This discussion focuses on effective techniques for starting a fireplace fire, emphasizing the importance of proper materials and methods. Participants share personal experiences and tips, such as using crumpled newspaper, kindling from pallets, and pre-warming the flue to enhance draft. The conversation also touches on alternative fire-starting methods, including friction techniques and the use of firestarter blocks. Overall, the consensus highlights the significance of using dry wood and appropriate kindling for a successful fire.
PREREQUISITESHomeowners, outdoor enthusiasts, and anyone interested in mastering the art of starting and maintaining a fireplace fire effectively.
Funny you should say that. They make a big point of this in the movie The Edge, where some guys crash in Alaska in the wilderness. The character played by Anthony Hopkins warns all the others that the main reason people die in the wilderness is shame: they think they deserve it for letting this happen to them.Chi Meson said:
A fresnel is nice to have but it only works in the daytime and only when the sun is shining. If you are out in a foggy drizzle and you get injured and nightfall is coming on, you'd prefer the flint trick. I used a skinny little piece of hardwood and drilled about 10 holes just the right size for a tight fit and jammed the lighter flints into the holes. As for tinder, 4x steel wool works pretty well, and it burns hot enough to get your secondary combustibles to catch fire so you can start putting heavier sticks, etc on.Mk said:VERY cool! Flint in holes in a stick! Maybe I should put that in my future emergency kit! Or maybe a magnifying glass or a Fresnel lens would make-do better. But not as cool.
There is definitely some truth to that. Last time I got "lost" in the wilderness (deliberately and alone) was in 1988. I tossed my compass and tempted fate. Two days later I was cursing myself for being an idiot. I followed a stream until it crossed a hiking trail. Then it was another day before I figured out where I was headed, then another two days to hike back. In retrospect it was "pretty cool," but at the time it was five days of no fun, and a bit of shame.zoobyshoe said:
Oh, I missed this part. That's a cool idea. Flint's the way to go.turbo-1 said:
Very sad.chroot said:It looks a little sad, Evo.
- Warren
Not exactly a roaring fire, eh?
I haven't used it much, so I doubt there's much of a creosote build up. I think there's a bird nest in it now.cyrusabdollahi said:
It does look sad, and it looks too neat and tidy for my zoobie taste what with the glass ornament on a stand and the somehow, all too lady-like folding screen. I like big hEarth's you can sit on made out of granite rocks with space for a cord of wood stacked to the side. Nice to have a spit for cooking roast beast, or a wrought iron bracket for a cast iron pot of everything stew.Evo said:Speaking of rectangular fire, here's my fireplace with a firelog in it.
Darn! We heat our house with wood, and a fireplace like that would consume 15-20 cords a year and leave us frozen. We've got a tight little wood stove with a glass door, and have heated our house this winter with less than 4 cords of wood (that's about $600 cut, split, and delivered) which is pretty good for Maine. When my wife and I were much younger, we rented a Georgian brick farmhouse with a drafty old wood furnace in the cellar and a new modern wood stove that we had bought for the kitchen. An old fellow up the road asked if we were going to heat the whole place, and I told him that we would heat the kitchen, bath, living room, and bedroom, and close off all the other rooms. He asked how much wood I had and I proudly told him that I had laid in 10 cords, which I figured was maybe 2 years worth. He told me to go cut more, and I laid in another 5 cords, and we used it all that winter. Felling, bucking, and splitting (with a maul) 15 cords of wood in one season is enough to make you think about heating efficiency and the value of insulation. I'm a small stocky person (150#, 5'7"), but believe me, you would not have wanted to take me on after that 15 cords were in. Gyms are for people who don't have real things to do.Evo said:Very sad.
I have replaced the crummy screen in the photo with a wrought iron one.zoobyshoe said:
Most of them do, and you have to be directly in front of them absorbing the meager radiant heat to enjoy them. Not much of a problem in Southern California, perhaps, but a real deal-killer for northern climates.Evo said:
If you want to visit Maine, my wife and I will feed and shelter you as long as you can split a cord or two a day.Evo said:I had a wood stove installed in a house I had years ago, it was great. I'm also very handy with an axe.
turbo-1 said:If you want to visit Maine, my wife and I will feed and shelter you as long as you can split a cord or two a day.
I'm getting old, I don't think I can do that, unless the pieces are small to begin with and I just need to split them. Damn, I can cook and clean though.These work well, if you take the time to shave the magnesium finely. This is why I often used 4X steel wool as my tinder. Almost any metal can be oxidized, and the more finely divided they are, the easier they burn. Magnesium is pretty great and burns very hot, but 4X steel wool is dirt cheap and you can get it at any hardware store. The fact that you can ignite it with some flints and a piece of hard steel is not widely known.Danger said:I bought a neat little gizmo for a fellow at work several years ago. He was an outdoorsman, and I'm not, but I like the idea so much that I'm going to get one for my winter survival kit. (You need one of those in your car where I live.) It's a magnesium block with a 'flint' rod inset along the edge. You just scrape off some shavings with your trusty pocket knife, then use the blade as a striker. It will even light damp tinder.
True. I've ignited it with a battery, but I thought that it was purely a resistance phenomenon. Never tried to burn it with a match or anything. Thanks for the tip.turbo-1 said:
Fire it up and throw on a bit of dry peat, some lichen, leaf duff, etc, and you'll have a nice fire in no time. Feed in some cedar boughs, pine tips, etc and you'll have the heat to touch off much larger stuff that you have found in your vicinity. If somebody who is reasonably healthy dies because they cannot start a fire, they have died of ignorance.Danger said:
It really annoys the heck out of all of the other students if you light steel wool, put it on the end of pencil, and then put the pencil in a centrifuge.Danger said: