Making Fire with Wet Wood?

[Ashley Cawley]

If it's raining and all the wood you touch seems sopping wet, all is not lost! It's amazing how many people get disheartened because they think all the wood is wet, sound dead wood won't be wet inside! Take a look...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcpVhm1bUwU

[Martin]

That is a really good video chaps. A good challenge for an outing to the woods this weekend.

Martin
:campfire:

[MikeWilkinson]

How about giving this a go then.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LearnBushcraft#p/u/14/u8exsZHfAUU

Check out his wet hand drill too.

Now there's a challenge.

[Mouldsy]

Maybe a wee but of topic but Luresalive and I went out purposely in a rainstorm to see if we could get a fire going with only what we could find around us, we also set ourselves the challenge that we were only aloud to use our ferro rods. After trying feather sticks and a few other things we found that nothing can beat the good old birch bark and old hog-weed stems, we had a crackin blaze going using them, we did try feather sticks but we found that no matter how we tried to shelter them they were still getting wet but that's not to say they wouldn't have lit if we were using matches or a lighter.

[Shewie]

Good vid lads

Not seen the chest grip idea before, clever that :)

Another way I've tried is using a tea light candle inside a kind of pyramid made up of small feathersticks and twigs, some thicker stuff on top and then encasing it with bark to create an oven effect.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC01064.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd291/Shewie01/DSC01067.jpg

[roybmx]

How about giving this a go then.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LearnBushcraft#p/u/14/u8exsZHfAUU

Check out his wet hand drill too.

Now there's a challenge.

he used to have the full vid of this but he has cut it, from what i can remember, he uses the bow drill untill it starts to smoke then he stops and lets it cool down a bit, then repeats the process untill it dries the wood out.

[Swamprat]

It can be a pain getting a fire started around here sometimes. We have rather high humidity. I try when possible to start a fire with my firesteel and what I can find laying around. Something I find that helps though is a bit of charcloth. There is some sort of grass that grows around in fields on along the woodline, almost looks like a rye grass. But when it is dry it lights quite well with a bit of charcloth, even when wet from rain.
I like Shewie's idea of surrounding it with the pieces of bark. I imagine that helps quite a bit. Have to try that next I'm out.

[Metal mug]

The featherstick video is the best guide to making feathersticks i've seen. It gives a couple of handy tips that you don't get in books.

[ghost]

Love this video and in my opinion feather sticks are a must for anyone wanting to light a fire, i understand about birch bark grass etc but you wont always have these in some of the woodland you might inhabit. I like to make my sticks so that i have actually graded my tinder on the stick from very fine shavings getting slightly thicker you then get a good sustained burn through out. I have made fires in all weathers and have always had success but One thing i have learned is you cant make a fire quickly and if you try there is a good chance you will fail.

[nature nut]

excellent video! Always remember though that to split the wood that is dead but still standing.

[Marvell]

Great feather stick video, I've been referring people to it on courses since you put it up.

[GwersyllaCnau]

Great video. As soon as I'm able to walk (hopefully next weekend, ) I'll give it a go, I've probably missed tapping a birch tree by now, but as I've never done that before I don't know. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in NB for making my bed rest bearable and not the living hell I had envisaged.

[klause]

Great vid, i didn't know you could light a fire stick with sparks !! I do now thanks..