# wet weather fire tricks



## ntxwheels (Oct 25, 2014)

Hadn't thought about these for years. Ran across them yesterday and they are good info.

1. Stick with the sticky stuff
Pines, firs, spruce, and most other needle bearing trees are my first stop in wet weather because their wood has sticky sap. This is pitch, which is usually very flammable. Select dead twigs underneath the protective canopy of these trees.

2. Peel it all off
Bark is typically a protective structure to save wood from a fire. Most barks aren’t that flammable on their own. Tear, carve or peel the wet bark off your sticks and kindling. There’s often dry wood just below the surface—especially if you got your wood from standing dead vegetation.

3. Split wood burns better that whole sticks
Just like peeling the bark off, cutting or splitting your hardwood kindling in half lengthwise will expose the drier inner wood. The lower mass of these “half” sticks will cause them to light faster than when whole. 

4. Shape it up
Lots of fire making attempts are doomed from the beginning because the fire lay shape is too flat. Build a foot-tall cone of small twigs, and stay away from low-lying kindling configurations. A tall tipi allows heat to rise efficiently through the sticks, drying them out and starting them aflame.

5. Use a fire helper in cold or wet weather
Fire starter cubes, fire packets, fire paste, cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly, or even some drier lint from home could be a lifesaver when the weather turns wet or cold (or both).

6. Light the fire from the windward side
This lets the flames travel through your sticks, engulfing them faster and better.

7. Light the fire low
Fire climbs as heat rises, so make sure you have your match or lighter touching the material at the base of the fire lay. Don’t waste your time trying to light it at the top as if it were a candle.

8. Use a ton of tinder
Tinder is the dry, dead, fluffy plant stuff that lights on fire easiest. The center of your fire lay should be loaded with tinder.

9. Keep a backup handy
A backup wad of tinder can save a failing fire, or be saved for future use.

10. Skip the pit
Fire pits tend to fill with water in very wet conditions, so build a slight mound instead. This keeps your fire base out of the wetness and keeps your fire burning bright.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

ntxwheels said:


> Bark is typically a protective structure to save wood from a fire. Most barks aren't that flammable on their own.


More research may be needed on the above information

Bark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

note that subalpine tree bark may fit the above statement


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

If it's someplace I am going to be for quite a while, I like building a fire against a fallen log, (not completely rotten of course). Once the log starts to burn it is a great source of fuel, still have to add other wood of course. If it's a big log, and you are planning on staying quite a while, you can burn it in two, so you can move it on the fire.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Once you get the fire started things like pine sap will make the fire really hot


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Nice overview.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

2 words- Crankcase Oil


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

Item #2- sometimes true EXCEPT for birch bark. Birch bark has oils that will burn even if wet. Makes a great fire tinder.


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## ntxwheels (Oct 25, 2014)

thepeartree said:


> Item #2- sometimes true EXCEPT for birch bark. Birch bark has oils that will burn even if wet. Makes a great fire tinder.


That's true. Was just trying to give a good overview.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Good topic Wheels. What do you use for your tinder?


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## bigdogbuc (Mar 23, 2012)

I carry Napalm. Thermo-Nuclear detonation works well too.


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## ntxwheels (Oct 25, 2014)

BagLady said:


> Good topic Wheels. What do you use for your tinder?


I keep a freezer bag with wood shavings and one with dryer lint.


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## CWOLDOJAX (Sep 5, 2013)

I just got back from spending a week in a cabin with my wife (our annual anniversary getaway).
Our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson joined us for the last three days.

I discovered something that would be helpful for hiking, and fire starting. In fact I will add it to my GHB too.

A cheap fire stater log sliced into sandwich-sized pieces.
I bought a local brand fire starter log and built a fire after two days of rain in the north Georgia mountains.
the lack of dry tinder was overcome with a sandwich-sized pieces of the fire log...
I molded the slice into a small pyramid and piled pine cones on top of it then set a few logs over that (teepee like).
I then lit the molded pyramid and it burnt for about 15 minutes. Plenty of time to nurse the fire to its full glory.

For $2.75 you could make about a dozen or more slices and have long-lasting fire starter in wet conditions.

(probably not new to the more experienced folks here but a good discovery for me and a budget-minded beginning hiker/prepper.)


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

We had a prepper join here a year so ago, don't remember who or even if he's still around. 
He was wanting to sell "fatwood", really I think that was the only reason he joined, but that's another story.
I had no idea what fatwood was so I didn't know if I needed it or not. So, of course, I looked it up on the answer-box (computer) Seems as after a pine dies, the sap drains down close to the ground. The wood that can be retrieved is very saturated will pine sap and is great for lighting and starting fires. I've since then process a lot (we have many a dead pine around here) It is something that is very much worth having.
here's a video on fatwood, there are tons of info about it on Youtube:


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> We had a prepper join here a year so ago, don't remember who or even if he's still around.
> He was wanting to sell "fatwood", really I think that was the only reason he joined, but that's another story.
> I had no idea what fatwood was so I didn't know if I needed it or not. So, of course, I looked it up on the answer-box (computer) Seems as after a pine dies, the sap drains down close to the ground. The wood that can be retrieved is very saturated will pine sap and is great for lighting and starting fires. I've since then process a lot (we have many a dead pine around here) It is something that is very much worth having.
> here's a video on fatwood, there are tons of info about it on Youtube:


We call those pine knots out here and they burn like gasoline. If you don't want to work to hard finding and harvesting them check your local stores aisle with the duraflame logs. I got this for a few bucks.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Another good Firestarter for wet conditions is Trioxane fuel tabs.


