Since nature lovers are known to find beauty in every aspect of nature, it also includes all the endeavors they make during their adventures. The same is the case with igniting the fire.
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Why learning how to ignite the fire is a crucial survival skill?
If you are stuck in the wilderness, you will need water, light, and shelter. After water, the most important thing you will need is a fire. Fire can produce light to help you wade through the darkness. It is used to keep animals away in the wild. Fire also helps in boiling the water to purify it. Fire also warms us in the cold saving us from winter diseases.
So, “How to start a fire with sticks?” would be your genuine concern keeping in view so many benefits of the fire.
Follow these instructions to ignite the fire
How to start a fire with sticks may not bother you much if you know perfectly how to use sticks. We have jotted down instructions for you to follow and apply if you happen to be stuck in the wilderness. You can apply these instructions successfully with a little vigilance and patience on your part.
Furthermore, the applicability of these techniques requires not only efficient handling but choosing a place far away from all the flammable materials. So that, any accidental fueling up of wildfires such as shrubs, tent walls, low-hanging branches, and trees can be avoided.
Factors to consider before igniting the fire in the wild
Apparently, starting a fire may seem an easy task unless you do it practically. It gets complicated if you are stuck in the wild and don’t have an ignition kit with you. Hence, knowing the ins and outs of igniting fire coupled with remarkable determination to ignite the fire with only sticks is the key to survive well in the wilderness.
Consider the following factors before igniting the fire in the wild:
- Choose a place away from the trees, plants, and herbs.
- Make sure the place where you are going to ignite fire doesn’t have dry grass on it. Otherwise, it may catch fire and cause unneeded stress.
- Once the fire is started, enclose it with the help of stones around it.
Methods of Starting Fire with Sticks
Lighters and matchboxes are notorious for missing out when you most need them. Matchboxes get wet and lighters can run out of fuel. So, we should always be prepared to ignite the fire with the sticks. Because sticks come in handy in the wild.
A word of caution for you to consider is that just accumulating information and having knowledge of the best methods to ignite the fire is not enough unless you implement and practice it regularly.
In this guide, we’ll explain 3 methods you can use to ignite the fire with the sticks. All of these methods involve the friction concept of physics:
Hand Drill Friction Fire
Let us dig into the 1st method to ignite the fire with the sticks. This method is one of the most effective methods usually consisting of very few parts by putting less effort in less time.
- You need to master the hand techniques and body positions which is possible just through considerable practice.
- For instance, using just the palms of hands can put a lot of work on a little area which can be avoided if you employ the pressure throughout the hand to balance.
- Likewise, the hands should be kept firm and tight.
- Moreover, parallel to the ground, use your shoulders to put force.
- Subsequently, bend yourself down and apply all pressure to rub two pieces of sticks together which would generate friction for lighting a fire.
- Finally, focus on the gradual speed from which you start to the great force you put till the end to speed up the procedure
The Fire Plow Method
This fire igniting method needs a lot of determination to perform skillfully.
- Poplar and willow trees are among the most popular trees for getting the piece of softwood for a plow board which should be 2 inches wide and 18 inches long, approximately.
- Through the use of the knife, you need to carve a trench of 8 inches long and 1 inch wide.
- Take a hardwood and make its one end pointed to plow.
- Now, rub your hardwood stick on the plow board. After producing some amount of dust, wait for it to catch fire.
- After it lights up, you need to pick the board and transfer the flame to the tinder.
Bow Drill Fire
- For Bow Drill Fire, you need to carve a round dent within the fireboard and make a V-shaped cut at one edge of it.
- Afterward, bend the bow stick and tie it with a bootlace.
- Put the board on the ground and put some tinder under the cut on the board.
- Keep the board firm at a place by placing your foot on it.
- Put the drill on the round dent and coil the bowstring around the drill.
- After putting the socket above the drill, you need to move your bow and spin the drill. This will create black and hot powder which will fall on the tinder.
- Tinder will flare up and you can transfer the fire
Consequently, all the methods mentioned above are not meant to be oblivious of the preparations which need to be made before planning any adventurous journey.
Rather, they are presented to you in a way to facilitate you in a situation that is utterly devoid of any homely conveniences and entails some emergency. Therefore, instead of being worried about the situation, you can use all these methods to accomplish your adventures successfully.
Conclusion
Now is the time to put what you have learned into practice. When you get trapped amidst the wild and your survival is in danger, you can employ these techniques to save yourself. Deliberate practice and preparedness at your end will save you in the longer run.