Its Cold, how do I warm up my wood?

[char4chocs]

Hiya guys lastnight me and my friend went out for a bit of a boys in the wood session, we enjoyed it nevertheless but could not get a fire started because it was bloody cold last night. I had previously collected tinder a week before but after we used all of that and all the needle size there was nothing, because the thin half pencil sized sticks would not catch. I thought this was strange because they were dry ash which we collected of a dead fallen tree from four stages from needle size up to thumb size and a fist of each the needle size burned but when it can to the half pencil size they just wouldn't ignite.
Any Guidance how to warm up tinder in a survival situation would be great - Accept using another fire Cheers

[LandRoverMatt]

Always bring a little fuel stove like a methylated spirits one and cook some food on it and make a brew that would warm you up.

[Fletching]

Did you try feathering your 'half pencil size' sticks?

Steve :)

[luresalive]

The key is lots of tinder then lots of matchstick size twigs then lots of pencil size sticks,each in turn will heat up enough to drive off any moisture in the thicker fuel..always bring twice as much tinder as you think you will need.

[garethw]

Hi there
First off if you have dry kindling, and pencil sized dry wood it should be fine to start a fire... the best bet, and I always use this, is to take some cotton wool balls dabbed with vaseline. This should get your kindling going and then your larger pieces until you can get bigger bits on.
If you wood is damp on the outside, split it, or as Fletching says, feather sticks....
cheers
Gareth

[Juanodaxis]

Nice tips here guys. Thanks.
By the way, "how do I warm up my wood?" Surely you could off choose a diferent word combination, LOL.

[Tony1948]

How I light wet wood is to split it use you'r cotton ball with some vaseline or the new type hand hygiene gel on it then take a bit of innertube 2 thin bits lay them on topthen they catch start laying you'r tinder then the split wood it's a bit smokey to start with but stays alight long enuff to catch the big stuff,oh the other thing to do is put some big split logs on the ground first,to keep the fire off the damp earth,two good split log layed bark down makes a good dry platform.Atb.........:campfire:............DONT GET EATEN BY THE BEARS.............TONY.

[CanadianMike]

Pack a small cheap pencil sharpener in your gear, you can make fine shavings from small sticks you find, and even if wet, you can dry them out in your pocket.............. Is something I'm going to do actually, I have one that I use to taper my dowels that I make into arrows, but will get another better one to keep with my tinder kit when I get one put together.

[rich290185]

I like that idea Mike T^

[dfxdave]

what a cool idea pencil sharpener must raid the wifes eye pencil case lol

[rich290185]

brave man dave!!!!

[paul standley]

As has been said already, it can take a LOT of tinder and kindling and fuel wood to start a fire and keep it going in this weather as the fire needs to build up a critical mass of heat. Tricks often used are to introduce self sustaining elements into the tinder and kindling and so pine resin, fat wood, thin birch bark all put out lots of hot flame and will burn longer with a wicking effect from the combination of resins and the wood/bark.

If you don't mind taking a less purist approach then using man-made self sustaining products like thin pieces of inner tube rubber, cotton wool with Vaseline, meths, little candles etc will all help get a fire going and keep it going in the early minutes as also said above and a good point is to get the base of your fire off the cold ground by building it on a bed of sticks as the cold ground will suck the heat out of your tinder as it is initially burning.

As your fire gets going and looks like it's OK, put some thin fuel wood adjacent to it so that it gets some warmth from the fire and it will help dry it out and repeat with larger fuel wood as the fire is established.

Don't be in a rush to build a fire in difficult conditions, preparation and patience are key contributing factors to success.

[CanadianMike]

I like that idea Mike T^


what a cool idea pencil sharpener must raid the wifes eye pencil case lol

Thanks guys, I can't really claim it as my own, a while back I posted a thread regarding a US hunting/fishing magazine where they outlined the best 50 reader tips, and that was one of them. In my mind, ideally the best thing you want to buy and pack is one of the pencil sharpeners that comes in a plastic case that holds the shavings, then you can just pocket it after sharpening some sticks and the shavings will dry (if wet or damp) and stay dry til you need them. Many great things about the idea that almost makes it a mandatory tool to have with your firemaking kit!