Saturday, January 21, 2012

Where there's smoke...

Today marked adult male milestone in my life. I always fantasized about starting a fire stranded on a deserted island or lost in the wildness. When I watch Man vs Wild or Dual Survival, I truly pay attention to their techniques. I really think that the tips I pick up would keep me and whoever is with me alive. I always considered the starting of a fire the most important aspect of survival. Fire means warmth and the ability to cook food and in the right circumstances drinkable water.


About a year ago when we had our last major snow storm, we lost our power for a few days. No power meant no heat. I saw this as my opportunity to be the protector for my household. I went out in the back yard and gathered some logs from under the house that were there for burning. Of course they were damp. Didn't stop me. I figured that if I got the fire going the logs would dry as it went along. I even went across the street for fire starting tips from our neighbor. He gave me some fire starting bricks.

I threw some logs in the fire place. I used some newspaper for kindling and the fire starting log. It started with a nice flame. The logs would begin to smolder and smolder and smolder. I tried everything I could. All I managed to do was to smoke out the house. This past summer, we had a an old dead tree in our yard cut down to avoid clipping the power lines. The landscapers cut them up for fire wood. They also left a lot of whole branches. While it was still warm, I had my brother cut the branches to workable pieces. I collected all the wood and stored it in the dinning room, next to the fireplace. This way they would stay dry.

I had planned to light a fire during Thanksgiving. Unfortunately it wasn't cold enough. All the way through the end of the year we averaged 60 degree weather. This morning when I woke up, I knew it was right time to start a fire. I was determined. Before I went downstairs I even heard my daughter say we needed to light the fireplace because the neighbors had theirs on. I knew what I had to do. I got dressed and headed to the basement.

I was in survival mode. I opened the dryer's lint trap and it was empty. I dumped the waste basket next to the laundry room. There it was, like gold. I gathered all the dryer lint I could. I ran up stairs to the dining room. I cleared the area surrounding the fireplace. I arranged the logs in the pit so I would have flat surface to place my kindling. I stuck a handful of sap sticks between the logs. I created a nest of dryer lint. I took the lighter and sparked the lint. It almost seemed to be in slow motion. (At that moment I decided that the next time I created fire I would try to use a fire bow or try the plow method to spark the kindling by rubbing sticks together to create friction and a spark) The lint ignited immediately. It was magical. The sap stick lit up quickly spreading to the small branches I placed on top. In less then 20 minutes the majority of the logs we engulfed.

I was so proud. I had created fire. I wanted to hunt a squirrel, skin it and skewer it then roast it over the raw flames I had created. I sat there mesmerized for I don't know how long. I kept feeding logs. Less then an hour later the whole living room was warm and toasty. I kept it going for most of the day. I quickly realized that it takes a lot of logs to keep a fire going. I burned off about a third of my fuel. I estimated that I could keep the fire going for a few days with what I had.

I had a dry run for today back in the summer. When those logs were first cut. One day I decided to cookout. I had plenty of charcoal. Then I realized I had a ton of wood. I started the fire with the charcoal but poured them over logs I had placed in my pit. I was able to observe and study the behavior of the logs and the fire. Not to mention that the food was flavorful and grilled perfectly. I've fallen it love with hearth flame cooking and fire pits. Next I think I wanna build a smoking pit in my yard, after that, two words muchaho... whole pig!!!

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