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Old 02-28-2014, 12:29 PM   #21
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Over the years I have at one time used all of the above ways to start a fire when in the Boy Scouts we had to try all of the primitive methods flint and steel worked the best for me. but to get a fire going and keep it going depends a lot on the weather and just how dry your wood is. in some of the state parks along the coast in my area try to sell wet or real damp wood it will burn but need a hot fire first. so I use what ever method works at the time.
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Old 02-28-2014, 02:37 PM   #22
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I witnessed one camper roasting marshmallows under a fire fed by a stream of charcoal lighter fluid
.........and all this time I've been cooking my marshmallows with a propane torch
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Old 02-28-2014, 04:10 PM   #23
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Ok, Clubhouse and Crabman,

How about some tips and tricks for the people who didn't make it to Boy Scouts (I stopped once I earned the AOL). Now, I have never resorted to using lighter fluid (that is just wrong), but I can't seem to get a good, long lasting burn going.

Any tips?

Kris
Crabman already already gave some sound advice. I'll reiterate a couple points...

1) Most important is seasoned firewood. The wood must be dry to start a quality campfire. However, once you get a very hot fire with a deep bed of coals you can burn just about anything. I always bring firewood, but I'm aware in some areas of the country transporting firewood is prohibited, as is collecting wood in the CG so you are stuck with what ever they are selling. If this is the case where you live, it might be worth seeing if a local grocery stores sell small bundles of kiln dried or "pest free" wood that you can bring along just to start the fire with.

2) Start very small and add incrementally larger pieces of wood as the fire can sustain it. I carry a hatchet and always split a few logs into a variety of sizes before I start so that I can be ready with appropriate sized wood. It takes me 30 to get a fire to a point it can sustain actual logs. Then after that it takes a couple hours to create enough coals to effectively cook, roast hotdogs or marshmallows if that is part of the plan.

3) If the ground in the fire pit is wet, or deep with ash, I'll lay a couple of the flattest logs I have as a based to build on to keep the tender off the wet ground or sinking into the ashes.

4) Don't smother the fire. When adding wood make sure you are leaving plenty of air pockets so the fire can draw oxygen for combustion -- otherwise it smokes and dies.

Patience is often what is missing when I see bad fires. Folks come home from their day at play and want a fire and be cooking in 10 min. They dump a bunch of logs in the pit douse in accelerant and call it good, or they wad up a couple newspapers stack logs of top and light it thinking that it will just start right up.

You will notice in Crabman's pictures the wood used in each technique is very small, provides plenty of air flow, and has the necessary tender in the middle to begin to build a base of coals to ignite the wood above from.

I prefer the "pyramid" approach.
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Old 02-28-2014, 04:14 PM   #24
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Oh, and if everything else fails --- Diesel is way better than lighter fluid or gasoline
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Old 02-28-2014, 04:28 PM   #25
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^^^Great advice, clubhouse. I did not have time to go into detail like that when I posted so glad you could explain it further. I agree about green wood can be burnt on a hot established fire, but will result in failure starting one. And patience is your friend, gotta wait for those coals for a good cooking fire. Then you can do most anything, including foil dinners placed in the coals, a Scout tradition.
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Old 03-01-2014, 01:16 PM   #26
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Primitive is as defined in my earlier post
Primitive is as defined any way you want. After all this is a Jayco forum so we can assume everyone on here owns or has owned an RV of sorts. Anyway, not to argue, just saying that primitive firestarting to many is using a wadded up state map and matches from the restaurant they ate at the day before when they didn't have a duralog or newspaper.

Even the guys on the survival shows stress that a bic should be in all survival packs
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Old 03-01-2014, 01:34 PM   #27
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One of the fires that I like to make is using a hollow log. Stand the hollow log up on end, sitting on some decent size tender (few inches in diameter) to allow air to flow in from the bottom. Place a bunch of Tender in the log and light the bottom. The hollow log acts as a chimney. Gives a great burn, looks great. About a 12” log will burn for about 2.5 to 3.5 hours with no need for of any additional fuel. It has a rocket engine look as it burns. Sometimes I do the same thing with a log that is full of nasty knots that I do not want to split. I just use a 2.5 inch fostener bit to drill down, and then drill in from the side to make an air inlet.

Unless the wood is wet and badly rotten, it does not take much tinder to get it started, and burns for hours with no work.
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Old 03-02-2014, 09:25 AM   #28
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Primitive is as defined any way you want. After all this is a Jayco forum so we can assume everyone on here owns or has owned an RV of sorts. Anyway, not to argue, just saying that primitive firestarting to many is using a wadded up state map and matches from the restaurant they ate at the day before when they didn't have a duralog or newspaper.

Even the guys on the survival shows stress that a bic should be in all survival packs
Just because you own an RV doesn't necessarily mean that you can't build a fire without accelerants, propane torches, county maps and matches from the Ritz Carlton restaurant. I simply wanted to hear about other peoples experiences building fires using primitive methods, once again as defined in my posts in this thread. Not your definition of primitive...my definition. I know that Les Stroud et al say you should stash a bic in the bugout bag. Tell me about how you made a fire with no matches, egg cartons, sawdust, diesel fuel, propane, MAPP, old Michigan road maps, corn chips, Doritios, Twinkies, etc. Permissible items are sticks, flint & steel, friction, sunlight, heat of compression.

Over and out.
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Old 03-02-2014, 09:49 AM   #29
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Here's my fireClick image for larger version

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Old 03-02-2014, 09:55 AM   #30
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Shrimp and Oysters on the beach in Oregon.Click image for larger version

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Old 03-02-2014, 11:10 AM   #31
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Clearly some of us strayed from the original subject matter, including myself, which is how you make fires using primitive techniques. Let`s get it back on track
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Old 03-02-2014, 12:55 PM   #32
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As a boyscout I used Flint and Steel with finely shredded pieces of cedar bark. Oh and huffed and puffed till I was blue int he face. One you get Cedar burning there is no slowing it down.

Crabman I have another medic at the station that was a scout. We still cook the foil dinners every now and then when on shift. Using the oven gets the job done..... just leaves out some of the campfire taste.
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