How To Start A Fire

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 12/04/2019 at 14:08 • Filed to: we didn't start the fire it was always burning as the world was turning

2

23

One of my favorite methods of getting a successful fire going on the first try is to start small. Really small. I think of it in my own head as “organic” because you’re not using any external accelerant, no paper, no birch bark, no “fire starter logs” or any of that. You simply light a small stick (maybe a little bigger than a toothpick), then grab another small stick and light that with the first one, until you can put one down and gently pile more small sticks on the resulting flames - sometimes holding them over the flame to light them before dropping them - then getting progressively bigger pieces until you’re up to the smallest log you’ve got in the pile. I often simply peel these little pieces off the logs I’m putting in, so I don’t even have to split up kindling separately.

Doing it in this additive fashion allows you to see what’s working and what’s not, adjusting as you go. Once you get to some bigger stuff and you can see the fire continuing to build heat, you can pile it up carefully and walk away, knowing that the base is good. Using this method, I almost never walk away from the stove and have to come back to re-light it.

What can happen sometimes when using paper or other fast-burning fire-starting materials, is that the flames from those materials can create an illusion of fire - the flames of the paper lap up and around the structure you’ve made and it looks promising. But when the fuel burns out, if it hasn’t been hot enough for long enough, you’ll have to stuff more in and try again. Of course, if you have dry materials, this method can work fine. In fact, my other favorite method involves exactly this - building a small structure of kindling between two larger logs, with birch bark on the bottom. Birch bark burns hot but slowly compared to paper; it’s brilliant, plentiful, and free, if you live near a deciduous forest. Last year I actually mailed a whole box of it to a friend in the South, and he was duly impressed. Come to think of it, I ’ll have to pack up some more and send it to him for Christmas.

But if kindling or your other wood is damp, the first method is especially helpful, because you’ll know you need more attention early on when the small stuff isn’t taking off on its own. Keep building the fire with small stuff until it’s making its own heat, and building. There’s no illusion of flame because you’re building it with the same stuff it will be burning “for real” once it’s really going. This is always my method of choice (or more often, of necessity) when building a fire in the actual wilderness, because you can always find more small sticks; finding a newspaper to shred might be a bit harder.

Are there other effective methods? Sure, lots of them. People who live where wildfires are a problem are asking, “Wait, you have to try to get a fire going?!” And others will no doubt read this and say “nah, THIS is the best way...” which is just one of the things I like about starting fires every day. I get to try lots of different methods, and see what happens! Pitch-covered pinecones, for example...

Why am I even writing this on an automotive-related blog? I don’t know... I was just thinking about it this morning, doing this for the bazillionth time, and about how I have friends who struggle to light a fire that doesn’t involve pressing a button on a gas fireplace, or dousing a pile of brush in diesel fuel; so I thought I’d share this with you fine folks.

Or, you know, just go full Hank Scorpio and be done with it.

TorqueToYield > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:17

2

Can we now bicker about the best fire layout. Because it’s log cabin.

OPPOsaurus WRX > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:20

1

and if all else fails, cover the end table with gasoline and toss a match at it... from a safe dist ance of course.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:21

0

I am not that patient. I also have access to very dry fir so it’s just wad up some paper and stack some kindling on top and let er rip.

functionoverfashion > OPPOsaurus WRX 12/04/2019 at 14:25

0

We have an end table that looks exactly  like that. We’ve also burned small furniture in our outside fire pit, because it’s fun! One year I filled each of the three small drawers of an ikea table with various flammable liquids, then built a small fire on top of it, letting it burn down into the fuel. Good times

functionoverfashion > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/04/2019 at 14:26

1

haha, yes, when you have super dry stuff like that, it doesn’t take much. We burn pretty well-seasoned wood, but oak just takes a while, it’s so dense. 

