How to make a big fire. Step-by-step instructions: how to light a fire correctly. What is ignition and where to get it

Making a fire from a stump is most often required not by a tourist or a person in the wild, but by summer residents or builders who need to remove an unwanted tree residue from the site. Nevertheless, even in the wild, a situation may arise when a stump is the only available or most convenient source of fuel. You can make a fire in it or completely burn it out in different ways. Let's look at a few of them next.

An example of burning a stump when a “Finnish candle” fire is made from it.

Stump as a source of firewood

If there is an ax or a saw available, you can make logs from hemp for a future fire. But here it is important to consider that chopping or sawing a stump is not always as convenient as a dead wood trunk.. The fact is that due to the branching of the roots, the fibers in it diverge in different directions, which increases its strength and prevents easy splitting.

In addition, the lower part of tree trunks can often be damp or rotten, which is not at all good for a future fire. Kindling a fire on such logs will be problematic, and wet or rotten logs thrown into an already large fire will smoke rather than burn.

The photo below shows a rotten stump, which was relatively easy to chop for firewood:

Finally, it is impossible to turn, lift and do other actions with it, and therefore it is necessary to chip logs from it in the position in which it is on the ground.

Therefore, it is often more convenient to make a fire in the stump itself.

Stump in the fire

You can burn a stump, turning it into the coals of a fire, by overlaying it on all sides with brushwood and firewood. In this case, the outer walls of the fire will turn into burning coals, reflecting heat onto the fuel put into the fire. In order for such a stump to start burning faster, it is better to remove the bark from it and make notches on the sides.

Moreover, it is possible to burn a stump not along the entire perimeter, but, for example, by laying firewood on only one side. In this case, the stump will reflect heat only in one direction, which is convenient for heating while saving fuel.

This option is convenient for stumps of any height, since low stumps will completely burn out in a fire, and high ones will burn out in the lower part, forming a free log, from which you can also make a fire, for example, a Finnish candle.

Finnish stump candle

From a stump, without burning it in the lower part, you can make a fire, called.

There are different options here. Let's consider a few of them.

In the presence of a stump whose cross-sectional diameter is less than its height:

On one side of the stump, the bark is removed and notches are made.
Right next to this stump from the hewn side, a small fire is bred like a "hut".
Two or three logs of the same height as the stump are cut, and preferably approximately the same diameter.
On each log, on one side, deep notches are made with an ax or a knife.
All logs are placed on the end and lean against the stump from the side of the fire and against each other by the sides on which the serifs are made. If necessary, you can prop up the logs so that they do not fall.
Chips and small brushwood are thrown into the gap between the logs and the stump.
The coals swell to ignite.
The fire sets fire to the logs and stump from the inside, forming an independent fire.

The video below shows how such a fire is made, only in the case of a stump, we use, in fact, a stump as one of the logs:

If there is a chainsaw available (or a simple chain saw and a large supply of vigor and strength), then a Finnish candle can be made from a stump without special costs of brushwood and firewood. For this:

With a chainsaw, four vertical cuts are made in the stump so that all the cuts intersect in the center of the stump with their middle.
A little gasoline or ignition fluid is poured into the center. The container with flammable liquid is removed to a safe distance.
The stump is set on fire with a long splinter, the fire of which falls into the center of the stump - the stump flares up.

In this option, after a while, the burning slots will expand - and combustion will go into active smoldering mode. In order to resume combustion and burn out the stump to the end, it will be necessary to add fuel to it in the form of brushwood or firewood.

The video shows how the log prepared in this way is actively burning, it does not matter if it is a separate log or a stump in the ground:

If the middle of the stump began to rot and turned into dust, you can do the following:

Remove the middle of the stump.
If there are wide longitudinal cracks in the stump, great. If there are none, you need to cut them down with an ax. Through these cracks, air will flow to the fire.
Above the central hole of the stump, put a fire "hut" and set fire to it. Burning coals will fall into the hole, filling the stump from the inside until flames appear from the center.

In this option, you will also have to throw brushwood, chips and small firewood in order to burn it clean.

In conclusion, I would like to say that a stump fire is, although not the best option, but in conditions of survival with an acute lack of fuel, it will also help to warm up, cook food and dry clothes. Still, the fire from it is no different from the fire of an ordinary fire. In the country or in the garden, burning stumps in this way allows you to get rid of them without the involvement of special equipment.

The ability to light a fire in survival conditions is one of the most important skills, because with the help of a fire you can keep warm, dry things, disinfect water by boiling it, cook food, and illuminate the area. And also, it is fire in the wild that allows you to scare away wild animals, give signals, and even make primitive tools with your own hands.

The topic of how to start a fire and make a fire is very large, whole books can be written about it, but here I will try to very briefly talk about everything that may be required to organize a fire in tourism or in emergency survival conditions. And then I will give specific step-by-step instructions for making a fire in the wild.

