Wind in Wyoming? Who'd of guessed...

Not my son. :D To be fair, he was trying to learn to light a fire in wind and rain. We didn't get much rain, though.

Pat

When everything is wet...
 

We just returned from a month of camping on the beach on Kodiak Island. It rained the first week and everything was wet. We kept some wood under a tarp, along with kindling and tinder (dried beach grass). But it was damp, too. Normal methods for fire-starting in the wind and rain resulted in cold hands and no fire.

That's when we would use a small amount of gasoline from the boat's supply. Feels like cheating. But the object was to have a fire. (Use of gas was carefully done. My husband once worked in a burn unit. He's seen first-hand what gasoline and fires can do.)

On good days, a little beach grass, driftwood and a Bic did the trick. Used the teepee method for building it. Both boys practiced their fire-building skills. One thing they discovered is that nylon/polyester rope burns long and slow. It could be used in a pinch to start a fire.

Does anyone have suggestions for building fires in wet/windy conditions?


Thanks,
Susan

Brush Okie,

Those were excellent. Thank you. The rubber inner-tube must burn much like the synthetic rope. I also liked his idea of building a platform for the kindling, though air-flow is not a problem on the beach. :) Whittling down to the dry wood is also a good idea (and sort of a "duh" moment for me). :o

Susan

During a week of rain in the SFQC, and after many conventional firestarting failures, I actually tried to start a fire with a magnesium trip flare and the tinder (including lighter knot) would not stay lit.

Now THAT is wet!

TR

Good point. I will add this video of why NOT to use gas in large quantities to start a fire :eek:

How NOT to start a fire (Short YouTube video)

You can't fix stupid.

Ambush Master can probably relate to this story.
We moved from Ban Me Thout to Duc Co to set up a Launch Site.
Shit burning roster was posted.
The night before it was our chase medic's turn.
He ask me how much Diesel and JP-4 to mix to get a hot fire.
I always used 5 gals of diesel and maybe a 1/2 gal of JP-4.

Bac Si decdied he could get a better fire with 3 gallons of diesel and 2 gallons JP-4.
He should of hollowed "FIRE IN THE Hole" before torching that MF'er off.
Needless to say Bac Si didn't have any hair on his arms.

BMT

Catching up on Les Stroud's Suvivorman: 10 Days episodes, I saw a fire carrying method that is pretty clever and may not need a lot of forethought: Cigars. You will probably be forced into buying and transporting some Churchills, or larger, but they do serve more than one purpose which fits pleasantly into the weight/cube equation. ;)

Pat

If I remember correctly, it still went out on him...It still needs to be watched.

It did. Cody Lundin once said about starting a fire: "It's like a baby, if you turn away for a second the baby drinks the Drano." :D

Pat

ROFL :D:D:D
Thank you for that video

Just got back from the winds (sic) of WY again and had all of the success of post #75 above. :D My son's ferro rod has pretty much been whittled away with very little success. The magnesium shavings blow away easily in the wind. We had 15 to 20 mph most of the stay there.

I wanted to make a Swedish Candle (AKA Swedish Torch, Swedish Log Candle, NTM it's named for every other Scandinavian country and Canada). We set out to use only scrounged material except for what we normally carried (not including Bic lighters).

I found two saw cut pine logs and some wire. I spit the logs partially and wrapped the wire around them. My son wanted to start the tinder/kindling on top with his mag/farro bolck, but was unsuccessful. In my scrounging I just happened to find a Kingsford Match Light® briquette and a match in my backpack. ;) OK, maybe they were in the trailer and the match blew out and I used my Bic. :D Ya use what ya got!

Turns out the SC burns too quickly in windy conditions. I brought the 2nd SC home and will try to get a more favorable result here without the freaking wind.

Pat

Here is another way to start a fire in the wet and windy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWVTO0OFwEo&t=1s

I wonder if "Rawhide" has a good "survival" school?

He's the real deal. I worked with him at SWCS just before I retired. He's on my "short list". Unfortunately, I lost track of him shortly after he returned to 5th SFG(A). I'm glad you stumbled across this video and will be using the info to reach out and re-establish contact.