Knowing how to start a fire is one of the very basic survival skills that everyone should know. When you are out in nature for a camping trip, there are many different ways with which you can start a fire. Here are a few of them. Birch/Pine Bark The bark of a down, dead birch tree contains flammable raisins. Same is true for some larger pine trees. Once lit, a roll of birch or pine bark will burn hot and long enough to start a fire even in wet conditions. However, try not to strip down a living tree unless your life depended on it. Waxed Egg Carton First you will have to fill up a used egg carton with sawdust, charcoal briquette, rolls of newspaper, dryer lint etc and fill it with melted wax. This simple empty box of eggs will provide you several minutes of steady flame in really difficult conditions including rain and wind. Birthday candles Next time you go camping, make sure to pack your old birthday candles as lighting material. As a matter of fact, a piece of candle – big or small should be a part of any fire-lighting kit. They are lightweight and small so are easy to carry but at the same time provides a few minutes of steady flames to light even moist and damp kindle. Ferrocerium Rod Ferrocerium is a man made metallic material that sparks when scrapped with a knife blade or steel striker. Almost all commercial strikers and the “flint” of lighters are made of ferrocerium. They do provide the spark in all temperatures and altitudes and working with them gets easy after a few tries. Steel Wool and Battery This technique is more interesting than practical. A 9V battery and the thinnest grade steel wool are an old standby in a fire box. Fire can be created by touching both sides of the battery with steel wool. This is created by an electrical short that heats up and thereby ignite the fine strands of steel wool. Friction The right material and practice technique are very important in lighting a fire using friction methods. The bow and the drill method is the most familiar among many other methods of using friction to create fire. However, rubbing two random sticks together is not a viable method. Butane Lighters Butane lighters are both lightweight and fairly reliable other than maybe in very low temperatures. They are not as traditional or picturesque, but if you must light a fire in difficult conditions, butane lighters can save your life. It is always a good idea to have a couple of them stowed away in your emergency gear along with some waterproof matches. Waterproof matches like Lifeboat matches burn for ten to twelve seconds even in wet conditions and that can make a whole world of difference.
