To start you need material that will ignite very easily. This is called tinder, tinder is dry material that requires very little effort to light requiring only a spark. Hopefully if you are traveling in the woods you have a fire starter(matches, flint, lighter). The tinder must be absolutely dry otherwise you will struggle to get it to light. Lots of things can be used for tinder, leaves, thin tree bark, paper, grass, and resin. You can find resin in spruce and pine trees. Resin burns even when wet.
Kindling
Kindling is small flammable material that you add to the burning tinder. Small dry twigs, chunks or tree bark and sticks are best. They should light easily when placed on a small flame. The dead tree branches provide excellent kindling, and they are usually dry, even if it has rained. Have a good supply of kindling on hand to ensure you build a big enough flame to support larger logs latter on.
Fuel:
Once your fire is sustainable, you can add on large pieces of wood. Large firewood must be as dry as possible. Look for dead trees, or large dead branches that have fallen they are usually a good source of dry firewood. Avoid wood that is fall brittle and looks rotted if you can avoid it.