Wacko > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:27

3

Even easier if you own a Ferrari 

functionoverfashion > TorqueToYield 12/04/2019 at 14:27

0

Definitely, I mean, we can argue. Because it’s whatever works for the conditions you have! I’ve seen the teepee method work well, but never use it myself. I kind of do a log cabin, but I start with two bigger logs on either side, kind of like my first pic. 

functionoverfashion > Wacko 12/04/2019 at 14:29

0

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:31

1

We really don’t have any native hard wood in montana, the best firewood is fir and larch. Pine burns but doesn’t put out much heat. Birch is fun, the bark is seemingly soaked in gasoline. 

Nibby > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:32

4

rear end a ford pinto

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:34

2

Lately my go-to method is dryer lint stuffed in a card board toilet paper roll as the starter, small chunks of split 2x4 scrap on top of that, a small split log on top of that all leaning against a large split log as the base.

So far I’ve always been able to light the roll, walk away, and come back to a nice fire.

Maxima Speed > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:44

1

Fire starting is a basic skill that many, unfortunately, seem lacking in. My favorite fire starting technique is using the “ bird nest” technique of dried grass leaves and such. You start a little ember in there and either blow on it, or wave it around in a little bent figure- eight and you can make a fire with even a tiniest little spark doing it that way. Y ou then stick that now burning bundle in “lean-to” fire tunnel and voila! Fire. :)

InFierority Complex > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:45

1

I own a Fiero so I just turn the key.

user314 > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 14:46

3

See, I swear by firestarter...

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 15:22

1

I feel like I’ve had to relearn this lesson (several times) this year, and I fully agree about the paper being deceptive and the kindling not really having enough mass.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > Maxima Speed 12/04/2019 at 15:55

3

Truth to that. I was camping several years ago with my family and two others. Both dads were army vets, one said he was a Ranger. I set up camp while army boys say they’ll get a fire going and dinner going. After I’m done setting up tents and canopy, I go over, and both are trying to start a fire using three logs, those fire- starter compressed wood things and a lighter. Le Sigh.. Move over, let an Eagle Scout get this thing going, we’re all hungry. Tinder, kindling, fuel. Light and lets go.

functionoverfashion > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 12/04/2019 at 16:40

2

I’ve tried the lint-tp-roll system, it’s surprisingly effective. And... makes me want to clean out my dryer vent immediately. 

functionoverfashion > Nibby 12/04/2019 at 16:41

0

Or one of the pickups that had the fuel tank mounted where side impacts tended to... impact the fuel tank

functionoverfashion > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/04/2019 at 16:41

0

Birch bark does have some natural oils in it, which helps it burn so well. Like dense, oil soaked paper... I use it probably 50% of the time I start fires. 

functionoverfashion > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 12/04/2019 at 16:43

1

In college some friends wanted to have a fire. They were lighting pieces of printer paper on fire, one or two at a time, under a pile of logs. I walked by them into the woods, came back out with kindling, etc., 3 minutes later they were like “what are you, an Eagle Scout?” I’m not, but... 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 12/04/2019 at 16:47

0

One my favorite Cub Scout meetings was when we taught them how to start a fire.

koawaft1 > TorqueToYield 12/04/2019 at 18:34

1

Sweedish candle. Love this way it is like a compressed log cabin but with vertical logs. Basically get a bundle of wood stand it up in it’s it’s side then light it on the bottom in the middle. Many people think air is needed more than it is. Heat is way more important. The heat goes up and it just works. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > functionoverfashion 12/04/2019 at 22:09

1

My dad did business with a place that does reclaimed lumber, so we’ll swing by when theyre done ripping, dumpster dive before the sawdust and crap get tossed in, t ake it home and with a chop saw make a shitload of kindling.  

Over the summer I made some of these with sawdust and left over candle wax

My dad uses a crazy amount of paper which once burnt kinda smothers the fire, and what drives me nuts, he’ll load it like this

instead of offsetting allowing air. In their old woodstove it was fine, as the air entered from teh side instead of the front.