So let's start with the basics.

The three ingredients needed to make fire

Combustion is the oxidation reaction of fuel with the release of heat. In order for a fire to burn, three factors must be present.

The first is fuel. For reasons that are understandable even for dummies, there will be no fire without fuel, because there will be nothing to oxidize.

The second is oxygen. The oxidation reaction is impossible without oxygen. Oxygen is contained in atmospheric air, which means that in order for the fire to burn, air must be provided to it.

Many beginners at the moment of kindling a fire fill it with brushwood, thereby reducing access to fresh air. This can lead to complete extinction of the fire. In these cases, the fire is said to have suffocated. That is, in this situation there is enough fuel, but oxygen is in short supply.

For the same reason, if you kindle a fire high in the mountains, for example, on the top of Everest, where oxygen is three times less than at sea level, if it burns, it will be very weak. Cooking food on such a fire will not work, since water will boil at temperatures well below 100 ° C due to low pressure.

And finally the third is the temperature. In order for the oxidation reaction to start (that is, the combustion itself), it is necessary to heat the fuel and oxygen to a certain temperature, and after that the heating will occur due to the heat generated as a result of the combustion itself.

This moment can be clearly demonstrated if you connect three smoldering logs so that their coals are in contact. The coals begin to heat each other - and a fire appears. If they are moved away from each other, the fire will go out due to insufficiently high temperature, remotely the coals will begin to fade.

The video shows how heated coals are easily inflated next to each other until a flame is obtained:

The theory has been dealt with a little. Let's move on to more practical things - a brief instruction on how to prepare and make a fire.

Finding and preparing a campfire site

If you choose the wrong place for a fire and do not properly prepare it, you can encounter a number of problems, from mild discomfort to life-threatening situations.

The fire should not be lit:

In areas where it is forbidden to light fires by law, for example, in nature reserves. Illegal lighting of a fire is fraught with fines.
In places where making a fire can lead to a fire, for example, in thickets of dry grass and shrubs, in peat bogs, burnt areas and areas where there is a large amount of wood debris. Naturally, you should not make a fire for children without adults, especially in an apartment from an outlet, on a balcony, in a fuel barrel, as well as using a battery and bare wires - this can lead to tragic consequences.

During the fire hazard period, it is not allowed to make fires in forest areas, and it is also impossible to burn dry grass near buildings and summer cottages. This is a legislative prohibition, the violation of which, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses, provides for administrative liability with punishment in the form of a large fine.

Under trees: Fire can damage their root systems and also ignite dry crown branches. In addition, if you decide to make a fire for a barbecue in a snowy winter, snow melted from the heat may begin to drip from the branches into it or even whole snowballs fall, which will lead to the extinction of the fire.
In the immediate vicinity of the tent, as sparks can burn through the fabric of the tent, and smoke will make staying in it unbearable.

The most successful place for a fire is on stones near the water, for example, near a river, at a sufficient distance from the tent on the leeward side of it. It is important to identify a place for the future fire where it will not interfere with movement around the camp. In this case, precautions will be observed and you will not have to face the wrath of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In addition, it will be easier to maintain and then extinguish the fire.

The photo shows a fire in an almost ideal place:

You need to follow these tips everywhere, even on a desert island - this is the key to your safety and comfort.

In some situations, the place of the future fire should be prepared in advance in a certain way. Let's consider several such cases:

If a bonfire needs to be kindled in the snow, then in order for it not to melt the snow and fall into it, the bonfire is created in the form of a flooring of logs. Or, with a shallow snow cover, the snow is dug up to the ground, and a fire is already being made at the bottom of the pit. You should also know the technique and be able to make fires that do not melt the snow, for example, nodu and hunting.
If it is planned to build a fire in a swamp or on water, for example, a signal one, the fire is made on a raft or flooring made of logs, which are mounted on legs made of additional poles.
In case of inclement weather, it is best to place a campfire site under natural shelter, for example, at the entrance to a cave, or to provide protection from precipitation by stretching an awning or a piece of polyethylene over the fire at a safe distance. This rule also applies when food is planned to be cooked on a gas burner.
In strong winds, it is better to plan a place for a fire behind a natural shelter, for example, behind a large stone, or create such a shelter yourself by laying a wall of turf cut out in the form of bricks, or building a fence of poles intertwined with brushwood. Also, with a strong wind in the field, you can make one of the fires in the pit, for example, a trench or a Dakota hearth.
If there is a shortage of firewood, it is best to lay out a platform under the fire with stones: this way it will shield the heat, and then give additional heat due to the heated stones.

Even if the fire is made on a non-combustible site, it is advisable to make a “litter” of stones for it, which will allow it to accumulate heat.

