How to Start a Fire Without Matches

Are you impressed when someone writes an essay or learns how to ride a bicycle? Learning how to start a fire with sticks is easier than essays, takes less practice than riding a bike, and is far more pleasant than a couple hours of overtime. In an hour or two, you can learn how to consistently start a fire with only sticks and stones.

Falling into a river, being caught in the rain, and even sweat can quickly cause a dangerous loss in your core temperature even at normally comfortable temperatures. Starting a fire is your best chance at survival if you become wet. This is part of a series of articles to help save your life if you ever get lost or wet in the wilderness and have no tools or supplies. But, you'll impress the heck out of everyone the next time you go camping. Hey, even Survivorman and Man vs. Wild use tools almost every time they start a fire.

Of course you can use matches, lighters, flint and steel, magnesium, fire pistons, ferrosium rods, etc. Except when your matches get wet, or the other tools break, get lost, or are forgotten at home. Most of the people that get lost every year hadn't wandered far from the trail or campsite and didn't have a simple survival kit. Even if it's the only survival skill you know, it may keep you calm, prevent hypothermia, and keep you alive long enough for rescuers to find you. Everyone that likes backpacking or survival camping should know how to build a fire without matches or a lighter. Plus, you get to call Bear Grylls a wimp for using a BlastMatch or Swedish Firesteel. It's not very often that you get to one-up almost every survival show icon out there. How cool is that?

Starting a fire from scratch isn't especially complicated. But, it's important that you learn and practice it before you need to use it. Don't wait until you're cold, scared, and alone in the wilderness to try to remember how Cody Lundin made a fire on TV.

First, find a legal place to safely build your outdoor fireplace. The middle of 3-foot wide or larger slab of concrete should do. Next, make sure you have a fire extinguisher within reach. Hey, it's better to be safe than fined or imprisoned for arson.

If you're starting a survival fire in the great outdoors, you'll need to pay attention to the spot you pick.

• Starting a fire close to a boulder, outcropping, or small cave may cause the rock to crack or explode.
• Never start a fire on the bedrock of a river. River rock is likely to explode and the river may unexpectedly raise.
• Look up. Never start a fire under a tree's branches. If they're holding snow, it will melt and extinguish your fire (remember Jack London's book?). If the branches are dry, a stray spark may catch it on fire.
• Make sure your campfire isn't exposed to wind gusts. Mountain tops and ridge lines are especially dangerous.

Once you've found a good spot for your campfire, you'll need to make a safe fire pit. Use a stick to dig at least 1 foot down. Pine forests are notorious for having up to 12 inches of decomposing needles and leaves that look like dirt. Of course they'll cause a forest fire unless you dig all the way to the real dirt. Line the walls of your pit with dry, non-river rock. Finally, clear away anything flammable within 3 feet of the edge of your new outdoor fireplace - that includes your fire wood.

Now, you need to collect enough material for a tinder bundle. Some of the best fire tinder includes dry grass, moss, cedar bark, punky wood, pocket lint, coconut fibers, and cattail fluff. Never burn poison ivy. You'll just need a couple of handfuls of tinder to make a nest shape. If you weren't just building a practice fire at home, you'd also need to have plenty of firewood and some kindling before you start your fire. When you're in the outdoors, the rule of thumb is to collect about 5 times the firewood that you think you'll need for the night.

When you study how primitive civilizations created fire, you'll find the hand drill was the most popular. It's simple to make and easy to use. But, too many first-timers are more successful at getting blisters than starting a fire. Obviously, blisters on your hands aren't good in survival situations. That's why I encourage the bow drill. The bow drill takes longer to make. But it's better than having blisters for up to 3 weeks. Below is a video showing how to make one without man made tools or cordage.

When you're making your first one at home, feel free to use tools and twine. The point of the exercise is to get comfortable using the bow drill.

Don't worry if you can't find flint or obsidian to make a sharp edge. Branches can be ripped off by hand and ground smooth with a rock. You don't need to use sandstone, either. Just rub the ends of your spindle on any rough rock. If you only find smooth, round river rock, break it against another rock. You can now sharpen your drill on the rough part.

Don't stress about the wood you use for your drill or fire board. It's best to use the same dry wood for your drill and board. But you can use any type of wood as long as they are a similar hardness. Dried yucca stalks have the lowest ignition temperature of any 'wood' commonly available.

If you can't find a flexible bark for cordage, just use the end roots from a tree or a shoelace. You can even use a belt or strip of clothing. The point is to be creative an improvise.

Add small, thin sticks over your lit tinder and gradually add larger pieces of wood as the smaller pieces burn. Just be careful not to smother your fire. Keep your fire small and sit close. You'll save a lot of time and energy by conserving your firewood. If your fire goes out, don't sweat it. Just add more tinder to the smoldering embers (or an ember to a tinder nest) and gently blow. Be patient. You weren't an expert bicyclist the first time you got on one. It may take a half-hour or more on your first try. Of course, once you succeed, you must do the "I made fire" victory scene as seen in the movie Castaway.

Finally, never leave a fire in the wilderness without drenching it. Keep pouring water over the entire pit until it stops hissing. Submerge partially burnt wood and let the water soak through. Stir the water and ash until the mixture is cool to the touch.

If you have trouble or a question, please feel free to ask. If you've ever started a fire from sticks, give us a shout below... "I made fire!"