AS 410

“Firecraft”
Chpt 3-1

The Story of Fire

 Your fire making
story…good or bad
 So What?

Why is it important to learn how to build a fire?

• The ability to start a fire can make the difference between living
and dying.

• Fire can fulfill many needs: It can provide warmth and comfort. It
not only cooks and preserves food, it also provides warmth in the
form of heated food that saves calories our body normally uses to
produce body heat.

• You can use fire to purify water, sterilize bandages, signal for
rescue, and provide protection from animals and the smoke from
a fire can be used to discourage insects.

• You can also use fire to produce tools and weapons.

 Necessities to Maintain Life

Chapter 3-1: Firecraft

1. Chapter Objective
Know how to build, design, and light a fire when in a survival situation.
2. Samples of Behavior/Main Points
a. List the three essential elements of a fire.
b. Define tinder, kindling, and fuel.
c. List some examples of tinders and kindling.
d. Describe four recommended fuel sources.
e. Describe how to prepare a fire site.
f. List and describe a couple primitive methods to light a fire.
g. List and describe few modern methods to light a fire.
h. Define coniferous.
i. Define deciduous.
j. List and describe ten methods for laying a fire.
k. List some useful firecraft hints.
 Firecraft
Vocabulary
Resinous - Any of numerous clear to translucent yellow or brown solid
semisolid sticky substances of plant source.

Petrolatum - A neutral oily, odorless, tasteless substance obtained from

petroleum and used in ointments and dressings.

Quartz - A hard crystalline, glassy silicon dioxide, SiQ2, occurring

abundantly as a component of granite and sandstone or various
pure crystal.
Rattan - A climbing palm with very long tough stems.

Deciduous - Falling off or shed seasonally or at a certain stage of

development in the life cycle.
Koodlik - A fat stove used by the Eskimos to burn fuel.

Coniferous - A predominantly evergreen cone-bearing tree as a pine, spruce,

hemlock, or fir.
 Fire

• Building
– Pits and places
– Structure
• Teepee
• Log cabin
• Lean-to
• Starting
– Flint and Steel
– Bow
– Battery
– Glass
• Fuel
– Softwood
– Hardwood
Starting Fires
What Burns
 Firecraft
Basic Fire Principles

•Fuel (in a nongaseous state) does not burn directly.

•When you apply heat to a fuel, it produces a gas. This gas, combined
with oxygen in the air, burns.
•By limiting fuel, only a small fire is produced. If the fire is not fed
properly there is too much or too little fire.
•If you remove any of these, the fire will go out.
 Fire Material

A. Tinder
1. Tinder is any type of small material having a low flash point. It is
easily ignited with a minimum of heat, even a spark.
2. The tinder must be absolutely dry to be sure just a spark will
ignite it.
3. Tinder must be arranged to allow air (oxygen) between the hair-
like, bone-dry fibers. The preparation of tinder for fire is one of the
most important parts of firecraft.
4. Dry tinder is so critical that pioneers used extreme care to have
some in a waterproof “tinder box” at all times.
 Fire Material

B. Kindling
1. Kindling is the next larger stage of fuel material. It
should also have a high combustible point.
2. It is added to, or arranged over, the tinder in such a
way that it ignites when the flame from the tinder
reaches it.
3. Kindling is used to bring the burning temperature
up to the point where larger and less combustible fuel
material can be used.
 Fire Material

C. Fuel
1. Fuel is less combustible material that burns slowly and
steadily once ignited.
2. Unlike tinder and kindling, fuel does not have to be kept
completely dry as long as there is enough kindling to raise the
fuel to a combustible temperature.
3. It is recommended that all fine materials be protected from
moisture to prevent excessive smoke production.
4. The type of fuel used will determine the amount of heat and
light the fire will produce.
5. Trial and error is sometimes the best method to determine
which fuel is best.
6. After identifying the burning properties of available fuel, a
selection can be made of the type needed.
 Firecraft

Fire Site Preparation

• Clean site – Scrape 3 to 10 foot diameter area down
to bare soil
• Wet - Build a platform of green logs or rocks
• Warmth - Built against a rock or log reflector
• Cooking - fires can be walled-in by logs or stones with
platform

Arrange - Tinder, kindling, and fuel

As a rule of thumb, survivors should have 3 Xs the

amount of tinder than is necessary for one fire. Better
more than less 

1782, Judge Sir Francis Buller

 Firecraft

Preparation, practice, and patience in the use of primitive

fire-building techniques cannot be over emphasized.