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## Kahlan (Sep 16, 2014)

Since it's raining here today I thought this would be a good day to test out those dryer lint fire starters everybody keeps telling me about. I cut the toilet paper roll in half and made a smaller one. Filled with petroleum jelly and dryer lint. Took it outside in the rain and it burned for 20 minutes. I was impressed. Mind you it's not _pouring_ but it is a good steady rain. I wasn't expecting 20 minutes of flames like I got for a half roll tp holder and some dryer lint. Taking these things camping with me next time for sure.


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## 7515 (Aug 31, 2014)

Arklatex said:


> We call those pine knots out here and they burn like gasoline. If you don't want to work to hard finding and harvesting them check your local stores aisle with the duraflame logs. I got this for a few bucks.


We call them lighter knots in Ga, but I have heard them called fat wood and pine knots also.


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## 7515 (Aug 31, 2014)

AquaHull said:


> 2 words- Crankcase Oil


Aquahull - I save used motor oil for fire starter too. When we clear brush or take down a bad tree you can burn the debris pile the same day with a little help from motor oil


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## A J (Oct 16, 2014)

Regarding 'Fatwood', we always called it 'pitch wood'. We found it on ridge-lines and we thought it occurred to ponderosa pines that had been struck by lighting. We gathered it anytime we found it. If I came across some while hunting, I'd always grab a few small chunks as fire-starters (a piece the size of your little finger is enough to start most fires). It was amazing, you could take a chunk of pitchwood and light it directly with a match! Back when you could buy a cord of wood for $30, there was a guy selling pitchwood for $150/cord!

Not sure if what we called 'pitch wood' is the same as Fatwood or not.

AJ


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

I'm pretty sure it's all the same. Basically a dead pine that has concentrated all the highly flammable resin into the stump. Some of the old timers call them pine matches.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

I grew up back-packing and camping in the western Cascade mountains and in the Olympic national forests. We learned very young how to start a fire in the rain forest. In the Olympics and western Cascades there is no such thing as "dry" tinder. We looked in the low branches of trees to find tinder - branches that broke off the tree but never hit the ground. It was always wet but if you trim off the outer wood the center was always dry enough to make a decent fire starting base. Another thing I learned was to build a "log cabin" fire but upside down. 
Place two 4 to 6 inch logs down about 3 inches apart. Lay some one inch branches across them leaving about a half inch between them. Lay your kinling on that platform with the two bigest pieces on the ends. Lay more kindling crossways on the previous layer and so on using slightly larger kindling as you work up. the top of this stack is using wood that is no more than 1 1/2" in diameter (squaw wood) and you will need a reserve of this stuff so gather it ahead of time. The the split branches and split logs can be put on once you have a fire going. As the coals drop down it gets the two logs on the bottom burning and your fire will last as long as you keep it fed.
The key is to take your time laying the base of this fire and gathering three times the kindling you need for the fire and twice the squaw wood and all the logs you can find that you can split. Have it all on hand before you begin and then once you light the fire it will burn very quickly and need more wood. The upside-down log cabin fire it a great way to get a cooking coal bed in a hurry too - just stop feeding it and you have a bed of coals to cook on.
I did eventually find ways to make fire starting easier but the things I used can also be used for making explosives so we won't go into that - you might not be able to get those materials after the SHTF anyway so learn to make a good fire first.


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## warrior4 (Oct 16, 2013)

I always preferred the lean-to fire lay myself. Get yourself a big old log and build half of a tepee fire lay right next to it. You get most of the advantages of a tepee, heat rising and all that, with a solid hunk of fuel wood and it's fairly easy to convert into a cook fire once it gets going. Also since you're only using basically half of a tepee fire lay if you gather enough stuff for a full tepee fire lay you'll have plenty of I need more tinder stuff laying around or more stuff for the next fire.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

warrior4 said:


> I always preferred the lean-to fire lay myself. Get yourself a big old log and build half of a tepee fire lay right next to it. You get most of the advantages of a tepee, heat rising and all that, with a solid hunk of fuel wood and it's fairly easy to convert into a cook fire once it gets going. Also since you're only using basically half of a tepee fire lay if you gather enough stuff for a full tepee fire lay you'll have plenty of I need more tinder stuff laying around or more stuff for the next fire.


This is how I prefer to make a fire also. And in the mean time, the bigger wood is drying out.


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