How To Use A Fire Starter: Step-By-Step Guide
Reading Time: 7 minutes Making a campfire makes the night more beautiful, and there are several tools to light the fire. You can use many options especially, if you use a magnesium alloy, or you can also use ferrocerium firesteel.
If you suffer from campfires or you do not know how to make it so, then you are in the right place. We will provide you with this detailed guide that will collect much of the information you will need in addition to some tips to make a proper campfire.
What is a Fire Starter?
Fire Starter is used to start campfires instead of using matches and lighters, and it is one of the easiest ways that you can use to make lighting campfires, and there are many Fire Starters that you can use that we will show you.
Type of Fire Starter
Before learning how to start campfires, you must know the types of Fire Starters that you can use. There are many Fire Starters in the market, which you will find in several forms, the most important of which are magnesium, flint and fearsome, but the use of magnesium is one of the most widely used Fire Starter tools.
Here is a quick summary of each type of Fire Starter you can use:
Ferrochrome is made of an ignitable alloy made of iron and magnesium mainly, and lanthanum and cerium are added to them.
When using magnesium, all you have to do is collect a small pile of sawdust to light a campfire, which is the first choice for many campers, but you must be careful when using it.
How To Use A Fire Starter
Step one: Prepare the fire pit
Preparing the fire pit is the first step before starting a fire.
- In order to create a fire pit you have to find a suitable area, you have to try to find a flat spot in order to prepare the pit, and if the weather is windy, you should find a windbreak like creating the pit near a row of trees.
- There are two main types of fire pits that you can create and they are as follows:
Dugout: In order to create a bunker fire pit, dig a hole in the ground.
Pile: In order to create a pile fire pit, build a pile of dirt and sand on the ground.
- Build the fire pit a little larger than you want it to in order to reduce the risks in order to make it easier to contain the fire after you have finished it.
- Do not forget to clean the area around the fire pit of dry plants or anything else that could catch fire.
Step two: collect the firewood
Gather a lot of firewood in order to make the fire, so that you are ready to keep the fire burning, and in order to light the fire you will need three types of wood, which are as follows:
- Tinder: It is small twigs or sawdust that ignites easily and uses this sawdust to light the fire, and in order to start the fire you will need as much as possible for that, and you can also use some other things such as using dry grass, dry cardboard and cotton wool And some newspaper papers.
- Kindling: It is made of large twigs and smaller pieces of wood. When you start making a fire, you must use these ingredients in order to start burning the fire, and when burning these components, the fire will be strong, making it able to burn large pieces of wood.
- Large chunks of wood: Large chunks of wood are the fuel that keeps the fire burning for a longer period, as these large chunks burn slowly, which increases the life of the fire for a longer period.
For the fire to remain burning for a longer period, the wood and firewood used must be dry, as non-dry wood does not burn well.
Pro tip: If you have a lot of dry wood, you can put this wood around the fire while it’s burning, in order to dry it and keep the fire burning.
Step Three: Strike The Flint
Strike The Flint is the start of campfire shooting, and the fire starter consists of two main parts, a block with a flint strip and a blade, and you can use a knife instead of a cutter if you don’t have a knife.
If you are using a magnesium burner, all you have to do is scrape the sawdust you have over the fire pit in order to start the fire.
Note: When you use the magnesium burner, start with a smaller amount, and increase the magnesium little by little, in order to keep yourself from burning the hair off your hands or eyebrows.
In order to get the best result, install the blade while using the fire starter and hold the block with the other hand and then hit it together, which is a good way to avoid any accidents with your knife.
Some factors affect the number of sparks that you will get when using a fire starter. The most important of which are strength, speed, and angle. If you do not succeed in starting a fire, adjust one of these factors to obtain a satisfactory result for you and lighting a campfire.
Step Four: Blow To Get The Fire Going
If the third step did not succeed with you in setting the fire, you must follow these steps in order to light the fire, which is as follows:
- Blow gently on the fire, which should be burning slightly.
- Blowing on the fire gently will increase the percentage of oxygen, which will help light the fire significantly.
Step Five: Keep The Fire Going
Now that you have lit the campfire, all you have to do is how to keep the fire burning for long periods of time, and in order to keep the campfire burning for as long as possible, do the following:
- Add larger pieces of wood as needed.
- Be sure to watch the flames so that they do not spread.
Step Six: Extinguish The Fire
After you are done sitting around the campfire and before leaving around it, make sure the fire is extinguished properly, in order to prevent fires and in order to make sure do the following:
- In order to put out the flames, throw plenty of water on the flames.
- Stir the coals in order to make sure the fire is completely extinguished and that there are no lit coals.
- Avoid using sand and dirt to put out the fire. It is possible that some coal in the bottom of the fire gets hot, which makes the fire come back again, so use water, which is the best way to put out the fire.
Fire Safety Tips:
Magnesium is a quick-burning material, and it is a material capable of causing combustion so that the temperature of combustion of magnesium reaches more than 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. These tips:
- Make sure there is no wind before lighting the campfire.
- Use the Ring of Fire to locate and spread the campfire.
- Make sure that the fire pit is larger than the flames.
- Keep enough water to put out the fire in case of any emergency.
- Use wood species that do not emit hazardous fumes.
- After you finish sitting around the fire, turn it off and make sure it is extinguished properly using an abundant amount of water.
- Do not leave the campfire unattended in order not to cause any harm, especially if you are taking children on camping trips.
Conclusion:
In order to start a campfire, all you have to do is follow the simple steps that we mentioned above, prepare the pit, collect the firewood and use the appropriate fire starter for you and you can choose the best fire starter that suits you. You can use magnesium but be careful.
Enjoy sitting around the campfire with you and your family. You can tell some great stories about the camp and don’t forget the marshmallows.
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