When planning a fire inside a shelter, remember that not every shelter is suitable for making a fire in it. Even a candle lit at night or a wick of a kerosene stove can cause intoxication, not excluding the death associated with it. Therefore, when organizing a fire inside the shelter, due attention should be paid to ventilation. Given the lower density of carbon monoxide (aka carbon monoxide) compared to air, ventilation should be located correctly - in the upper part of the shelter.

There are ready-made options for shelters specifically designed to kindle fires in them. These are, for example, the wigwam and tipi used by the Indians of North America. Fire can also be built into an igloo with ice walls, due to the temperature difference, the water formed from the heat immediately freezes.

In order to avoid ugly “scars” on the ground after a fire, even divorced for a long time, you can:

Dilute it in the pit, and then fill the pit.
Remove the sod, and after the coals have cooled, return it to its place.
Put a fire on a deck of logs or stones.
Make a fire that does not leave a fire, for example, from two logs or a variant.
Kindle a fire in the immediate vicinity of the water during a decrease in the level in the reservoir, so that the water that rises in the future makes sense of the remains of a fire.

The photo shows the place from which the turf was removed before making a fire, and then, when the fire was extinguished, the bedding was returned to its place:

It can be seen that there are practically no traces of a fire in such a place.

If the fire is planned to be kindled many times, there is a life hack: in between periods of downtime, you can not extinguish it, but only shovel the coals into a pile. So even after a few hours it will be possible to add brushwood to it and inflate it again to a full-fledged fire. This is convenient when you need to re-ignite an extinguished signal fire, resume heating at night in the tundra, and cook food.

In addition, the cooled coals of a fresh fire can help start a fire without matches, as they "catch" even the slightest spark that can be struck, for example, by hitting a piece of granite or ordinary stone on the butt of a high-carbon steel blade.

If necessary, leave the parking lot, the fire should be extinguished. This is easy to do by filling it with water or throwing earth or sand. Thick smoldering logs can be lowered into a pond to extinguish them for sure. If none of the above is nearby, then the coals of the fire should be moved away from one another and wait for their complete attenuation.

Campfire type selection

Different types of fires serve different purposes. And although most bonfires have many characteristics, nevertheless, in each specific situation, some bonfires will cope with the task better than others. That is why choosing the right fire will increase efficiency, save the traveler's strength and time, which is extremely important in terms of survival.

For example, a node fire can burn all night and allows you to sleep even in the cold without a tent:

In order to choose the best fire, it is necessary to take into account many factors, for example, the amount of brushwood and firewood available, the number of people in the group, weather conditions, the softness of the ground, as well as the tasks that are assigned to the fire. These tasks primarily include:

Heating and drying things. In order to bask and dry, hut (pioneer) and hunting bonfires are best suited.
Overnight stay especially in conditions of low temperatures. For these purposes, many use a node of two or three logs.
Cooking food on the go. Many bonfires are suitable for this, but I would prefer a well, a starlight, a hunting and a Finnish candle.
Lighting. Perfectly illuminate the territory of a hut and a Finnish candle.
Signaling. A bonfire called a hut flares up quickly and burns brightly, which means it has an advantage over other types of bonfires for signaling. It can be used both in the form of direct fire, placing three fires at the vertices of an imaginary equilateral triangle, clearly visible from the air, and for giving smoke signals. For white smoke, which is clearly visible in the summer against the background of green vegetation, grass or green branches with foliage are thrown into the fire, which are easy to get in the forest and in an open meadow. For black smoke, which contrasts beautifully against the background of snow, pieces of rubber, such as tires, are thrown into the fire, although they can be difficult to find in the wild.

Tinder preparation and kindling

In most cases, it will be very problematic to light a fire without tinder and kindling, even if matches or a lighter are available. Therefore, it is so important to prepare dry tinder and kindling.

Tinder is a material that can ignite even from a spark of flint (fire piston). Good tinder is obtained from tinder fungus, rotten wood and heat-treated cotton fabric, the so-called burnt, without air access. Such tinder (or smoldering) is able to set fire to kindling.

The video shows how to make tinder from a tinder fungus:

Kindling is a material that can easily and quickly catch fire. But as quickly kindling lights up, so it quickly burns out. That is why it is used as an intermediate link for kindling brushwood or dry torches - first, tinder is lit, kindling is set on fire from it, and brushwood is already ignited from kindling.

As kindling, birch bark (the upper layer of birch bark), dry grass, leaves, and splinter showed themselves excellently.

Separately, I have already spoken about

What is ignition and where to get it

Dry alcohol is one of the most famous means for ignition.

Ignition is often referred to as materials that make it quicker and easier to light a fire.

In principle, it is quite possible to do without ignition, but under adverse weather conditions and damp firewood, ignition will save matches and time, so if possible, they need to acquire at least a minimal amount.

