By no means do I consider myself a fire starting expert. However, I almost always can start a fire faster and more efficiently than my friends. A few tricks I use to get them going:
1.) TINDER. It's underrated by amateurs. Anyone can add paper to a fire and hope that it heats up enough to light a log. The key is to progressively work your way up to said log, by using sticks. When I build a fire, I don't even put the log in until I've got some decent coals going from sticks.
2.)DRY and DEAD WOOD. If a stick cracks when bent with minimal effort, it's typically good for fire. If it bends, it's not dead enough (and dry enough) to be effective.
3.)Fire starters. I pack 2 easy ignitables on every trip. A Can of Sterno fuel (basically gel alcohol, with a pudding consistency), and toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint. Dryer lint is very flammable, but doesn't burn as fast as paper. Stuff that in cardboard, and you've got a decent ignitable that will last for 20-30 seconds, which is usually enough time to get some sticks going. The sterno fuel is more of a fail safe. If I have a hard time getting it going, I'll knife out a lotion squirt sized portion or two into my tinder. Sterno burns hot and lasts longer than paper, increasing your tinder light chances.
1.) TINDER. It's underrated by amateurs. Anyone can add paper to a fire and hope that it heats up enough to light a log. The key is to progressively work your way up to said log, by using sticks. When I build a fire, I don't even put the log in until I've got some decent coals going from sticks.
2.)DRY and DEAD WOOD. If a stick cracks when bent with minimal effort, it's typically good for fire. If it bends, it's not dead enough (and dry enough) to be effective.
3.)Fire starters. I pack 2 easy ignitables on every trip. A Can of Sterno fuel (basically gel alcohol, with a pudding consistency), and toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint. Dryer lint is very flammable, but doesn't burn as fast as paper. Stuff that in cardboard, and you've got a decent ignitable that will last for 20-30 seconds, which is usually enough time to get some sticks going. The sterno fuel is more of a fail safe. If I have a hard time getting it going, I'll knife out a lotion squirt sized portion or two into my tinder. Sterno burns hot and lasts longer than paper, increasing your tinder light chances.
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