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BASIC OUTDOOR FIRE RULES

FIRE , in a cold weather survival situation , fire (along with shelter )
is a MUST.

There are many primitive ways to start a fire , but for someone
not familiar with them , I would always reccommend carrying some
type of Fire making machine such as waterproof matches and/or a cigarette lighter ( even if you don't smoke ! ) or A Metal Match at all times.

If you are un-familiar with woods-craft I would also make sure
that you have some type of Tinder for starting a fire with you at all times.
This is not as difficult as it may sound.

Cotton Lint from your clothes dryer is a good source or before you
leave home you can stuff paper into some type of water proof container
(a zip lock baggie is good)
You should also have some small twigs to use as a fire starter.

If all the wood around you is wet, you can always pare off the bark
to reach some dry wood to get your fire going until you can add damp
wood to it.

If you are in a sheltered position (and you should be !) then you will not
need a Bon-Fire to keep you from succumbing to Hypothermia.
A Poncho or a tarp draped around yourself with a candle between your
legs is all you will need sometimes.

A Basic Way To Build A Fire

Time is running against you here.
You must work quickly and conserve energy. After you have taken inventory, build a fire:
Hopefully you will have matches or a lighter.
(You should always carry a lighter and cotton lint from your clothes dryer in a water-proof package ,even if you do not smoke.)
You must conserve these valuable items.
Before you build your fire, pick a place for your shelter.
My Main Shelters Pages

Now gather your combustible materials.

Cones from pine trees don't burn.
Bark doesn't burn easily either.
DON'T waste matches trying to ignite them.

Gather material in this order:

( 1 ) Very small match stick thickness twigs.
Have at least a good double handful. They must be dry.
To find dry sticks in the rain, look under the overhang of an embankment, under-side of logs, dead dry roots pulled out of an embankment, the center of a stump or dead tree ( dug out with a knife which you should always have on your person ).

( 2 ) Small sticks a little bigger than the smallest.
You will need more of these, at least a quart - half gallon. Some of these may be a little wet.
The key phrase here is "a little wet ",, this does not mean soaking wet.

( 3 ) Bigger Sticks -
Twice the thickness of the ones before, even more of these.
Keep moving up in size untill you are collecting branches/small logs.
If the wood is available you will need as much as you can gather in an hour.
Drift wood will work if it's dry.

Now that you have your wood it's time to build your fire.

Take your time and do this right.
Here are Ten Basic Steps to building your fire.

( 1 ) DON'T throw the fire together haphazardly do this right you will only need one. This will only waste fuel and increase the risk of the fire not lighting. Every match you have is like gold. Do not waste them.

( 2 ) Take a medium size branch and lay it down.

( 3 ) Now build a tiny lean-to with the smallest sticks by leaning them up against the branch.

( 4 ) Take more sticks and and lay them perpendicular to first layer, and parallel to the big branch.

( 5 ) Use lots of very small sticks and leave enough gaps between them for the flames to rise up through and ignite the upper layers. If it's raining or windy cover yourself with something to protect your fire.

( 6 ) Now add the bigger sticks to the top of the your neat little lean-to, using a teepee shape, and surrounding the little lean to on all sides. Leave a small gap up close to the big branch to get your match under the pile.

( 7 ) If you have a small slip of paper or lint from home ( You should always have a supply of cotton lint from your clothes dryer in a water-proof package with a lighter , a zip-lock baggie of some sort works great for this. )

( 8 ) As your fire grows, start adding more and more sticks to get the fire very hot. Now add the larger sticks, the heat will dry them if they are damp.
(But Not if they are green or soaked through.)

( 9 ) Keep building your fire in stages.

( 10 ) If it is raining , you can use sheets of bark off fallen trees to shield your fire.

DON'T wait too long to add the next size larger sticks.
The heat generated from the rapidly burning small ones is needed to dry and ignite the larger ones. As soon as you can, put some bigger stuff on by laying them across the big branch on the ground.

Once your fire is going, DON'T let it go out.
If you need more fuel gather more, and start building your shelter.

I hope to be adding addition information on Fire building in my next update.