Ignition is liquid and solid, of natural and anthropogenic origin.

Liquid ignition (or fire starting fluids) can also be divided into two types: those that can burn on their own (such as gasoline and alcohol), and those that do not burn on their own, but ignite when they fall on the main fuel (such as vegetable oil, diesel fuel).

A solid ignition burns on its own, igniting the fire's fuel. Examples of solid ignition are dry alcohol, PET bottle caps and plexiglass.

Preparation of brushwood and firewood

Firewood and brushwood - the main fuel of the fire, what the fire consists of. As you understand, there is no need to talk about the importance of these components: I believe that their leading role is already clear to everyone.

Brushwood is the branches of a tree. Firewood is either whole logs, or their fragments, called logs, or pieces of the logs themselves, sticks.

Brushwood can be collected directly from the ground. It is clear that only dry branches are taken for this: green branches or those saturated with moisture simply will not flare up, or a fire from such branches will be unstable and inefficient. If the area is wet or it often rains, it is better to collect brushwood directly from the trees: there it is less likely to get wet and more likely to dry out in the wind.

If the rains and fogs have dragged on, having wetted absolutely all the material for the fire, dry chips can be cut from the middle of thick branches or wood chips can be cut from the trunk of dead wood, hemp.

Firewood is mainly used from dead wood, that is, upright dry tree trunks, which are usually felled with an ax or saw and cut into logs.

In some cases, you can only get by with brushwood, forming a fire out of it. This will save both time and effort on felling and sawing tree trunks and large pieces of wood.

In the photo - just such a fire made of brushwood, which quickly burns out, but allows you to heat food:

Ignition media

Ignition aids are devices that give the initial temperature to ignite the very material that makes up the fire. Usually, kindling is set on fire at the beginning, from which brushwood and firewood are already kindled.

Matches, lighters and flint are the most popular fire starting materials all over the world. These devices are included in the campfire kit of any traveler.

Let's consider each of these tools in more detail.

Matches

A match can be given the following definition - it is a stick consisting of a combustible material, on one side of which there is a head that can be ignited by friction.

To date, a wide variety of matches is known. Some are ignited by friction against the boxes, others - almost any hard surface, some are cheap, burn out quickly and are easily extinguished in a weak wind, others are expensive and can burn for a long time in a strong wind and even under water.

For example, Pathfinder matches continue to burn like this even after immersion in water:

Everyone will be able to choose an option to their taste. But the most popular in the countries of the former CIS were "simple" matches, ignited by friction against the side surface of the box in which they are stored. Such matches are cheap and readily available, but they also have disadvantages: they are “afraid” of water and quickly run out.

Famous extreme tourist and host of the television series Survive at All Costs, Bear Grylls, in his book Life in the Wild, recommends drying wet matches by running them through your hair. However, in practice, this method does not always work: wet matches, if they have lain this way for some time, even after drying, light up very poorly, and may even sprinkle without giving fire. Therefore, it is better to store them in an airtight container, container. For example, for these purposes, I use a small plastic bottle in which I put the matches, “strike” from the box, folded in half so that it does not come into contact with the match heads, and a little cotton wool for kindling and so that the contents of the bottle do not hang out during movement .

To protect the matches from moisture, each head should be dipped in molten paraffin or wax, and before use, remove the layer of paraffin with a fingernail so as not to contaminate the “chirping” on the box with it.

To protect the box from moisture, it is covered with several layers of zapon varnish. Such a box is not afraid of rain or falling into a puddle.

To save matches, they can be cut lengthwise into several parts. Thus, instead of one match, we get two or three. I would not recommend cutting into larger quantities: it will be much more difficult to set fire to a very thin match with a small head, and as a result it may turn out that it will not be possible to set fire to any of the parts of the former whole match.

In order to set fire to a match in the wild, and even more so its “refined” version, you need to organize a windscreen: even a slight breeze can put out a barely lit match. If this did not work out, you need to kneel with your back to the wind, facing the fire and:

Pinch the match with three fingers (large on one side, middle and index fingers on the other) so that the match head points down.
Hit the box with a match. The match at the same time moves like an arrow head forward and comes into contact with the box at an acute angle.
The lit match is held with the thumb and forefinger in a vertical position with the head down until it flares up. At the same moment, the palms are folded together in a handful so that the match is additionally protected by them from turbulent wind currents.
When the match flares up, it must be placed horizontally so that it does not burn out quickly, and set fire to kindling or kindling with it.

The video below shows an example of how not to hold a match when making a fire:

Repeatedly it was necessary to observe how people, holding matches perpendicular to the box, tried to set them on fire. Quite often, such attempts led to the fact that the match broke. This reduced the convenience in its further use. That is why, as a rule, broken matches were immediately thrown out.

