jaegs

After a long day of paddling, what’s the thing everyone looks forward too, besides warm clothes, eating and sleep.  That’s right, a fire.  We’ve all found ourselves staring into a fire, watching those mystical flames dance as our thoughts drift in and out of reality.   But truth be told, nature doesn’t really care about our need for deep introspective reflection.   Typically, it’s either been raining for ten hours or we’re just too beat to hunt around for tinder, kindling and logs.  Well, with a little planning you can stay off the weather induced mutiny and ensure your party the spirit lifting fire that'll get them through a few more portages tomorrow.

Today we certainly have more options than our forefathers and mothers when it comes to starting a fire.  Like with most things the insurgence of technology has given us windproof lighters, fire-ribbon and other accelerants that do most of the work.  But for those of us who would like to minimize the use of petroleum based products in the wild, it’s good to look at creative ways to ensure you have a fire to raise everyone’s spirits after a long cold day on the water. 

One way I pass time on long portages is to keep an eye out for tinder.  Even if its raining I’ll put dead grass, dried moss and cattails in my pockets to allow my body heat to dry them out and help get a quick fire going shortly after we make camp.  This foresight will keep spirits up and eliminate the hassle of hunting for tinder at a well picked over campsite.  One note of caution, avoid placing your gathering next to your skin or better yet use a zip lock bag with a few ventilation holes cut in it.  You never know what little critter you may have picked up in that handful of grass.

Another thing I keep my eyes open for are birch trees with the large black growths along the sides.  These lumps are actually fungus and will take a spark very easily.  Similarly, the dead branches on Pine Shrubs and Trees will have built up sap stored inside and is very flammable.  These two sources are definitely worth collecting on the way to your campsite.

A new source of home-grown tinder that I’ve begun using is dryer lint.  I have a quart size zip lock bag on top of the dryer and after every load I’ll empty the catch into the zip lock bag.  One tightly packed quart size bag of dryer lint will easily give you a weeks worth of dry tinder.  In addition to being weightless, it’s a great way to use an otherwise useless byproduct of doing laundry.

So leave the $15 fire ribbon on the shelf and instead focus on using what nature is already providing or better yet reusing otherwise useless byproducts of our everyday life.   Besides, that $15 can be used for something important like a Kayaktion long sleeve base layer shirt….  Just an idea. 

Seriously, be careful with all fires, keep them small and pay attention to fire bans.