How to light a fire in the forest. Starting a fire with firewood and flint

The ability to make fire is extremely important in conditions wildlife, especially when you need to stay warm or cook food in winter. But it happens that matches become damp, run out, forgotten, lost, like a lighter, and gas burner I don't have it with me. How to make fire without matches and a lighter in the forest? You can find out more about this below.

There are both known from ancient times and unusual ways how to start a fire without matches. At the same time, you need to prepare for the fact that making fire is a long and not easy process.

How to make fire without matches using friction

This is the most labor-intensive process of making fire. It consists of producing fire by friction using a rod and a base. The rod needs to create circular movements on the base, which is a wooden plank. With these actions, coals should be formed that initiate the appearance of a flame. Subsequently, the smoldering coals can be used to ignite lighter materials. With this method, you need to use only dry wood. For both the rod and the plank, you need to choose the right wood: the following types of wood are best suited for this: walnut, cypress, pine, aspen, willow, cedar.

Light a fire without matches

A small depression is made on the surface of the board. The rod is about 60 cm long and is sharpened so that its tip fits well into the recess. Then you need to press on the board and begin to rotate the rod around the axis with quick movements until smoldering embers begin to form. Once they form, they must be quickly transferred to a nest of dry material called tinder.

To prepare tinder, you will need any flammable material: very dry branches, grass, leaves, bark, material that will easily ignite from a spark. To avoid throwing coals into a separate nest, you can make a funnel for tinder on a piece of wood. In this case, you need to put bark under dry grass or moss, then there is a chance to maintain the starting fire longer.


Another way to light a fire using friction is to use a bow. Unlike manual rubbing, this method is faster in achieving a spark as it produces a higher rotation speed and ideal pressure. At the same time, in addition to a board with a rod, you will need a bow and a weighting agent. The bow is made independently: you need to take a flexible branch as long as a human arm and a lace or thread for the bowstring. Wooden rod is placed in the bowstring and begins to unwind with the forward movements of the bow. When smoldering coals appear, tinder is added to them, you can fan the coals a little until a fire appears.

How to make fire without matches or a lighter using lenses

You can make a fire without matches in the forest using the laws of physics about focusing a sunbeam into one point passing through glass. It's quite fast and effective method, but it can only be used in clear, sunny weather. You can light a fire using this method not only with glass, but also with water collected in a container, or even ice. In addition to the lens, you will need tinder made from dry leaves, grass, and moss.


Make fire using a magnifying glass

This method is quite simple: you need to take any lens, which most often is a piece of glass, the bottom of a glass, a watch, glasses, and direct the sun’s ray through them directly to the tinder nest. The lens should be tilted. As soon as the first smoke appears, you need to carefully fan it until a fire appears. If you moisten the lens with water, the process will be more efficient.

In addition to the glass lens, you can use plastic bag filled with water. In this case, it is necessary that it takes the shape of a ball as accurately as possible, compressing it so that it gives a clear circle of light. You need to keep such a lens at a distance of no more than 5 cm from the tinder.

Oddly enough, ice can also start a fire if you make a lens out of it. To do this, you only need transparent ice at least 5 cm thick. To get transparent ice, you need to collect water from the lake, or put snow in some container and let it freeze. Then you need to use a knife to cut a lens out of the middle of the ice floe. You should polish it with your hands, then point it at sunlight at an angle to refract the beam.

How to light a fire without matches or a lighter: the chemical method

If you have a first aid kit and basic chemical skills, you can make fire in the forest using chemicals. For ignition you will need:

  • Potassium permanganate and sugar: you need to pour them one by one on cotton wool, then rub with a stick until a spark appears.
  • Calcium or sodium chlorate with sugar in a ratio of 3 to 1.
  • Calcium permanganate and glycerin
  • Potassium permanganate with any antifreeze.

How to light a fire without matches in the forest using a flint

An ancient way to light a fire without matches is to use flint. In order to produce a spark, you need a silicon stone. In principle, you can use an old silicon lighter that has run out of gas. To light a fire, you need to do the following:

  • You will need a flint stone and a piece of any fabric for ignition.
  • You need to squeeze it with a big one and index finger flint, the fabric must be securely clamped with a finger and a stone.
  • Any steel (you can use a knife blade) needs to be struck against a flint, which will create sparks.
  • Getting on the fabric, they will contribute to its ignition.
  • When a spark appears, place the cloth in the tinder and blow gently, igniting a stronger fire.

Fire

Other ways to light a fire without matches

In addition to the above, there are additional ways how to start a fire without matches or a lighter:

  1. Starting a fire with a flashlight. If starting a fire is more important than lighting a flashlight, you need to disassemble it. Need a naked one electric arc flashlight that will set the tinder on fire.
  2. A roller made from ordinary cotton wool will also help create a fire. To do this, you need to roll the cotton wool over the surface of the tree, gradually it will begin to smolder, becoming saturated with oxygen.
  3. An alternative to a glass lens can be a regular aluminum can. To do this, you need to polish its bottom to a shine, then use it as parabolic mirror to refract the sun's ray and set fire to tinder. Instead of a can, you can use used gas cylinder, ordinary foil.
  4. How to make fire from wool and batteries? Simple enough if you use a piece natural wool. It needs to be stretched while quickly rubbing it with a battery. To get a spark you will need a battery with a power of at least 9 watts. After some effort wool fabric will begin to ignite.
  5. If, by luck, you have it with you firearms, it will help you how to light a fire without matches. You need to pour the shot out of the cartridge, and fill the cartridge case with tinder from dry leaves, moss, and pieces of bark. Then you need to shoot idling at the site of the planned bonfire. After this, it remains to fan and maintain the fire.
  6. Friction of wire on steel knife. The method will require physical effort.

IN field conditions There is no way without fire: it will warm you up, feed you and give you something hot to drink, dry your shoes and clothes, and help you send a distress signal. And for this you need to know how to light a fire , so that it burns as long as possible and gives maximum heat.

Making fire using traditional methods

The main sources of fire were and remain matches and a lighter. Matches are included in any survival kit. The following types are distinguished:

  1. Resistant against wind and moisture (hunting).
  2. Having a long piece of wood.
  3. Non-grit options that generate fire from friction against any surface: stone, wall. They can be recognized by the double coloring of their heads.

To matches didn’t let you down at the right time, you need to do some simple recommendations:

  • Proper storage: in airtight containers. To avoid ignition, avoid their friction and strumming.
  • For economical use the match is split in half and a fire is made by pressing the sulfur head to the ignition surface.
  • A damp match can be dried by rubbing it over dry, clean hair.
  • A candle will help you start a fire and save matches.
  • It's always safer to have a spare box of matches.
  • Ordinary matches must be additionally processed, otherwise there is no point in taking them with you on a hike.

Lighters, in turn, can be:

  • alcohol;
  • gasoline;
  • gas.

You can take any of them, but, most importantly, they are not cheap. With the latter, building a fire will be delayed, and “you won’t be able to cook porridge.” A couple of flints in reserve would also be useful. They are suitable for making a “fire pencil”, which produces a spark from friction against any hard surface.

Procedure for making a fire

  1. Prepare tinder or any flammable material:
  • reed, especially its top;
  • dry grass;
  • paper;
  • textile;
  • cotton wool;
  • small birch bark;
  • crushed tinder fungi;
  • needles;
  • fir cones.
  1. Collect brushwood and prepare firewood.

The first option ignites easier and faster, but does not burn for long. The main fuel is firewood. First, dry and thin ones are used, and after that you can add raw ones, from the heat. excess water will evaporate and the fire will not go out.

  1. Prepare a place for the fire.

It is necessary to avoid options near dry trees, tents, and sleeping bags. The selected area with a diameter of 1-1.5 m is cleared, you can dig a small hole to make a fire. If the ground is wet or covered with snow, make a raised platform from fresh branches, earth or stones.

  1. Build the “frame” of the structure.

Whatever type of fire a person chooses, several rules should be followed:

  • leave fire access to oxygen;
  • use as dry materials as possible;
  • Use brushwood to light firewood.
  1. Get fire and start a fire.

The spark hits the tinder, then small brushwood ignites and, as it burns, it ignites thicker branches and firewood. If necessary, a low flame should be maintained by slowly fanning.

How to start a fire with a lens?

The sun is a limitless source of energy. In cloudless weather, you can start a fire even with a small piece of glass. The main thing is to concentrate the sun's ray at one point. Placed in focus, tinder in the form of a paper napkin or a nest of dry grass will give a flame that only needs to be developed.

Also suitable: mirror, bottom aluminum can, glasses, piece pure ice. The lens can be made from plastic bag or a condom, filling them with water, which refracts light. All you have to do is use your hands to shape the container with water into the desired shape so that the sun’s ray can focus on one point.

You can also start a fire using a piece of ice. The main thing is to use the warmth of your hands to give it the shape of a biconvex lens. A tin can works on the same principle. Only it does not refract the sun's ray, but reflects it. Before use, the bottom of the jar can be sanded, but it is important not to overdo it so as not to damage the outer shell.

How to light a fire using friction?

Even ancient people noticed that hard surfaces heat up when rubbed. Many homemade and industrial devices for making fire. One of them - flint. IN modern design This is a rod made of an alloy of iron, silicon and some metals. Flint is not afraid of moisture and wind. It is durable, unpretentious, does not require refueling or maintenance, and does not break. The resulting sparks have a temperature of 3000 °C.

The disadvantage of flint is that it is useless in the absence of dry tinder, which in certain weather conditions(rain, snow) difficult to do. Flint can be manual or semi-automatic. Working with the latter variety frees up one hand. Those who want to start a fire using flint should know that:

  1. Alloy steel produces sparks better.
  2. You should not use the blade of your knife instead of a knife. The latter will either become dull or burnt out, and you also cannot do without a reliable knife on a hike.
  3. If you don’t have a chair, you can use the part of the hacksaw or knife closest to the handle.

You can light a fire using bow drill. To do this you will need a flat piece of wood as a base. You need to make a groove in it where the rod will be inserted. A drainage channel is drawn from the groove for the outflow of friction products and coals. A dry and strong branch no more than 1 cm thick is suitable for the rod. A bow is made from another branch up to 1 m long and 2 cm in diameter, tied with a bowstring from a shoe lace or a strip of cut belt. The rod is used to twist the bowstring. They insert it into the groove and begin to move the bow so that the rod rotates slowly at first, then faster and faster. This creates friction between the base and the rod. This does not injure your hands. At the required pace of movement, smoke appears, and then brown powder or coals appear. Placed in tinder, they will allow you to make fire without matches.

You can light a fire without a bow, but then you will have to rotate the rod together.

For the next method you will need ordinary wire with a diameter of 2 mm. The handles will be 2 sticks attached to its edges. They wrap a log with wire and try to saw off a piece of it. Once the tinder has caught fire, you can start a fire.

The simplicity of the method does not guarantee instant success. There is a dependence on the weather, tinder, and type of wood. In the summer, this technique will definitely work.

Starting a fire using the methods described above may not work the first time. Repeated training will be required to develop the appropriate skills.

Chemical fire making

You can light a fire using the thermal effect of chemical reactions in which the reactants are:

  • Potassium permanganate and sugar (9:1).
  • Bertholet salt and sugar (3:1);
  • Potassium permanganate and glycerin (1-2 drops). When smoke appears, an additional drop of glycerin is applied, causing the mixture to spontaneously ignite.
  • Potassium permanganate and antifreeze. 1 tsp is poured onto the paper. permanganate, add 2-3 drops of antifreeze and, tightly folding the paper, place it on the ground, covering it with tinder. Starting a fire occurs through a slow oxidation reaction accompanied by the release of heat. A large number of antifreeze will slow down chemical reaction. Loosely folded paper will also reduce the temperature inside it.

Someone is counting chemical method receiving fire is strange, but in real conditions it works and helps someone.

The essence of starting a fire by friction is that when any objects (including wood) rub against each other, they heat up. IN in this case Wood acts as a rubbing surface. Heated by friction, it is able to reach a temperature sufficient to form smoldering tinder, which is often dust from the same wood.

Theoretically, this method is simple, but in practice it requires enormous effort to implement and certain skills.

There are several known ways to produce fire by friction, but not all of them are applicable in real conditions, taking into account the peculiarities temperate latitudes northern hemisphere (corresponding wood and its humidity).

Basic options for making fire by friction

Most often, the following methods are used to produce fire by friction:

  1. Fire plow. Here, smoldering tinder is created by rubbing a peg against a groove cut into a piece of wood.
  2. Hand drill. Smoldering coals in this case appear as a result of drilling wooden plank prepared in a special way.
  3. Fire bow. Here everything is the same as in the case of a hand drill, only the drill is driven by the reciprocating movements of the beam.
  4. Fire bamboo. In this case, pre-prepared kindling begins to smolder, sandwiched in half of the bamboo trunk, which is used to “saw” the other half.

All methods of starting a fire by friction have their own specifics and are quite difficult to implement. To confidently make a fire with their help, preliminary training is required.

Fire plow

This is one of the most complicated ways making fire by friction. However, in the absence of a rope, which is needed, for example, for a fire bow, it becomes acceptable for starting a fire even in the steppe and forest-steppe.

The essence of the method is that when a sharp stick rubs against a groove in a log, the walls of the log heat up, hot dust is scraped off from them, which will then swell.

Dry (but not rotten) soft hardwood wood is suitable for the fire plow. Conifers Wood should not be used for making fire by friction due to the presence of resin in them, which can prevent the appearance of smoldering tinder. However, if deciduous trees It wasn’t nearby, you can try, for example, using pine sticks.

Some people believe that bark can be used as a base to start a fire by friction. But this is not true: fire cannot be produced this way. If we use the bark, then birch bark and then only as kindling.

In order to make fire with a fire plow, you need to follow the following algorithm:

  1. A plank is made, or a flat platform up to half a meter long is made on a horizontally lying trunk.
  2. A shallow groove is cut into the board for almost the entire length of the board.
  3. A peg up to 30 cm long is planed from the same wood, which is sharpened on one side.
  4. The sharp side of the peg is lowered into the groove.
  5. The peg is pressed into the bottom of the groove and thus driven along its entire length in one direction and the other.
  6. Kindling is placed on the smoldering coals formed as a result of friction, or the coals are carefully poured into the kindling rolled up in a nest, and then fanned until a fire appears.

Our distant ancestors made fire in exactly this way - by rubbing one piece of dry wood against another using the fire plow technology.

If you make the peg longer (a little more than two meters), the fire plow can be used by two people, which greatly simplifies the work of the person making the fire. In this case, the person sitting next to the piece of wood directs and presses the peg to the groove, and the person standing presses and moves it in one direction or the other. The video shows how this is organized:

Hand drill

This method of producing fire by friction is used mainly in the tropical and equatorial zones, where suitable wood is available.

Algorithm of actions:

  1. A piece of a small branch is cleared of bark and split lengthwise into two parts.
  2. In one half of the side, a “V”-shaped slot is cut, in the narrowest part of which, on the outside of the branch, a recess is made for the future drill.
  3. A drill is made from the same wood, which is a thin stick sharpened on one side, at least half a meter long (with a shorter one, the work will not be so convenient).
  4. A stick with a slot cut out is placed with its flat side on the ground on pre-prepared kindling.
  5. The sharp side of the drill rests on a recess in a stick lying on the ground.
  6. The upper part of the drill is clamped between the palms and rotates with pressure in a motion reminiscent of rubbing the palms during frost. When the palms slide down without lifting the drill from the lower stick, they must be returned to their original place and continued rotation.
  7. The smoldering coals formed as a result of friction inside the crack are carefully dropped onto the kindling and fanned until a fire appears.

This method of making fire by friction was used by ancient people living in hot countries. IN modern conditions it can be simplified by using potassium permanganate, which ignites faster than a rod.

If a tourist has potassium permanganate in his first aid kit, starting a fire will not be a problem. You need to pour a little of this powder into a hole made in a log, press it with the end of a small stick, first covering it with tinder, and make several rotational movements. The friction will cause the tinder to flash and ignite.

An example of such a fire in the taiga in winter is shown in the video:

In our latitudes, it is somewhat difficult to make a fire with a hand drill: it will take a lot of time, effort, and wounds may form on your hands, which can become infected. That's why this method not received widespread, unlike the following method.

The video shows how to make a fire in this way in Kenya:

Fire bow and its variation

This method of starting a fire by friction became known as the Indian fiddle, although it has long been used not only in America, but also on other continents.

In essence, this method is the same as a hand drill, only in this case the rotation is carried out not by the palms, but by the bow string, which provides greater speed and, accordingly, higher temperatures. Therefore, it is sometimes called a bow drill.

Externally, the device for making such a fire looks like a bow, the string of which is wrapped around a stick.

The wood used is the same as for the fire plow, that is, dry wood from soft hardwoods, such as alder or aspen. Trees lying on the ground are not suitable for these purposes, since high probability will be damp or rotten and rotten.

This method also requires a rope, which is often used as laces removed from one shoe. The main requirement for a rope is that it must be strong (hiking ropes are very good for this).

To make fire with your own hands using a fire bow, do the following:

  1. The sushina is being cut down.
  2. A plank is made, or, as in the previous case, the branch is split halfway along the fibers.
  3. By analogy with the previous method, a “V”-shaped slot and a recess are made at its narrowed end.
  4. A drill about 30 cm long, sharpened on both sides, is planed from a separate piece of wood.
  1. The onion is being made. To do this, you can take a curved, fairly rigid stick up to a meter long and tie a rope to both sides. An elastic branch will also work for this purpose, but it will be more difficult to achieve tension in the rope as the bow moves forward, which can cause the rope to slip along the drill.
  2. Take the second part of the split stick and in the center of it inside a small hole is picked out. This hole will be inserted top part drill.
  3. The string is wrapped around the drill once, the drill is inserted at one end into the bottom board and pressed with the second board from above. Both pointed ends of the drill should fit into the corresponding holes. It turns out to be a bow drill.
  4. The person stands on his right knee and presses the bottom plank with his left foot to prevent it from moving. The bow is in right hand, and with his left hand he holds the top plate, with which he presses the drill.
  5. The bow is set in a reciprocating motion, as when drilling, this causes the drill to rotate in the support. As the “V”-shaped gap is filled with tinder, the speed of movement of the bow must be gradually increased, bringing the temperature at the point of contact of the drill with the support board to the maximum.
  6. The smoldering tinder formed as a result of overcoming the frictional force is removed along with the kindling and inflated until a fire appears. The tinder should be in the form of small black needles: only in this case can you hope for a good result.

I once observed the following picture: a young man attached wooden drill to the drill and drilled in the center wooden board- there was a lot of smoke, but it was not possible to start a fire. A similar situation can be seen in some books illustrating images with a similar scheme. It is not difficult to guess that such a method is doomed to failure, because there is no place for tinder to accumulate, which, among other things, simply scatters to the sides.

This method of making fire, like those described above, is based on physical phenomenon increasing internal energy by performing work to overcome friction forces.
In our latitudes it is the most preferable, but it still remains one of the most complex and energy-consuming (mainly due to the high complexity of making a bow) and requires preliminary development.

There is also a “relative” of the fire bow, called a pump drill, but this device is quite difficult to manufacture in survival conditions and therefore will not be considered in this article. The video shows this option:

Fire bamboo

This method of making fire with your own hands, for obvious reasons, is used only in regions where bamboo grows. Only dried stems of this plant are suitable for it.

Fire is produced as follows:

  1. A dry meter-long bamboo trunk is split into two parts.
  2. One part (hereinafter referred to as the first part) is shortened to half a meter and a small through hole is made in the middle with a knife.
  3. On the outside, a transverse groove is made directly along the hole.
  4. From the second piece (hereinafter referred to as the second part) of the split bamboo trunk, a wide sliver about 40 cm long is cut and broken in the middle.
  5. The side of the second part of the trunk is made smooth and its edge is sharpened with a knife - a kind of bamboo blade is obtained.
  6. From the second part of the trunk, shavings in the form of thin twisted ribbons are scraped off with a knife. To do this, the knife blade is held at a right angle to the barrel and positioned across it.
  7. The chips are rolled into a tight ball, divided into two equal parts and placed inside the first part of the trunk directly above the hole (the hole is between them), after which they are pressed on top with a broken sliver.
  8. The second part of the trunk rests against the stomach with one end, and against the ground with the other. The weight of the body presses it to the ground so as to prevent displacement during operation.
  9. The first part of the trunk with kindling and wood chips is taken with both hands by the opposite ends and leans with a groove against the flat side surface (“blade”) of the second part.
  10. The reciprocating motion due to friction provides sufficient heat to cause smoldering in the kindling pressed against the wood chips.
  11. The smoldering kindling is transferred to dry grass and fanned until a fire appears.

I have seen another execution of this method of starting a fire by friction. In it, half a bamboo trunk with kindling lay on the ground (kindling down), and the other half was sawed. But this method, in my opinion, is less universal, since it requires at least two people (one to hold the lower part, the second for sawing movements), the soil must be dry so as not to wet the kindling, and your hands can be damaged by lying on ground stones or thorns.

Like other methods of making fire by friction, this one requires preliminary training. Without such training, one finds himself in emergency situation a person risks spending a lot of time and effort, while being left without fire.

As for me, in our latitudes the most acceptable option for starting a fire in survival conditions was and remains the fire bow method. Although it requires a strong rope, it allows you to spend more money compared to other methods. less strength, which in an emergency there is always a place to use.

Interesting video: bow drill in action

Fire plow in Polynesian style:

In conditions of hiking, extreme tourism, or in difficult life situations there is often a need for a fire. But how to make a fire without a lighter and matches - here you will need special skills, plus improvised means that you will definitely find.

To bring together various methods of making fire without resorting to matches and a lighter, so that they are suitable for any difficult situation, regardless of the time of year and weather - this is the goal of this article.

Magnifying glass plus cotton wool

This method of making fire without a lighter or matches will help out on a sunny day, even when everything was mercilessly wet in the rain the day before, regardless of the season. The main condition is shining sun without clouds at the moment.

  • Cotton wool can be found in the first aid kit, but it can be replaced with a paper napkin, a wad of toilet paper or a bunch of dry grass or a piece of birch bark, if any - that is, everything that is useful as tinder.
  • A convex type lens with a thickened middle is brought to a flammable medium and the sun ray is focused as closely as possible into one point beam.
  • Soon - and this depends on the collecting properties of the convex glass - the substance placed under the lens will light up; in the case of grass and birch bark, it will begin to smoke, so you will have to fan the flame.

If you have a tablet candle or dry alcohol with you, it is better to light a flame under them so that they turn into a stable source of fire from which a fire will subsequently be built.

Used lighter with flint plus cotton wool or paper

It doesn’t matter if a silicon lighter runs out of gas at the most critical moment - a flame can still be produced from it.

  • You need to stock up on the same cotton wool, a napkin or a piece of toilet paper, placing them on something that burns longer, for example, on the same tablet candle, on a lump of dry grass or old dried moss.
  • First, you need to remove the top metal cap, and, holding the lighter close, scratch it - sparks will fall on the tinder and cause ignition.

Therefore, do not rush to throw away a lighter deprived of gas - it can still help by causing a fire without matches.

Working battery plus paper and foil

You will probably find packaging paper that is coated with foil on one side, like inside a cigarette pack or on a chewing gum wrapper. All that remains is to find a working cylindrical battery - and a fire without a lighter or matches is guaranteed.

  • A thin long strip is cut from a piece of paper foil, capable of reaching from one pole to the other, but with a margin.
  • If there is only a short piece, it’s not scary, just step back from the negative pole, which is a flat area, clean the insulating layer on the cylinder with a knife - this will already be the positive pole, and shorting them will give a discharge.
  • You will have to experiment with the thickness of the foil, since it either burns out instantly or heats up slowly.
  • It makes sense to make the jumper itself a couple of mm thinner than the ends of the tape.

It is enough to place the sagging middle on a flammable medium - and the flame without matches is ready!

A uniformly concave spoon or ladle plus a cotton or paper roll

The larger the diameter of the object and the depth of the concave bottom, the faster a fire will appear in the sun without the need for matches or a lighter. The tablespoon can be straightened so that the concavity on all sides is approximately the same - this is necessary for maximum concentration of the sun's ray beam at one point.

  • A couple of napkins or a piece of toilet paper should be rolled into a tight roll the size of a pencil.
  • One end of the roller is cut off evenly and smeared with soot, or ash - this will be like a wick.
  • Now all that remains is to direct the concave bottom towards the sun, bring it close to the point where the beam of rays is reflected, and wait for the haze to appear.

Then you will have to inflate the homemade wick and bring it to the tinder in order to start a fire in the absence of matches.

Condom filled with water plus coals

This trick for making fire without matches or a lighter has the same principle of a focusing lens, concentrating the rays of the sun into a single point.

  • First, fill the straightened condom with a portion of water.
  • Next, pull the tip down and press it between your knees.
  • Now you need to fill the product with as much more water so that the homemade “lens” has a larger diameter - this will create a flame faster.
  • The water collected below in the form of a round flask must be secured by tying a condom in a knot at the top.
  • Then they put a pile of coals and direct a beam of sunlight onto one of them, waiting for light smoke.
  • They take a heated coal, blow it red hot and, pressing another one to it, continue to blow.

Now the hot coals are returned to the pile and, still fanned, tinder is added - soon the long-awaited flames will appear.

A can with a concave bottom plus tinder

Household aerosols in cans have a uniformly concave bottom, which plays the same role as a collecting Sun rays lenses. A beer can with a similar bottom will also come in handy.

  • First, they build a wick on a leg by twisting cotton wool onto a stick or wrapping a lump of it with dry twisted reed.
  • All that remains is to bring the wick to the point where the light beam has gathered and wait for the first haze to appear.

Block of ice plus wick

On a sunny frosty day, if you don’t have matches and a lighter at hand, and the need for fire arises, you can look for a block of glass-like ice - and a flame, after some effort, is guaranteed.

  • The block is cleared of snow and roughness, first with a knife or ax, and then polished by hand.
  • The main thing is to achieve the shape of the meniscus, when one of the surfaces is convex, the second can be left flat.
  • Now the concentrated sun spot is directed onto the wick until smoke comes out.

All that remains is to light the tinder with a hot wick and make a fire.

Frictional force for making fire

The friction method has long been used to produce flames, so it is not a sin to use ancient knowledge in an extreme situation.

  • Rubbing a stick on a wooden block, if you make a hole of similar size in the block, will lead to the appearance of smoke, even when everything around is damp from rain.
  • If you sprinkle a thin layer of cotton wool with soot or chalk and then roll it into a tight roller, then quickly rolling it between two boards will cause a fire inside.
  • If you wrap a flexible wire or a guitar string with handles on the ends of the sticks around the trunk of a log and, placing a wick, begin to rub quickly, the wick will soon ignite.

In principle, any friction between two hard surfaces will lead to strong heating.

What can act as tinder and wick

Dry paper for lighting a fire is not always available, but fire is needed. The following means can serve as wick and tinder:

  • cotton wool and cotton insulation;
  • rags;
  • handkerchief;
  • cotton pads and tampons;
  • toilet paper and napkins;
  • small chips and wood shavings;
  • old reeds, reeds and cattails;
  • rocking old cattails;
  • birch bark;
  • hay and straw;
  • old dry moss.

The main thing is not to get lost and look around, you will definitely find something suitable for lighting a fire.


Making fire is one of the most useful skills a person can have. In this article we will tell you how you can make fire in the wild. Survival in difficult conditions dictates its own rules that you need to accept and be able to adapt to them. Let's find out what you can use to make fire?

Fire can be made different ways. For example, with the help of sunlight, by carving, by drilling, by simple friction. Each of these methods of making fire also has some variations. If for some reason you find yourself in the wild, you will probably need to make fire. After reading this article you will understand how this can be done.

1. How to make fire with a condom

You will need to fill the condom with water, the bottle can also be filled with water. After which we receive a means for focusing the sun's rays. You look for a windless place, set the “lens” accordingly and just go about your business. Rest assured, the fire will already be burning by the time you arrive.

2. How to make fire using an iron can

Look at the bottom of a beer can - it is concave, and it can perfectly “collect” the sun's rays. But it is better to pre-polish it for high-quality focusing. After which this part of the jar can be used to make fire.

3. How to make fire using a piece of ice

Perhaps you have seen one of the episodes of the MythBusters program? There it was just told and demonstrated how it is possible from a piece a certain shape ice to make a lens for starting a fire. So in the episode the presenters used a round piece of ice. Thus, even ice can become a “source” of fire. If there is no ice nearby, you can make your own piece of ice of the required shape. Just take the bag, fill it with water, you just need the bag to take the desired round shape. Then you bury it under the snow and after a while the ice lens will be ready.

4. Making fire using the “blacksmith” method

If you have a nail with you, then simply find a material into which you can drive the nail. Next, simply drive the nail in for about three minutes, turning it periodically. It will get so hot that you can use it to light a piece of tinder.

5. How to make fire using flint carving

A piece of steel can be used as a chair, but only hardened steel. But it will still be more difficult to make fire using flint, although it may be found right on the road. If you are looking for flint, you need to find only very hard ones; soft ones will not work.

If the stone is hard, then it looks like glass, cloudy or even transparent. You are unlikely to get fire from a smooth stone, but if you break the stone into two parts, you will be able to get a spark from the sharp part. To determine which stone sparks the most, simply test each stone one at a time.

The tinder you will burn should be as dry as possible. Fine tinder can be obtained from wood fibers. For example, you can also use cotton socks. In addition, plant fluff ignites well. You need to make fire only in a windless place. It is advisable to hold the tinder over the flint.

6. Making fire by rubbing a rope against a stick

A pine one might work as a stick. A split is made in it, where the tinder is placed. But the tinder must be placed in such a way that there is space under the stick. Rope is better if it comes from natural fibers. You can make handles at the ends of the rope for convenience. Holding the stick with your foot, we “saw” it with a rope from below. Movements should be frequent and fast. Within a few seconds you will be able to see smoke. And later you can fan the fire out of it.

7. Making fire by rubbing a cotton ball

Between two planks lies cotton wool, which can be taken, for example, from an old padded jacket. Then simply “iron” the cotton wool with planks using sharp and frequent movements. After a while you will see that the cotton wool will begin to smolder. The method is quite simple, but at the same time quite effective.

8. How to make fire by rubbing two sticks together

Take a board and make a groove in it at a certain angle where you can insert a stick. Next, you need to press this stick and just move it until clouds of smoke appear. The abraded material will be collected in the appropriate place. Later the powder will turn dark Brown color. Some particles of powder will fly off and fall to the side, while they smoke, but no sparks are visible.

A fire can only break out in a place where enough powder has been collected and heated to high temperatures. It is important that air flows freely into the pile of powder. It is better to use planks and sticks from such tree species as beech and pine. For this method of making fire, you should not use aspen and linden.

9. How to make fire by drilling

A shallow hole is made in some part of the wood, into which a stick is subsequently inserted. The top of the hole needs to be covered with a stone.

Next to the hole you will need to place a material that will subsequently light up. It could be lint, moss, wick or tinder. The stick must be set in motion using a bow, which is placed on the stick using the overlap method.



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