Mastering Fire
Depending on your situation, Mastering Fire is one of the top four survival skills; along with shelter, water and food. Believe it or not, it’s the easiest and most forgiving to practice without actually being in a survival situation. At worst, when practicing shelter skills, you could easily get hypothermia. With food, you may have just eaten something deadly. When practicing water skills, you could either develop Giardia or kidney failure. However, if you mess up with fire, well, you don’t have fire and you freeze, go hungry or get eaten by wildlife.
The Role of Fire
It takes merely a month to master fire, but a lifetime to master wild edibles. Does this mean you should only ever be good at fire? Definitely not. Be aware that every situation is different and will have different demands. When a situation presents itself where you will need to find and clean water, you will know it. Be aware that you will always be learning. Few situations are as simple as starting a fire.
Think of fire as the compliment to your wilderness skills repertoire. It cooks your food. It boils your water (but does not kill chemicals). It replenishes body heat. It keeps away wild animals, including mosquitos. It can be used to make simple or complex tools.
How to Practice Fire
It should be obvious that you don’t practice fire when you are actually in a survival situation. If you’re a musician, you don’t learn the song when you get on the stage, right? You get good at it first. Then you are ready for showtime. Once we’ve gotten that primary rule out of the way, here is the rest:
- Get good at using a number of different starter methods including friction, flint & steel, fuzz sticks and matches (I recommend at least ONE friction method).
- Get good at using different types of fuel and when to use them (dryer lint, wood, char cloth, and tinder).
- Practice in all different kinds of weather – especially wind and heavy rain.
- Learn what plants in your area have oil and will light wet or dry.
- Time yourself and set time limits.
A Story of Survival
When my weekly primitive skills group would meet, we would have a one-match five-minute fire among teams of three or four people. This was frequently (and often intentionally) saved for when rain was forecasted.
The fire needed to be successful. A successful fire is one that is not put out on its own (or by the elements) and needs little maintenance for the first ten minutes. One person would gather fuel while the others would arrange it and when the time came, one would light the match. We got to the point where barely a word was spoken when the challenge was called. We practiced through the winter.
One frigid winter day, my team was hiking in the snow when one of us fell through ice while crossing a creek, and was soaked up to his thigh. This hiker may have run the risk of frostbite or even hypothermia. It was showtime. “We need a five minute fire” were the only words spoken (though less calmly than I would have liked) and we got it. We were only set back on time, not on toes
Challenge Yourself
Mastering fire comes quicker than you think. Use the above methods and mix and match them. Decrease your time and work in teams. Yes, you will fail some – for a while. At some point you will have success in driving rain. Learn how to make a reflector wall and to incorporate it into your shelter to minimize fuel use and maximize heat.
As said before, I highly recommend earning at least one friction method. If you have ever seen Tom Hanks start a fire with a fire-plow on Castaway, I can confirm, it feels that good. Do yourself a favor and don’t stop until you get it (it took me two weeks). When you succeed, you will truly appreciate what our ancestors went through (hand drill is 500,000 years old) and the forethought that goes into starting a fire by friction. When you master something like a bow-drill, challenge yourself with swapping out anything store-bought with something handmade. Learn to make rope and swap that out for paracord. Carve your kit (or at least the all-important notch) with a rock. You can challenge yourself to the umpteenth degree. Get creative and have fun!