firestarting in the rain

I tried so hard to use some wood that says it can start even wet I tried(will try again) but just couldn't get it going. how on earth are you supposed to start a fire in the rain. it rains here alot and I tried because it thought it was a good thing to learn but it's hard. Shocked

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A lot of tinder... tinder can be gathered under evergreen trees even when raining and it should be still dry (shielded from the rain). A lot of this burning should be enough to get a little bigger tinder burning. You will need a lot of this too. Also, you should think about splitting your larger wood. The rain won't soak through an entire log instantly and the inside should be still pretty dry.

Another thing you could do is make a rain block with spruce bows or other things you may have with you to keep rain off the fire. Even if you hold it over your fire until you get it going, once the fire is burning well you can let it burn and the rain wont put it out.

starting a samall fire under something to keep the rain off and then continue building it bigger... trial and error...

just keep working at it!

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Sometimes peeling bark off of trees works too. It should be dry underneath when you take it off the tree.
Keep trying Kim you'll get it.. Cool

thanks guys will try it and thanks for the encouragement. Very Happy

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if it wasn't for encouragement and getting out there i would still hate firesteel... now it's my #1 backup to a lighter.

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If you can get some " fatwood " that stuff will light in any weather.
I picked some up at RONA hardware store, each box was 5lbs, so i got 2, lol.
So im good for along time. Cool

Look for it in the BBQ section, fire lighting.

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thanks dave will do. Very Happy

I am not giving up. Shocked

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what types of trees are in your area? if you are lucky enough to have birch around it will light when damp.. if you carry some dry tinder and get a lot of birch bark and smaller branches you could get them going even if they are damp. You could even make a large tinder ball of twigs and bark and then use even more birch to act as shingles to shed water off the fire bundle as it starts...

did i mention i like birch a lot?

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not alot of birch I can tell you like birch. evergreens are all over the place we are the evergreen state. and pine trees. Very Happy

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All those evergreens are good kindling -- they burn fast and hot. Pine, spruce, cedar are all good. If they're dry they burn like stink. If they're wet you can split them to get at the dry stuff.

The key is dry material, really. You need enough dry stuff to get the fire going good and hot, and then it will burn wet stuff. When it's wet I try to make a small, hot fire and then grow a big one when it gets going. That way I need less dry fuel.

	linsleyk wrote:
	not alot of birch I can tell you like birch. evergreens are all over the place we are the evergreen state. and pine trees.

Then you're in luck. Many varieties of evergreens have lower dead branches on them. These stay dry in all but the heaviest of storms, are around for many years, and easily (and harmlessly) snap off, providing excellent kindling. Of course, you don't want to strip all the trees, so go light, spread out which trees you take from, and thin it out with some wet wood to stretch your resources. Look for damage on the trees too. Hunks of resins should burn furiously when added after small kindling is lit.

Andrew_S wrote:

All those evergreens are good kindling -- they burn fast and hot. Pine, spruce, cedar are all good. If they're dry they burn like stink. If they're wet you can split them to get at the dry stuff.

The key is dry material, really. You need enough dry stuff to get the fire going good and hot, and then it will burn wet stuff. When it's wet I try to make a small, hot fire and then grow a big one when it gets going. That way I need less dry fuel.

Batonning is a great technique. Getting to the dry stuff in the middle of a log is the best way to get fire work for the starting of a fire.

First, if all you can find is large pieces of wood, EG Logs, you need a wedge first.

then you need to split the piece of wood.

That is all best done with an axe, it can be done with a knife only, but its hard and needs alot of work.

Then you need to split some of that up, and make some fuzz sticks with it.

this is a great example of a fuzz stick, or fuzzies. Very Happy

Then, get some lint, or what ever your using as a tinder, find some good combustibles, dry grass, thin twigs things like that.
this stuff is great.

then, after a bit, you should have this. Laughing

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wow thanks gee, you guys have great ideas thanks. it is much appreciated. Very Happy

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