Flint and Steel

Bow and Drill
Magnifying Glass
Fire-Plow
Building a Firewall

If time allows, you can construct a

fire wall using logs or rocks.
A fire wall will help to reflector the
heat to where you want it. It will
also reduce flying sparks and cut
down on the amount of wind
blowing into the fire.
If you decide to use rocks, stay
away from wet or porous. Such
rocks when heated rapidly, may
explode.
 Fire Plow

A ”friction method” of ignition You need a

hard wood shaft and a wood base that is
softer than the shaft.
1st Cut a straight groove in the base.
2nd At the end of the groove place some
tinder on which the ignited particles will fall.
3rd Plow the blunt tip of the shaft up and
down the groove.
4th While plowing apply more pressure on
each stroke and the friction will ignite the
wood particles.
Once the tinder begins to smolder, blow or
fan it into a flame
 Fire Bow

Socket - Stone or a piece

of hard wood with a slight
depression on one side.
 Fire Bow

Drill - Drill should also be made

of. It should be hard wood
about 25 centimeters in length
and 2 centimeters in diameter.
Most importantly though, the
drill needs to be straight,
otherwise you will not be able to
turn it with sufficient speed. Top
end of the drill should be blunt
and round as than in creates the
best friction.
 Fire Bow

Fireboard - Cut a small

depression about 2cm from the
edge of the board - this will be
your top-side. On the other side,
prepare a v-shaped cut from the
air of the board to the
depression, so that a little hole to
the other side is created in the
depression on the top-side (see
the picture). Fireboard must be
made of soft wood
 Fire Bow

Bow - to make a bow use a

resilient green stick about
2.5cm in diameter and a string.
Tie the string to both end of the
bow without any slack.
 Fire Bow

Start sawing with the bow back

and forth. When you establish a
smooth motion, gradually
increase pressure from the top
with the socket and work the
bow faster. After a while, hot
black powder will start falling
through the hole into the tinder,
causing a spark to catch. Once
the tinder begins to smolder,
blow it into flame.
 Firecraft

Modern Methods

Matches
Burning Glass
Flashlight Reflector
Metal Matches
Batteries
Gunpowder
Flares
Aircraft Fuel
 Extra Credit 100 pts

Make one of the primitive fire tools below then bring it in Wednesday,
February 21st, and create an amber that would start a fire.
OR
Make a video of you using one of the primitive tools below to create an
amber that would start a fire. Email or show me.

Fire Plow Fire Bow Drill

Fire in a Hole

In some situations, like very windy

conditions with rain, you may find
that an underground fireplace will
be best for your needs. It conceals
the fire and is very convenient for
cooking food.

•Dig a hole in the ground

•On the upwind side of this hole,
poke or dig a large connecting
hole for ventilation.
•Be careful only not to dig it to
shallow as that can cause the
whole construction to collapse.
•Build your fire as illustrated.
 Firecraft

Fire Facts
• During wildfires it’s amazing that trees can explode if
water deep inside the tree quickly turns to steam.

• Walt Disney World is the largest consumer of

fireworks in the United States.
 Primary Fuels
Burns slowly - Hardwoods (hickory, oak, ash, birch)
• Identified often by broad leaves

Burns quicker – Softwoods (Pine, cedar, juniper, and rotten

wood smolder and burn too fast.
Tree Fuel
Socrative Check
 Stone Fire

Simplest cooking lay

 Log Cabin / Tee Pee Fire
Light and Heat Good starter fire

Good Signal fire Kindling

 Long Fire

Trench
Good group fire

Airflow
 Pyramid Fire

Starts at top Overnight fire

Green logs
at base
Burns down to coals
 Self Feeding Fire

Overnight fire
 Star Fire

Small fire

Constant
attention
 “T” / Ditch Fire
Fire lay

Group
cooking coals
 Lean-To Fire

Starter fire

Green stick

Kindling Tinder
 Cross-Ditch Signal Fire

Kindling Tinder

Airflow in all quadrants

 Dakota Fire Hole

Concealed fire
Airflow

Easily buried
Fire Reflector
Ground Smoke Generator

Tinder
 Raised Smoke Generator
Platform

Wet ground
 Five Fires to Remember
• Classic Tee-Pee
Pro – Burns Hot / Con – goes through wood quick
• Log Cabin Style
Pro – Great for cooking / Con - less hot than Tee-Pee
• Upside Down
Pro – Burns long time little attention / Con – not much fun
• Lean To
Pro – Good for windy weather / Con – not good for
cooking
• Dakota Fire
Pro – Easy to conceal / Con – Not much light
Socrative Check
Fire What Have We
Done With It?