Hi,

Just wanted to take a few seconds to wish everyone here on the ETS forums a safe and Happy New Year.

I went showsnoeing yesterday for the first time of the year. In a quiet area, I decided to start a fire. I discovered the importance of building a small platform for the fire or else, the fire basically sinks in the snow and eventually dies.

At first, I had to warm up my trustful Bic lighter with my hands for a few seconds. I lit up my small Coghlan's tinder stick and placed this under a small amount of tiny branches I had cut with my hands. It lit up, but adding more of those tiny branches did nothing but make the fire sink more, and more.

Yesterday was just a short trip and I didn't want to waste too much time on wood gathering, but in a real situation, I would've gathered a lot more wood before starting the fire. Also, I believe I would have put my One-handed Trekker SAK to good use and saw off a few, bigger branches to make my platform and to feed the fire with larger pieces of wood as it grows.

Happy New Year once again! <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Another lesson learned before you really need it's teachings! Snowshoes for the voyageur and his fire <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the reminder. If you don't mind my asking, how cold was it?

Vince

Hi norad45,

It was -10 degree Celsiusndy (14 degree Fahrenheit), and slightly windy.

Building a platform really is necessary, you can't just toss small branches over the ones that are already lit up wishing for it to turn into a big fire. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

That is interesting that your Bic needed warming. I almost never use anything else and it just reinforces the need to carry different methods.

Regards, Vince

Perhaps, but i've found numerous Bics in my life, frozen in frozen watter puddles and got they working without a problem once warmed up. It's basically pressured gas that comes in contact with a spark.. Pretty basic. I like Bics :-)