As you understand, such hypocrisy in the conditions of survival is unacceptable, and even, it would seem, such trifles as the correct holding of a match when ignited, can in some situations play a decisive role and predetermine the future fate of a person.

Lighters

A lighter is a small compact device for quickly obtaining an open flame.

Lighters, like matches, today there is a great variety, so everyone can make a choice, focusing on the conditions in which it is supposed to operate the lighter, and their financial capabilities, since for obvious reasons, better and more reliable lighters will cost much more than simple ones. "disposable".

Among all the variety, I would like to single out two types of gas lighters:

"Disposable" lighters. They are cheap, but lose in reliability: they go out in the wind, when wet they take time to dry, and when cooled in the cold, they may not light up at all. They are silicon and working due to the piezo effect. While a flint lighter that has run out of gas can still make a fire using powder scraped from a ferrocerium rod, I would still recommend taking a lighter with a piezoelectric. It is much easier to use such a lighter, especially when the hands began to freeze in the cold, and the fingers barely move. It’s good if such a lighter has a transparent case so that you can control the amount of fuel in it, and also if a small LED flashlight is built into it: nevertheless, the thing is far from useless in a camping trip and even more so survival.
Turbo lighters. They are expensive, but more reliable than their cheap "brothers": they usually do not go out even in strong winds, and after getting into the water, you just need to blow them out - and the lighter is back in working condition, which cannot be said, for example, about a silicon lighter that will have to be dried.

A typical compact gas lighter is convenient, reliable, expensive.

The disadvantages of lighters include the following features:

They can break: the more parts in the device, the higher the risk of breakage. At the same time, lighters are much more complicated than the same matches, and even more so a steel flint.
Even the cheapest lighters are more expensive than matches: for the price of one of the cheapest lighters, you can buy at least several boxes of matches.
Compared to matches, most lighters are sensitive to air temperature: they may not work in the cold.

However, despite all the disadvantages, they also have advantages:

Some variants of lighters work in the wind.
Some options work even if they get wet before.
They are quickly ignited with one hand, which is more convenient compared to matches and flint and flint.

Given the "heat-loving" lighters and their tendency to breakage, it is recommended to carry at least two lighters in different pockets of inner clothing. In addition, it is always worth duplicating one means of ignition with others, for example, in addition to lighters, take a box of matches with you.

Flint

Flint - a device for making fire by striking sparks.

The modern, simplest version of the fire starter is a rod made of a ferrocerium alloy, one end of which is mounted in a wooden or plastic handle for ease of holding it in your hands. Usually, such a fire starter comes with a flint - a metal plate used to strike sparks from a ferrocerium rod.

Instead of such an armchair, you can also use a stone with a sharp edge or a piece of glass. Some people use a knife blade to spark the rod, this is allowed, but I would not recommend doing this. The fact is that these sparks have a high temperature (about 3000 ° C) and can damage the blade.

An example of making a simple fire starter is shown in the video:

There are other more complex versions of the steel, for example, the so-called eternal match, in which, in addition to the rod and the flint, there is a fiber soaked in gasoline. However, I consider them less reliable, because, as practice has shown, the more details in the device, the more chances it has to fail. Personally, I would first of all learn how to use the simplest and most reliable version of the steel and would recommend taking it on a hike.

It makes no sense to acquire all sorts of titanium covers for a flint and similar junk: a flint and flint is already unpretentious: it is not afraid of water, fire, dirt, or mechanical impact.

The disadvantages of flint and flint include its cost: some branded flint and flint can cost on a par with a good lighter. You also need to understand that starting a fire with a flint and flint is often more difficult than using a lighter or matches. But if you still need to do this, then you should gradually perform the following steps:

Find a good kindling. Medical cotton wool, for example, taken from a tourist first-aid kit, or dry reed panicles, plucked from a pond, light up from the very first sparks. Dry grass or thin wood shavings also light up well from the sparks of the flint, but sometimes you have to tinker with them.
If paper or birch bark was taken as kindling, it is bent so that there is a depression in the center.
Small shavings are carefully scraped off from the rod to the center of the paper sheet. You need to do this slowly so as not to accidentally strike a spark.
When a certain amount of chips has collected on the paper, the sheet is folded, collecting all the chips in one place in the center of the sheet.
On a pile of shavings, with a sharp movement of the flint over the flint (while the flint is held approximately perpendicular to the rod), a sheaf of sparks is cut out, which sets fire to the shavings, from which, in turn, paper or birch bark lights up.

The video shows how quickly and easily ignites tinder from the sparks of a flint and flint:

Due to the fact that making fire with a flint and flint is usually more difficult than making fire with matches or a lighter, flint and flint are used only when nothing else is at hand. But due to the fact that it is compact, weighs almost nothing and is less whimsical than other means of ignition, it is often carried with you either in your pocket or around your neck, hooked to a thin rope.

Non-standard ways to kindle a fire

These methods allow you to get a fire when there were no basic means of ignition (for example, they ran out or were lost). Some methods, for example, making a fire with a lens, among other things, allow you to save matches and gas in a lighter on a sunny day.

There are a great many non-standard ways to get fire, most of which can be conditionally combined into the following groups:

Breeding fire by friction. This group includes such methods as a fire plow, a fire drill, an Indian fiddle and others, as well as a method of making a fire from a wire used to cut wood. I wrote about making fire by friction in
. Most often, the sun's rays are concentrated on tinder with homemade lenses, for example, a flashlight reflector, a PET water bottle, glass from glasses, a homemade lens from a balloon or condom, a spoon.
Making a fire by rolling cotton wool. This group includes a number of methods for obtaining smoldering cotton wool, from which kindling is then kindled.
Breeding fire. This group includes methods of making fire from batteries and foil, igniting tinder with an electric arc, and others.
Breeding fire. Here, first of all, we should mention the methods of obtaining fire by mixing glycerin with potassium permanganate and rubbing potassium permanganate with sugar.

For example, the video below shows how you can start a fire with a piece of ice:

Many of these unorthodox methods are still common among some tribes who continue to light fires the way their ancestors did. By the way, most researchers consider the fire plow method to be the most ancient. It was he who allowed primitive people more than a hundred thousand years ago to switch from the strategy of storing fire, obtained as a result of fires and volcanic eruptions, to its active production. Researchers tend to believe that most likely in ancient times the discovery of this method occurred spontaneously in the process of working with wooden tools, and only after that it was brought to perfection and used purposefully for the extraction of open fire. But in any case, the production of fire was the main achievement of the Mesolithic.

The main disadvantages of most of these methods are, of course, the difficulty of obtaining fire, the significant cost of effort and time, and the lack of versatility. So, for example, a person is unlikely to be able to kindle a fire from the sun in cloudy weather, or to get a fire by friction in an oak forest.

However, the combination of these methods has one significant advantage: given the variety of such methods, in most situations it is still possible to light a fire in the absence of matches, a lighter or a flint.

Kindling a fire

So, now that all the preparatory stages have been successfully implemented, we proceed directly to kindling a fire.

I will give an algorithm for kindling a fire using the example of one of the most famous and simple options - a fire called "Hut". To kindle this fire, you must perform the following sequence of actions:

Find and prepare a place;
Prepare dry tinder, kindling, brushwood and, if necessary, firewood;
Sort the brushwood according to the thickness of the branches, and chop the firewood if necessary;
Put the kindling on the prepared place;
Put the thinnest brushwood on the kindling with a hut so that there are enough gaps for air to enter the kindling;
Set fire to the kindling from below so that the fire, rising with heated air upwards, covers it all;
As soon as the brushwood catches fire, put more on top, but thicker;
As the fire flares up, more and more thick branches should be laid.

A bonfire can be considered stable if brushwood as thick as an index finger ignites in it.: coals from such branches can be inflated when the flame is attenuated, the coals themselves are already enough so that the fire is not extinguished by the wind, and you can safely put brushwood without fear that the fire will suffocate.

The entire sequence of making fire is shown below (in the example, the forest is damp, which complicates the task, but does not make it impossible):

As mentioned earlier, making a fire for a hiker, hunter, fisherman or person in distress in the wild is one of the main skills. Therefore, it makes sense, whenever possible, to work it out, bringing it to automatism, so that in an extreme situation, for example, in conditions of cold, hunger and malaise, you do not have to spend precious time remembering a theory that has not been fixed in practice.

No camping trip is complete without a campfire prepared, whether for warmth, cooking, or just to create a special atmosphere. If you have never lit a fire before, then this process may seem somewhat complicated to you. However, the key to success lies in using the right materials and understanding the purpose of the fire, so that you can start the fire in the way that works best for you.

Steps

Preparing for a campfire

Prepare material for ignition. To build a fire effectively, you will need a fire starter, a fine combustible material that ignites most easily. The material used must be dry, so it is best to take it with you from home, and not look for it on the spot in the forest. For ignition, you can take various materials, for example, one of the following:

sawdust;
crumpled paper;
cardboard;
paraffin;
cotton fiber;
ready-made purchased material for ignition.

