Starting a fire in snow/rain

[fishngamereaper]

save the lint from your dryer... mix it with some paraffin and role it into golf ball size balls... put a match to it and it will burn a good 20-30 minutes.. plenty of time to get damp wood burning...

Thought I was the only one that saved drier lint

[JimmyHoffa]

If you have some foil, you can fold it up to carry with and then unfold when trying to get things going.  It will free up your hands quite a bit.  When it is cold and damp out, you can feel the heat being drawn away.  Usually, you could just cup your hands around the fire as it is getting going and helps block wind/reflect heat.  With a piece of foil you can do the same concept and have your hands available to add fuel.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

It's not only the rain or snow you have to worry about. Wind can be a big factor. I always carry a bright orange windproof lighter with me hunting. It puts out such intense heat that you can start small stick burning without any paper or tinder if necessary. I try to find some good pitchy spruce or fir if I have a choice. A lot of times when everything else around you is soaked, spruce bark makes a good starting base.

[benhuntin]

I carry a road flare in all my sleds.

[BigTines]

Great tips everyone! I'll have to try a few to see what works best. I'm going to be in a tent with a lightweight titanium stove so wind shouldn't be too much of a factor. Wet wood will be a factor.

Any ideas on trying to find dry wood? Fallen trees not on the ground? Do any of you cut a bunch of wood and tarp it in the summer so it's all nice and dry in November?

I just have never tried to start a fire in the dead of November on the wet side so wanting to try and think of everything that could be an issue. Thanks again for the tips!

Ps do you guys use a hatchet or folding saw?

[Simcoe hunter]

Whew doggies!  Depends on where you are hunting/who owns the property.  Private timber land they get their panties in a knot just thinking of tipping something over even if it truly is dead.  I have a co-worker who always comes back from elk camp bragging about the tamarack they went up in August and cut and split for elk camp.  They always have to hide it so no one steals it and so they don't get a ticket.  So somewhere in between I hope that you can find a happy medium.  I have always found enough stuff down on the ground even when I lived on the wet side.

My favorite kindling is lower limbs from a red fir.  Use the ones with no needles that will snap off, and not the ones that want to bend and twist.  A pile of those and a bunch of wood rounded up and set ablaze by a safety flare and you are in like Flynn.

Either a hatchet or a saw will work well for camp chores.  I prefer a hatchet as I have used an axe since I was very young.  If you use one of them for field dressing game I would stick with it for woods use too.  If you are backpacking you should go to some stores and feel how much these various tools weigh.  One of the Coghlan's folding saws may be the answer depending on how much wood you intend to burn.

Another coworker went to Montana a couple of years ago.  Stopped at a convenience store before heading to their campsite.  Saw an ad for wood for sale on the bulletin board, called the kid and had a cord delivered to them at camp.  They were using a wall tent though.

[Magnum_Willys]

Tried road flares once - was amazed how little heat they put out -designed for lots of light little heat.  Maybe it works for some.  I use fire paste.  Gonna try the dryer lint candles tho.

[Jarhead Chase]

I like to soak cotton balls in petroleum jelly. You can fluff it our and it will spark light and stay lit long enough for you to get a tinder bundle and some kindling going. You can have 20-30 cotton balls in a sandwich baggie rolled up with the air out of it with almost no weight, and that is enough for quite a few fires.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[tritt007]

Try www.survivalstriker.com  awesome firestarters , can use the magnesium or the wood handle and the ferosium rod is top notch , puts out a lot more spark than your average crappy "mag and flint's" you find at the sporting goods store . And its made in washington !

[300rum]

Thanks for posting, I'm going to try this out for myself. 

Try www.survivalstriker.com  awesome firestarters , can use the magnesium or the wood handle and the ferosium rod is top notch , puts out a lot more spark than your average crappy "mag and flint's" you find at the sporting goods store . And its made in washington !

[300rum]

Right now is your opportunity.  Take a little drive outside of town and start a few fires.     Being able to get a fire going when things are bad is about confidence.  Confidence comes with experience. 

Make your cotton balls/vaseline, try stick matches, stick matches dipped in wax, book matches.  Try getting something going using only what you have in the forest around you and the matches you have.  Try flint/steel, look up on youtube how to make char cloth.  Look for some pitch coming out of a tree, try that.  Make a fire into the wind, out of the wind.  You'll be an expert in no time!     

I just have never tried to start a fire in the dead of November on the wet side so wanting to try and think of everything that could be an issue. Thanks again for the tips!

[jasnt]

save the lint from your dryer... mix it with some paraffin and role it into golf ball size balls... put a match to it and it will burn a good 20-30 minutes.. plenty of time to get damp wood burning...

Thought I was the only one that saved drier lint

i save dryer lint aswell but I use Vaseline with mine or pitch. Have a ziplock in all my packs with this set up.

[Sumpnneedskillin]

I wrap my vaseline/cotton balls with foil.  You can get them kind of flat and then I store them in a pill bottle.  When ready to use you can either open them up and use the whole ball or cut a slit in the foil, pull some cotton out like a wick and use it like a lamp.

[pianoman9701]

save the lint from your dryer... mix it with some paraffin and role it into golf ball size balls... put a match to it and it will burn a good 20-30 minutes.. plenty of time to get damp wood burning...

Thought I was the only one that saved drier lint

He's not talking about stalking women at a public laundry and stealing their lint, you know. 

[pianoman9701]

Get a torch at a head shop. It has a really concentrated butane flame. One called JetLine is about $10 (cigar lighter). Have some of the egg carton or Vaseline fire starters in your pack, or candles. Cedar bark underneath the surface is usually dry, but definitely dig under the boughs of cedars and larger Douglas firs to find dry, dry tinder and needles. You can collect old man's beard and put it in your pocket or the lining of your jacket to draw out the water pretty fast. Make a wind break/reflector using 4 upright logs pounded into the ground holding up a wall of sticks/logs (see diagram).