If things always went your way you would never need to worry about how to survive in the wilderness. But since things don’t always go your way, you need to have a plan, and a backup plan when that doesn’t work. It’s not enough to know how to start a fire in ideal conditions, if you want to survive, you need to know how to start a fire in all conditions, including wet condition. Here are 3 tips on how to do it.
Gather standing wood
If it has just poured down rain, all the wood laying on the forest floor will have absorbed plenty of water. When you look for wood, look for standing dead wood. Preferably you can fell a small tree or two, if that is not available to you, look for a dead tree that has fallen in such a way as to leave a portion of it not touching the ground. If that is also not available to you, look for a tree that has fallen over but has intact dead limbs that are still pointing up, these will be the driest portion.
Make a Platform
Trying to start a fire with moist wood on the wet ground won’t get you too far. If you do get a flame going it will likely be put out because it will begin sucking the moisture out of the ground. To combat this lay some larger pieces of wood close together, all aligned, on the ground and build your fire on these pieces. This will help the fire start faster, and burn longer.
Split the Wood
If it is raining, or has just rained, the outside portion of the wood is likely going to be wet. But the inside portion of a log will remain dry much longer. It’s a good chance that you can find wood that is wet on the outside and perfectly dry on the inside. Splitting the wood will allow you to have access to the dry inside portion of the wood to get your fire started. As it burns it will dry out the rest.
You can never know too much about starting fires for survival. There will always be difficulties that you didn’t plan for, but gaining knowledge and practice will minimize those difficulties and help you overcome them when life is on the line.
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