Gather the sickness. In order for the fire to flare up and not go out, you will need to supplement the ignition material with brushwood. Brushwood is a larger combustible material, but not as large as firewood, so the flame passes well to it. Look around your parking lot for small twigs and branches.
- Choose twigs and branches with a diameter of about 3-13 mm or about the thickness of a pencil.
- As with firewood, the wood must be dry. If there are damp areas on the branches you have collected, cut them off with a penknife.
Gather firewood. For a fire that needs to burn for a long time, large pieces of wood, or firewood, are needed. As firewood, branches with a diameter of 3 to 13 cm in diameter or larger logs, chopped with an ax into smaller pieces, can be used.
- You should not use living trees for firewood, otherwise you will harm the environment. Use dead and fallen branches and trees as firewood.
- Suitable firewood should break easily. This will indicate that they are dry enough to be used in a fire.
- Firewood should not be too large, as it will be more difficult for them to start a fire.
- If you are not sure if the size of firewood you find is suitable for a fire, compare the firewood to your wrist or forearm. They should roughly match in size.
Take a lighter or matches. When all the materials for the fire are prepared, you will need to light the fire. Therefore, it is very important not to forget to take something suitable for this purpose with you. Regular matches will suffice, but you may find it more convenient to use a lighter.

Add brushwood and firewood to the fire as needed. As long as the fire is burning, you can keep throwing wood on it to keep the fire going. If the fire does not burn as strongly as you would like, then you can put firewood in it, which will help it flare up more. Start with one log. Add additional logs only if the fire does not gain enough power after the first log.
- A "hut" type fire is well suited for cooking, as it does not burn very long, but maintains a stable burning.

Bonfire type "well"

Lay the brushwood in a small pyramid on top of the ignition material. In order for a fire like "well" to flare up, it is necessary to create a pyramidal structure inside it. Place the kindling material in the center of the hearth and pile the brushwood on top of it in a pyramid. You should definitely start with small brushwood, and then lay the larger brushwood in a second layer.
- Your pyramid structure should not be as large as in a pyramid fire. Two layers of brushwood will be enough for her.
Surround the pyramid with a square of four logs. First, take the two largest logs and lay them parallel to each other on opposite sides of the pyramid. Then take two smaller logs and lay them on the two remaining sides, forming a square. The last two smaller logs should lie on top of the first two large logs.
- The resulting square will have two openings at the base. One of the openings should be located on the windward side so that the wind can feed the fire with oxygen when you light the fire.
Continue laying the "well". On top of the square of four logs, start stacking smaller firewood in the same way. The goal is to build something like a well around the original pyramid.
- The process of laying firewood for a fire in this case is similar to the process of laying logs when building a wooden frame.
Cover the "well" with thin, light brushwood. When the "well" itself is ready, take thin, light brushwood and lay it on top of the deck. Then take matches or a lighter and light a fire from below.
- For best results, it's best to light the fire from multiple sides at once.
- Continue to put brushwood on the fire until the walls of the "well" light up.
- A well-type fire provides a longer burning time, so it is ideal for basking near it for a long time.

Extinguishing a fire

Consider extinguishing the fire ahead of time. You are solely responsible for the fire you build, and the burning process often turns out to be longer than you would like. In order not to leave dangerous embers behind you and to do everything right, you must have a sufficient margin of time at your disposal. It will take about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire, during which you can make sure that the coals are completely extinguished. When you spray the coals with water, you need to make sure that the water gets to the maximum possible amount. Therefore, you need to move the coals as you water them. Don't forget to get to the coals at the base of the fire so that they don't smolder in its depths.
It is wise to take several sources of fire with you on a hike. If matches or an ordinary lighter become damp, they will be useless. An electric lighter is a very reliable source of fire, as it is enough to turn it over and tap it on the palm of your hand to get rid of the water that has got into it. Also in tourist shops you can look for waterproof matches or flint and flint.
If you are staying at a tented campsite, please read the rules in force there. In some cases, there may be certain restrictions on the construction of fires. It's in your best interest not to break the rules.
Do not burn synthetic waste in a fire, take it with you for later disposal.
Leave behind the territory in a better condition than it was before you. If you use an old hearth, be sure to clear the ashes out of it, as well as clear out the surrounding debris when you leave. If you made a fire in a previously untouched place, scatter the stones of the hearth, refresh the vegetation on it and try not to leave any traces behind.

Warnings

Do not leave a fire unattended. Flames can get out of control very quickly.
Always keep a full bucket of water next to your fire in case you need it.
Do not try to contain the flame manually. You will just get burned.
Fire can attract curious animals. Despite the fact that the animals are unlikely to dare to openly approach him, they can watch what is happening from the shelter. Don't leave food in an accessible place, you can't imagine how resourceful raccoons and bears can be. It is better to hang food on a tree high above the ground.

It's hard to imagine a hike without a fire. To organize a fire, you need to choose a place, prepare kindling and firewood, then kindle it, maintain it and finally extinguish it properly.

