How To DIY a Fire From Everyday Objects
There is truly nothing better than spending time in the woods amongst the beauty of nature. I love to escape into the woods for a weekend and live off the land. But you have to be smart. Any experienced camper knows to bring spare supplies with them into the woods because you never really know what’s in store. You could have the most amazing experience watching a moose swim in a lake, or come across a mountainside cave where you’ll spend the afternoon relaxing in the cool air with a fantastic view (this one applies to me and man oh man was that cave cool!)But not all experiences in the woods are great one, sometimes you can encounter a scary emergency or realize that you don’t have one of your most vital pieces of equipment — matches.
This is the moment when you go into full on boy scout mode and create a fire out of some materials found in the woods and a couple of pieces of trash from your pocket. No really! Read on for a handful of the total 10 different methods for creating a fire when you are without matches or a lighter. I’ll be sure to link to all 10 methods at the end for you to check out and attempt for yourself!
Method 1 utilizes a tin can, a polishing agent (who polishes with chocolate!?), a towel/cloth, and tinder. Similar to using a magnifying glass to start a fire, this method uses the reflection of the sun off the can to get the tinder smoking.
Method 2 is also similar to using a magnifying glass but instead of a can you create a “water sandwich” out of, you guessed it, a sandwich bag! I wonder how still one would need to be for this to work, and how long it takes to work. I may have to try this one for fun next time I’m camping.
Method 3 is the one you’re probably the most familiar with. It’s the classic boyscout method of trying to start a fire, the one you’ll always see used on TV when someone is lost in the woods. Do you have a fire board that you bring camping with you? It comes in handy for a few of these methods!
Method 6 might be my favorite and that’s only because a cellphone battery is needed to help make a spark. And now I’m having too much fun picturing business men in suits trying to start a fire with their cell phone batteries, lol.
Method 8 might be another you’re familiar with thanks to TV, The Prison Lighter. I suppose when you’re locked in a cell every day, you tend to get creative and engineer some interesting stuff. It does make you wonder just how easy it is for a battery to start a fire (when you don’t actually mean to) if something metal happens to be touching both ends of the battery….
I’ve shared my 5 favorites out of the 10 different methods, but click the link below to check out the other 5 methods and give one or two or all ten a try next time you’re out camping!
And the most important tip (because you can’t keep a fire going without the proper materials) is the chart below that shares the best items to use for tinder, kindling, and the structure. Don’t forget to make the all important tee-pee shape out of your bigger logs!
