Saturday, January 21, 2012

Fire Craft

Matches
· Matches are one of the easiest and best ways to start a fire. Make sure your matches are waterproof. To ensure your matches stay dry store them in a waterproof container along with a dependable striker pad. (An easy way to waterproof matches is to dip them in nail polish.)  
 Convex Lens

· This method only works on a bright sunny day when the suns rays are intense. You can use a lens from binoculars, camera, telescope, or my favorite a magnifying glass. Angle the lens and focus the suns rays on the tinder to a fine point. Hold the lens there on the same spot until it starts to smolder. Blow on it gently until you get a flame and apply it to your larger tinder pile.  
Battery
· This method all depends on the type of batter you have. Attach a wire to each side of the battery terminals and touch the opposite ends of the wires together next to your tinder so that the sparks will ignite it.
Flint and Steel

· The direct spark method is the easiest of the primitive methods to use. The flint and steel method is the most reliable of the direct spark methods. Strike a flint or the sharp edge of a hard rock with a piece of the carbon steel. When a spark has caught in the tinder, blow on it and the sparks will spread and burst into flames.
Gunpowder
· Carefully extract the powder from an ammunition shell. Pour the powder on your tinder. The smallest of spark will ignite the powder so be careful and keep your body as far away from the powder as possible while generating a spark.
Fire Plow
· The fire-plow is a friction method of ignition. You rub a hardwood shaft against a softer wood base. To use this method, cut a straight groove in the base and plow the blunt tip of the shaft up and down the groove. The plowing action of the shaft pushes out small particles of wood fibers. Then, as you apply more pressure on each stroke, the friction ignites the wood particles.
Bow and Drill
· The technique of starting a fire with a bow and drill is simple, but you must exert much effort and be persistent to produce a fire. You need the following items to use this method:
Socket – The socket is an easily grasped stone or piece of hardwood or bone with a slight depression in one side. Use it to hold the drill in place and to apply downward pressure.
 Drill – The drill should be a straight, seasoned hardwood stick about 2 centimeters in diameter and 25 centimeters long. The top end is round and the low end blunt (to produce more friction).
 Fire – board. Its size is up to you. A seasoned softwood board about 2.5 centimeters thick and 10 centimeters wide is preferable. Cut a depression about 2 centimeters from the edge on one side of the board. On the underside, make a V-shaped cut from the edge of the board to the depression.
 Bow – The bow is a resilient, green stick about 2.5 centimeters in diameter and a string. The type of wood is not important. The bowstring can be any type of cordage. You tie the bowstring from one end of the bow to the other, without any slack.
To use the bow and drill, first prepare the fire lay. Then place a bundle of tinder under the V-shaped cut in the fire board. Place one foot on the fire board. Loop the bowstring over the drill and place the drill in the precut depression on the fire board. Place the socket, held in one hand, on the top of the drill to hold it in position. Press down on the drill and saw the bow back and forth to twirl the drill. Once you have established a smooth motion, apply more downward pressure and work the bow faster. This action will grind hot black powder into the tinder, causing a spark to catch. Blow on the tinder until it ignites.

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