Comments on: 10 Things To Know – Part Five: To Build A Fire http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/ Backcountry Skiing Weblog Blog, FAQs, more, links and info about randonnee, telemark and backcountry ski mountaineering. Thu, 23 May 2013 21:30:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Bob http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/#comment-49587 Bob Fri, 04 Jan 2013 02:15:33 +0000 http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=910#comment-49587 Quick story. Mid-December decided to camp out Lake Sebago New York State. It was mild on Long Island. Much colder at the campsite. Pitched my tent. No wind to speak of, temp in low 20's F. Had a box of wooden matches. The force of striking the match on the box flint just twisted the match out of my fingers. I couldn't feel my fingers at all. Lucky for me my car was right there. Broke camp, drove home. Gave me new respect for the cold. All the above tips are great, can't wait to try the vaseline soaked cotton balls. But when it's real cold, be prepared for numb fingers. Have a plan B. Quick story. Mid-December decided to camp out Lake Sebago New York State. It was mild on Long Island. Much colder at the campsite. Pitched my tent. No wind to speak of, temp in low 20′s F. Had a box of wooden matches. The force of striking the match on the box flint just twisted the match out of my fingers. I couldn’t feel my fingers at all. Lucky for me my car was right there. Broke camp, drove home. Gave me new respect for the cold. All the above tips are great, can’t wait to try the vaseline soaked cotton balls. But when it’s real cold, be prepared for numb fingers. Have a plan B.

]]> By: gresham http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/#comment-28676 gresham Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:05:43 +0000 http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=910#comment-28676 Practice is the key and you can hone your skills depending where you build your fire. Lighting an open fire will have the same core skills but, for example it is useful to consider the airflow in a stove and know how to rage a stove. Some extra pointers: http://www.energysavingathome.co.uk/_article-fire_starting_in_a_stove.html. The more you read the more little tips you find, then keep practicing. Practice is the key and you can hone your skills depending where you build your fire. Lighting an open fire will have the same core skills but, for example it is useful to consider the airflow in a stove and know how to rage a stove. Some extra pointers: http://www.energysavingathome.co.uk/_article-fire_starting_in_a_stove.html. The more you read the more little tips you find, then keep practicing.

]]> By: Cheyenne http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/#comment-7657 Cheyenne Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:10:37 +0000 http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=910#comment-7657 Calcium Carbide + water = acetylene Calcium Carbide is what cavers use in carbide lamps. A couple of small "pebbles" in a watertight container. Just add a little bit of water and it will produce acetylene gas. A small spark is all that is needed to ignite the gas. A small quantity will last for a few minutes. Calcium Carbide + water = acetylene

Calcium Carbide is what cavers use in carbide lamps. A couple of small “pebbles” in a watertight container. Just add a little bit of water and it will produce acetylene gas. A small spark is all that is needed to ignite the gas. A small quantity will last for a few minutes.

]]> By: Dan Lowell http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/#comment-7450 Dan Lowell Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:52:07 +0000 http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=910#comment-7450 Pitch story: I apologize for the digression, but for those of you who have used pitch and "understand" it, this will provide you with a grin. I used to start fires in our wood burning stove with slivers of pitch from the couple of 10 inch diameter (18 inches long) rounds of pure pitch that I had rat-holed away in the garage along with some kindling. The pitch worked great. Well, too great. I was out of the house one cold January (Truckee) morning (swilling coffee with other people who can't sleep) when my wife decided to start the fire. After she got it going, she didn't feel like going outside for more wood from the wood pile, so, she threw one of the rounds of pitch into the stove, which, of course, quickly turned into a conflageration. A chunk of pitch that big is very heavy. I can't believe she actually wrestled it into the stove. As it were, I happened along just in time to panic along with her. Man was that stove humming. The house didn't burn down and I didn't need to clean our chimmney that season, but it was scary. The moral is: If you have a good stash of pitch, make sure the other inhabitants of your dwelling understand clearly just how good that stuff is for starting a fire. On the other hand, if you really want to burn something down... Pitch story: I apologize for the digression, but for those of you who have used pitch and “understand” it, this will provide you with a grin. I used to start fires in our wood burning stove with slivers of pitch from the couple of 10 inch diameter (18 inches long) rounds of pure pitch that I had rat-holed away in the garage along with some kindling. The pitch worked great. Well, too great. I was out of the house one cold January (Truckee) morning (swilling coffee with other people who can’t sleep) when my wife decided to start the fire. After she got it going, she didn’t feel like going outside for more wood from the wood pile, so, she threw one of the rounds of pitch into the stove, which, of course, quickly turned into a conflageration. A chunk of pitch that big is very heavy. I can’t believe she actually wrestled it into the stove. As it were, I happened along just in time to panic along with her. Man was that stove humming. The house didn’t burn down and I didn’t need to clean our chimmney that season, but it was scary. The moral is: If you have a good stash of pitch, make sure the other inhabitants of your dwelling understand clearly just how good that stuff is for starting a fire. On the other hand, if you really want to burn something down…

]]> By: Johnny boy http://www.wildsnow.com/910/10-things-to-know-part-five-to-build-a-fire/#comment-7448 Johnny boy Sat, 03 Nov 2007 18:08:15 +0000 http://www.wildsnow.com/?p=910#comment-7448 Great article, but what about when you are above the tree line? sol? Great article, but what about when you are above the tree line? sol?

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