But Stace hates Bear Grylls

Posted by Kevin......

It's been 15 years since I instructed a survival course. As my beautiful wife and most of my friends are painfully aware, I constantly talk about wilderness survival and create emergency kits almost like some kind of twisted hobby.

On Monday, I will be the guest instructor at a flight school in Minneapolis. For one class, the students will learn the quick and dirty version of my Survival for General Aviation Pilots course.

Now fire is a very important step in the survival process: 4 minutes without air, 4 hours without shelter and warmth, 4 days without water, 4 weeks without food. This is EXTREMELY generalized, but it helps one prioritize ones needs.

However, when I do go camping alone, I take at least a lighter and 4 boxes of matches. Which leads to this big question: "Can Kevin start a fire without matches? In 10 inches of snow? In his backyard?"

The bow and spindle method would be out of the question under these conditions. But I have started fires with flint and magnesium, and with a magnifying glass. However it's been 15 years and never in the snow! So out to the back yard I go. Idiscover ample fuel in the form of dead brush sticking out of the snow. A few trees have dead limbs that snap right off. And there is tall dead grass and lots of brown plant heads.

First I build a small platform on top of the snow using some logs I found under the snow. It been cold a long time, and the insides of these logs may be dry. But they won't burn very well right now. Actually, the snow is not so deep that I need a platform, but I'm doing it.

I need 3 types of fuel: my tinder is the prairie grass, my kindling is a bundle of sticks from the brush, and my logs are actually just dead branches. I place them in piles next to one another. This is just a tiny practice fire, so I won't be adding any logs.

It's cloudy, so no magnifying glass. I shave off some magnesium with my knife onto a few leaves and add some fuzzy grass. I strike the flint and magnesium ignites after a few sparks. The tinder suddenly catches light.

First problem: The tinder burns almost instantly and the kindling has no time to ignite. The fire is out in less than a minute. More grass, more shaving, more sparks. Fire, then nothing. It's frustrating. I use some plant heads, but they smoke a lot and may be damp. I blow gently. The fire soon goes out. I collect a lot more fuel.

I decide this can be done, but now I must cheat. I take a tea candle from my kit and put it in the pile of tinder. I light some grass with the flint and after many attempts, get the candle lit. I place more fuel over the candle and I have a real blaze now.

A couple of observations:

1. It took an hour to make this little fire.

2. The magnesium shavings should be in a concentrated pile.

3. Have a lot more fuel in a pile near by.

4. ALWAYS carry a lighter and 4 boxes of matches!