Well, your post finally embarrassed me into going out and testing my own fire-making skills.

About a year and a half ago, I bought a big bag of firewood (split pine logs) but have never had a place I felt I could build a fire. (I live in an apartment style condo with no fireplace.) Last weekend, I decided that even if I couldn't build a fire I could practice splitting wood without an axe.

I own a half dozen Eriksson knives (the 3.5" ones with the red synthetic handles) so I took one to see if I could "baton" (I think I'm using the term correctly) one of the logs. It was fairly easy to slice off a thin piece of wood from the edge of the log, then use that as a wedge to split progressively larger pieces. I ended up with the log split into two pieces about the size of my forearem, a couple of smaller pieces, a bunch of kindling sized pieces, and some smaller fragments - I was really surprised by how easy it was. (In fact, I intend to demonstrate this and then have the cadets practice it - under close INDIVIDUAL supervision - when we go snow-shoeing at the end of February.)

Anyway, I stuffed all the pieces (including the smallest fragments) in a plastic bag and put them, and the knife, in the trunk of my car.

I also have a couple of biscuit tins left over from Christmas. I took the smaller one and used my SAK to punch holes all around the bottom, then I put it inside the larger tin and threw that in my car as well. I figure I could use the smaller tin as a small, portable firepit, and the larger one is a convenient way to store it afterward (as well as make sure the fire is out).

Well, today I drove up to the Rona hardware store in the Northwest of the city (I'm building a sled for the snowshoeing trip and I needed some PVC tubing and some eye-bolts). On my way back, I passed by Bowness park, and I remembered, from the last time I was there, that they had small firepits. Well, okay - I've been putting it off long enough - could I really make a sustainable fire on my own? Time to face reality....

It didn't seem very cold or windy when I got there, but I checked the aviation weather on the Internet when I got home later and aqt the airport, it was minus 18 Celsius (= 0 Fahrenheit) and the wind was 17 knots out of the North.

First problem - no matches or lighter. However, I do have a 7-NH mag/flint rod that I keep in the glove compartment, so I grabbed that. I also had a newspaper (yeah, I know that's cheating, so sue me <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> ) so I grabbed that as well.

I was more or less dressed for the weather, except that for some stupid reason I had no gloves. But I wasn't going to be far from the car, so no problem, thinks I.

The "fire-pits" are actually small barbequeues and there was about 2 inches of snow in the bottom of each of them, so first order of business was to scrape all the snow (and the underlying ashes) out on to the ground; I used one of the medium sized pieces of wood for this.

Then I crumpled up several pages of newspaper and put them in the bottom of the barbie-pit. They didn't stay crumpled up and expanded somewhat. Next I tried building the smaller pieces of kindling into a tipi shape, just like it says in all the books (and shows on Ranger Rick's site <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ). This is surprisingly difficult with no gloves at 18 below (Celsius). <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Next order of business was to try to get an actual flame. I knew I'd never be able to ignite the newspaper with just the ferrocerium rod, so I had to scrape off some magnesium flakes.

It's true what they say about those flakes - with a 17 knot wind out of the North, they blew away as fast as I could scrape them. This was where the biscuit tin came in handy; I was able to scrape a good-sized pile of flakes in the bottom of the tin. Next time, though, I'll line the tin with newspaper so they're easier to collect afterward.

Finally, show time. I shook the pile of magnesium shavings onto a piece of newspaper in the bottom of the firepit; meanwhile, the rest of the newspaper started blowing away.

Lesson #2 - if you're fortunate enough to have a newspaper, put something heavy on top of it so you don't lose it.

Anyway, the FeCe rod ignited the magnesium and within a second, the newspaper was blazing away. My tipi of wood sticks was kinda lying flat beside it, but I propped them up against the side of the firepit (lesson #3?) and soon got them burning away quite nicely.

Once I had all the smaller pieces burning, I had to figure out what to do with the three biggest pieces. I tried just placing them on top, but that squashed the tiny fire and nearly extinguished it; I took the big pieces out, was able to reconstruct the tipi without burning myself, and then did my best to prop the two largest pieces up directly over top of it. Eventually I did get all three of the largest pieces burning, though it was a struggle to keep them burning, I found, and eventually the fire did go out.

The fire didn't give off a lot of heat, I found, (it was really a very small fire) but I was able to warm my hands by holding them in the firepit.

After the fire went out, I threw the three largest pieces in the snow to make sure they were out, and used the lid of the biscuit tin to dump snow on the ashes in the firepit. Then I assembled everything back together, put the three pieces of firewood back in the plastic bag, and headed back to the car.

As an aside, I was somewhat shocked by how cold my hands got on the walk back. Even though it couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred yards, I had to keep blowing on them. I was even starting to worry that they might be too numb to unlock the car door; then I found myself wondering what I would do if the car didn't start. (Of course, it would probably have been a non-issue if I'd had gloves - or even if I'd had the sense to drop what I was carrying and stuff my hands in my pockets <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

One thing I think I will add to my survival kit is one of those disposable aluminium lasagna dishes - I think this could fold up quite flat, but I could use it to collect the magnesium flakes and prevent them blowing away. Of course, maybe a large paper or plastic bag (large enough to get both hands into) would do the trick just as well. Or I could try folding the newspaper into one of the "Napoleon" hats that I used to wear when I was a kid.

Anyway, I think it's obvious that I need a lot more practice, and I think I found a place where I can do it to my heart's content. (As long as I don't forget my gloves next time <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )