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#166309 - 02/03/09 11:43 PM Kids and Fire
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA
for the next week or so i'll be a volunteer at a local nature center.the schools are bringing out bus loads of grade school students to take part in a Voyageurs and Trappers program.
there are four parts and each kids takes part in all of them.
a snowshoe hike,a vist to "trader jims" which is a wonderful collection of trade goods items that a local reenactor has put together.then meeting the voyageurs for a trip from Quebec to the Grand Portage in Minnesota.the canoe is an outline on the meeting room floor and the staff in compleat outfits tells the story and the kids take up little paddles and sing and get to try out carrying a bundle with a tump line..OK--as i don't have a story all worked out and i just got into this without any kind of reenactors outfit i got the task of the "fire keeper" at the trappers camp which had all the items you would expect.while the staff went thru what it was like to winter over i kept a pot of wild rice warm for everyone to have a taste of..



so now the point of this post...here and at other site we have all read of how kids these days don't get to do the same sort of things as we did--like make fires and handle knives--
well here they did.after trying out flint and steel and have a demo of a fire bow the kids got into groups of three and made a fire--tinder and birch bark were provided and they got down to it with just minor adult supervision.



this group was just about leaping up and down--"we did it! we made a fire"--wood kitchen matches were handed out,one each and they all had a go at it. i would say the future is in good hands--




Edited by CANOEDOGS (02/03/09 11:48 PM)

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#166311 - 02/03/09 11:49 PM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: CANOEDOGS]
OldBaldGuy Offline
Geezer

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
Other than the dreaded white stuff it looks like a hoot!!!
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OBG

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#166329 - 02/04/09 01:10 AM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: OldBaldGuy]
MDinana Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/08/07
Posts: 2208
Loc: Beer&Cheese country
So, how does making a fire on the snow directly work? Does the fire sink gradually, or stay "afloat?"

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#166332 - 02/04/09 01:31 AM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: MDinana]
Be_Prepared Offline
Addict

Registered: 12/07/04
Posts: 530
Loc: Massachusetts
That looks like time well spent. The white tent reminds me of the old civil war era tents I've seen at reinactments. The kids are lucky to have your help.
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- Ron

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#166339 - 02/04/09 02:09 AM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: CANOEDOGS]
Sherpadog
Unregistered


Thanks for the information and the photos. It is great to see kids being able to learn and practice some valuable skills that one day may help save their lives.

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#166340 - 02/04/09 02:13 AM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: ]
dougwalkabout Online   confused
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Absolutely bloody awesome. Well done, brother.

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#166427 - 02/04/09 07:40 PM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: MDinana]
Mike_H Offline
Addict

Registered: 04/04/07
Posts: 612
Loc: SE PA
Originally Posted By: MDinana
So, how does making a fire on the snow directly work? Does the fire sink gradually, or stay "afloat?"


You could actually wind up putting the fire out with the melting snow. One of our scouts had issues with that when trying to start a fire in a snowed over fire pit.
_________________________
"I reject your reality and substitute my own..." - Adam Savage / Mythbusters

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#166431 - 02/04/09 07:56 PM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: MDinana]
yelp Offline
Member

Registered: 06/04/08
Posts: 172
Loc: Colorado
Canoedogs: Fantastic! That's time well spent.

Originally Posted By: MDinana
So, how does making a fire on the snow directly work? Does the fire sink gradually, or stay "afloat?"


Sinks and will eventually self-extinguish as Mike_H noted. If you're staying put (in a camp, for instance) it is always worth the effort to dig down to the ground to build your fire...if you end up moving snow all night, well then you end up moving snow all night. (You do have a snow shovel, right?) If you need a fire right NOW, slap a piece of aluminum foil on the ground and start your fire on that. Move it to your prepared firebed when ready.
_________________________
(posting this as someone that has unintentionally done a bunch of stupid stuff in the past and will again...)

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#166433 - 02/04/09 07:59 PM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: MDinana]
Doug_Ritter Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/28/01
Posts: 2197
Originally Posted By: MDinana
So, how does making a fire on the snow directly work? Does the fire sink gradually, or stay "afloat?"


_________________________
Doug Ritter
Editor
Equipped To SurviveŽ
Chairman & Executive Director
Equipped To Survive Foundation
www.KnifeRights.org
www.DougRitter.com

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#166439 - 02/04/09 08:41 PM Re: Kids and Fire [Re: Doug_Ritter]
CANOEDOGS Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 1853
Loc: MINNESOTA

i see Doug beat me too it..the little voyageurs had the same question and i told them that they would lay out a bed of logs and make the fire on top of that--no foil in the 1700's..

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