Can you build a fire?

I can, but only because I was in Cub Scouts. Haven’t you seen survivor? I think it’s a dying skill.

Life is uncertain. Everyone should know how to build a fire.

Seriously @The_Compassionate_Heretic. Haven’t we all seen Wall-E? Haha.

I applaud you @andrew!

I keep a Swedish FireSteel in my messenger bag. And I always have my bag with me. So yeah, I can pretty much make a fire anywhere.

Yes. I can also light it by rubbing two sticks together. Although I usually use my Zippo

I know how to light a gas fireplace…

Like, in the fireplace? Yes, I can start a fire in one. Do some people not know how to make one?

I know how to angle a magnifying glass over tinder in the sun! Not so good at the “rubbing two sticks together” business, though.

@Dansedescygnes I knew someone was going to say that!

Haha very funny @casheroo.

That’s impressive @aprilsimnel !!

The more I sit here and stare at my fire the more pride I feel! It’s roaring!

@aviona

Well, it’s all I can do…lol

I can’t do anything survival-like. :(

I start fires by accident. Not kidding.
My burned homework. Yes, I had to turn it in. My professor said it had “personality.”

Allie is a klutz.

@JP ~ whoa if I ever get to be on Survivor, I think that would be the luxury item to have (you’re allowed one).

I’m not there yet you guys, but hopefully after this summer I’ll have the hang of it since I’ll be building fires in the outdoor chimney/fire pit thingy in the backyard on my nights off as weather allows.

yeah, in their loins

I don’t think I have ever started a fire successfully, in the fireplace or on a camping trip. I guess all those years of girl scouts only taught me how to sell cookies.

Yep.. all it takes is a bit of knowledge about how fire works and dry fuel. A lighter doesn’t hurt, either. ;)

I’ve been a boy scout for twelve consecutive years. I can build a fire.

That is to say, give me a clear patch of ground, some dry blocks of wood, a hatchet and matches, and I’m pretty confident I’ll manage to get it going. Add some paper and I’m sure I will.
Add a jug of gasoline and I’ll show you the proper Scout way to do it. :P

Replace the matches by a magnifying glass and a sunny day and I’ll definitely need paper, and still it will be a challenge. Unless you throw in the gasoline.
I’ve scorched paper with a magnifying glass and the sun, but I’ve never got any flames out of it.

As a firefighter we must learn why fire burns to be able to put it out. So the short answer is yes.

Im an Eagle Scout. I build great fires quick without accelerants. FIve minutes to gather tender, kindling, and fuel and one match or my magnesium block and striker is all I need.

I want to try this method sometime.

I remember doing this for boy scouts too (wilderness survival merit badge). I lit a fire using a magnifying glass, steel wool and batteries, and flint and steel.

Yup, I can build a fire in a fireplace or camping.
@Compassionate_Heretic I also think driving a standard transmission is something everyone should know how to do.

Starting a fire and building a fire—one that will get hot enough to burn the logs and keep burning without constant tending—are two different things. I can build an adequate one but not a very good one. I wish I knew what I’m not doing right.

@phoenyx: I want to try this method sometime.
Hahaha, oh wow. Respect.
That’s still just scorching, though. I was hoping for flames.

I do it all the time. We heat with wood. We’ve got an 8 ft diameter bonfire pit in the woods for making the best campfires and dispose of tree brush.

Seriously, If you don’t know what you are doing, buy a couple of packs of surplus Tioxane camp stove fuel. They cost a $1.00 for a pack of 3. They’re supposed to be used for heating food in small military heaters but you can use them for starting a fire. Go to a camping store. They are small, light, waterproof and might save your life some day. I keep a 3 pack in the car and in my tool box.

No problem starting the fire for me as I have been using wood exclusivly to heat my house for the last 4 years. I live in Illinois so yes it gets cold here and no I am not so poor I can not afford propane. I just choose not to waste money on it. I will have to pay for enough when I get to old to chop wood. Besides it is good excercise.

I can get the wood burning stove going in a minute with a match, a sheet of newspaper, a few sticks of kindling wood, and a small log. I’m usually the one to light it since it takes everyone else in my family so long. The trick is to use just one sheet of newspaper, or even a half sheet. Too much paper and the wood won’t catch.

@Jeruba Part of the trick is having enough kindling and keeping some air around the logs so the flames don’t smother. I’m not an expert…maybe one of the Boy Scouts can give you some tips.

@Dorkgirl: Pretty much what you said. But there are a number of ways to do this.
We used to build mainly cone-shaped firewood constructions.
You take a log, and split it with a hatchet until you’ve got a lot of thin bits of wood the length of the log. Make a few very thin ones, to start the fire with, and some larger ones, as more robust fuel to keep it going. Then put all the log shards in a cone-shaped formation, the bottom ends spread out, the tops resting against each other. I guess the thinnest wood should go in the middle, because they catch fire more quickly, so the flames can easily spread from them to the larger ones.
Then light either one the thinnest bits or a piece of paper (twist the paper into a stick, leaving one end untwisted to be lit), and use that to light the fire by inserting the burning end into the middle of the firewood.
Once you got it going well, it becomes harder to mess up. Don’t worry about throwing large logs on there when the first wood burns up.

I’ve also heard of a square configuration that I don’t think I ever saw in use, but my brother told me about it.

find some flint and tinder! and get to it! it helps if you have lighter fluid…

I have built many fires. Mostly of the campfire type, and more recently (lifelong speaking) the fireplace type. Oh, yeah, then there’s the charcoal grill type, and when I was young we lived in a rural community where they still permitted the trash type. I usually start with a lighter, tinder (paper), and then the wood. I have used flint/steel, stick-and-bow, and magnifying glass.

Yes, I know how and I have done, from scratch, many times. I even know how to start a fire without a match if I had to.

I go hunting and camping in November. When I went with other guys I was the one getting up starting a fire.What a pain when it’s cold. Then one year I decided to bring along a one pound propane tank and a burner tip. You pile the wood in the pit. light the torch place the tip in the base of the wood pile and walk away. 5 minutes later you you have a nice fire. No fanning, blowing,hoping or swearing