Collection of brushwood

The choice of fuel is very important for a campfire. Dry hardwood firewood does not produce smoke, and live birch wood is too damp. Dry small brushwood gives a strong flame, but completely burns out in a couple of minutes. Firewood from oak and hornbeam will give a good heat, a fire from such brushwood can burn for about two hours, this is an excellent option for cooking. Also, dry animal droppings, peat or dried wood thrown onto the shore of a reservoir can be used as fuel.

Types of fires

There are several main types of fire:

- "Hut". Firewood for such a fire is stacked in the form of a hut or house. Between the logs, kindling is placed below. This type of fire is convenient for cooking and night lighting, but it requires a lot of wood;

- "Well" is a quadrangular bonfire, it is folded in the form of a log house. It is best to use short and thick logs. The inside is filled with small firewood;

- "Taiga bonfire" has a simple structure. It requires one long log, on which 3-4 logs must be laid at an acute angle with an overlap. It is bred for heating when spending the night in the open air;

- "Nodya". The fire is made from dry tree trunks, mostly coniferous, large logs with a length of up to 3 meters, with a diameter of more than 30 cm.

We kindle the fire correctly

Before making a fire, you need to choose a place for it, preferably sheltered from the wind, rain, remote from tents, ponds and tree roots. For quick and high-quality kindling of a fire, kindling is necessary - flammable materials. It can be dry moss, reeds, resinous chips, conifer bark or special liquids based on paraffins.

Of course, matches are needed for a fire. But if there are no matches or they get wet, then you can do without them. To kindle a fire without matches, you can use a flint and flint, they can serve as a hard stone ( picture 1). To do this, you need to hit a stone on a steel bar or knife, and when the spark hits the tinder, you need to constantly blow on it, and if everything is done correctly, then fire will definitely appear. In sunny weather, you can make fire with the help of a lens from glasses and other pieces of glass ( figure 2). Or you can make a fire without matches using friction, a method for the most patient (Figures 3 - 4). Initially, when making a painful fire without matches, tinder (shredded leaves, bark, moss, fluff or cotton wool) should be set on fire.

In order to maintain a fire, it is necessary to regulate the amount of fuel, as well as the size of the gaps between logs and logs. If the fire burns all night, then it is required to appoint a watch for it so that the sleeping people are not in danger. When the campaign is over, the fire should be carefully extinguished - pour until the embers and firebrands disappear, then stir it up, pour it again and wait until it stops soaring. Only in this case can forest fires be avoided.

A bright fire made of felt, smoldering coals made of sticks, foil and a New Year's garland - it is impossible to look away from such beauty. Be sure to do safebonfire for the new year at home or offer to make an interesting craft for friends for a school performance. New Year's decorations will certainly be appreciated by both guests and spectators.

How to make a fire out of felt?

Soft and pleasant to the touch felt will be an excellent basis for creating a New Year's fire. And bright colors will not leave him a chance to go unnoticed.

You will need:

yellow, red and orange felt
scissors,
thread or glue
filler (sintepuh) - optional,
paper templates,
sticks and stones.

Hard felt 1.2 mm thick is ideal for work.

1. Make three arbitrary patterns - tongues of fire: large, slightly smaller and very small. Transfer to felt.

2. The fire must consist of two parts, each of which must have five layers. The biggest one is red. Glue two smaller parts on both sides of it: orange and yellow. Now make cuts to create a 3D effect later.

3. Collect some sticks and stones outside, wash them and dry them. Gather the details of the hearth.

Congratulations! Fairy bonfire is lit.

But if you want to do soft toy fire, make six parts: two large, two smaller and two smallest. Sew, as shown in the photo below, and fill with padding. To create a fairy tale fire, you need to sew three volumetric parts together.

If desired, make soft toys-firewood, cookies and marshmallows from felt.

With such a fire, you can arrange various children's games: jump over it; “cook” food on fire, imagining yourself as fairy-tale characters; play Indians and even learn English - why not?

Making a fire out of lace and garlands

Mysterious atmosphere, flickering tongues of "fire" and crackling of foil... It seems that this hearth was lit by some kind of fairy fairy. Another moment - and timid sparks will spin in a bizarre dance and blaze with a bright flame. A bonfire made of lace and garlands is an excellent decoration for a New Year's fairy tale.

You will need:

lace Ribbons,
branches,
foil,
PVA glue,
stationery knife,
white paint and brush
stones,
New Year's garland.

1. Wrap the sticks in foil.

2. Make a solution of PVA glue and water: one tablespoon of glue per liter of water. Cover the lace with several layers of mortar to stiffen the ribbons.

3. Wrap each branch tightly with lace. Leave to dry overnight.

4. When the glue is completely dry, cut the lace along the sticks with a clerical knife.

5. Carefully remove the branches and the rest of the foil from the shell.

Voila! Lacy firewood is ready.

6. We light a fire. Make a small circle of stones, place a garland inside. Make sure you have a power outlet close by so you can turn on the lights easily.