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While making a fire might seem easy to some a lot of people have never learned the proper way to make a fire that will catch almost every time. First we’ll go over the construction of a fire before any source of flame is applied and then go over the common and not so common ways that you can start a fire.
Basic Fire Construction
The three main components of a fire are as follows.
Tinder – This is used to take and spread the flame from the source. You can use dry leaves or grass, small twigs, some mosses, paper, etc. Anything that will light quickly and burn fast is ideal for this.
Kindling – Essentially this can be considered the intermediate step between tinder and fuel. It needs to be small enough that it will catch from the short but intense flame provided by the tinder. Think of twigs or wood that has been split into smaller pieces.
Fuel – The fuel is the main energy source for the fire. The previous two components are solely to ignite the fuel. Large pieces of wood are used for fuel due to how long and intensely it will burn
All three of these parts are gathered and put together before any flame is added. The tinder goes at the very bottom and is then covered by pieces of kindling. However, make sure you leave room to ignite the tinder later. Next the kindling is covered by logs for fuel. The idea is that the tinder burns rapidly igniting the kindling which is then able to start the fuel burning at which point you have an easily maintainable fire by just adding fuel as needed. There are many different configurations used such as the “teepee”, “log cabin”, etc. Just remember to allow access to the tinder while still keeping things kind of tight to ensure proper heat transfer but also making sure oxygen will be able to reach the flames.
Of course you’ll need a source of flame to put this whole setup into action. The easiest source is a match or lighter but this won’t win you any “cool” points and I’m assuming you can probably figure out how to light a match or spark a lighter.
How to Make a Fire with a “Bow”
One of the most common alternative methods of starting a fire is to use a “bow” composed of some kind of string and two sticks to create enough friction to ignite some tinder. Below you can see a video of someone doing just this. There are some important things to note when doing this though. Notice that the other end of the “spindle” is being supported with another piece of wood (in his non-bow pulling hand) to allow it to spin easily. Also, when you do get some smoking coals from the tinder be sure you get a handful of tinder and create a hole as shown for it to rest in. Think of it like a birds nest that you then cover with more tinder.
It’s a good idea to practice making a fire before you’re in a wilderness or survival situation so you can learn the proper way to do it. You don’t want to be fighting with a fire that isn’t getting enough oxygen or didn’t have enough tinder to get going when you’re using up matches, lighter fluid, time, and energy especially in a life or death situation.
