It is best to not make the mistake of not taking a match reserve or lighter. But if you are without these conventional means to light a fire there are other improvised methods, some simple and effective and others more complicated if you are not experienced. In these cases it is especially important to have enough tinder prepared (compact dry grass for the ember to propagate easily) and fine and dry wood to not waste a flame that could have cost us great effort to achieve. It is usually effective to blow softly when the first red dot appears to fan the flame. The methods are the following:
The glasses
A magnifying glass or camera lenses, prismatic or determined glasses are a very effective means to light a fire, but will be useless if there is no sun. First prepare the tinder and point the light dot towards it.
Flint
It is a good system that works in any circumstance. If you do not have a flint we can try with a hard stone. (You should try until we find one that emits good sparks, and then put it away for further use). You will hold the flint close to the tinder and hit it with a piece of steel, such as a knife blade, trying to direct the parks towards the tinder.
Indian fire bow
This is a well-known friction system for adventurous campers, but if we don’t know how to choose the wood we will probably be unsuccessful.
It consists of turning a stick quickly with the aid of a bow over another piece of wood. You will build the bow with a flexible branch and a string (a shoelace, from your backpack, anorak, etc.)
If we wish the method to work you must rub softwood with hardwood.
In any wood friction system, if you get black dust, like coal, you will have the right wood, however, if you get coarse and sandy dust, get rid of it and look for another.
When achieving smoke the tinder is added so the ember can spread easily and blow softly while you continue rubbing to get a flame.
Fire saw
It is a jungle method, and it consists of using softwood, usually bamboo to “saw” (we will perform a saw movement) hardwood, usually coconut peel.
A cotton-like fiber from the base of the coconut tree is used as tinder, we can use palm tree bark or bamboo membrane as well.
Strap method
You will use a strap of cloth or other strong fiber and a softwood branch. You will raise the branch slightly placing it on a rock. You will run the strap under the rock and pull, alternating from one end to the other to create friction. You will have placed the tinder under the branch previously, touching the strap.
Other methods
You can use a battery to make sparks by joining the cables from both poles.
In theory, it is also possible to make a lens with a piece of ice that you will work with a knife and shape with our hands. If the cold is intense, the risk of frost bite in our hands may be too high. It is also possible to use a concave object (the bottom of a bottle, for example) to make a lens, pouring water over it and allowing it to freeze. If you make two, you can stick them together with a little water, if the cold is intense, it will freeze immediately. Sometimes, pouring a few drops of gasoline or alcohol on the tinder may ease combustion, but don’t soak it completely.
If you use gasoline or any other type of fuel in a container to get heat, consider that there is a risk of an accident. Never add more fuel until the flame has been consumed and the container is cool.
Heating fire
To make the most of heat from a fire you must build a reflector with logs or use a natural one (a rocky formation, a terrain depression, a thick tree…), you must pay attention to the wind direction so the smoke doesn’t blow in our face. You will prepare a dry, soft and comfortable bed between the fire and the reflector. Y. Coineau and L. P. Knoeffler, in their book Living and Surviving in Nature Ed. Martinez Roca, make the following reference: “Light an intense fire before your resting time; before the time arrives, cover the ember bed with a fine layer of ash. The heat returned by the reflector, will heat the area during about 8 hours.”
Cooking fire
A small bonfire is best for cooking: it consumes less wood and is easier to maintain. It is always more practical to cook over the embers than over the flame.
You can build a home that will serve to place the pot making a small fire between two logs, two rocks, etc.
If our pot has a bucket-like handle we can hold it over the fire with a “crane” improvised with a branch between two rocks and another branch acting as a “perch”.
