Bushcraft and Survival Skills

Survival Skills Starting a Fire in Wet Conditions

Making and maintaining a fire in wet conditions can be challenging unless you have the right skills The first thing you need to do is gather the required materials, that is tinder, kindling and fuel. However if it is wet or raining or even with snow on the ground, it can be a bit more difficult, but not impossible, if you know where to look.

Some things to look for and consider:

• Standing dead fall
• Hanging dead fall
• Tree bark
• Inside of mature milkweed pods
• Pine pitch or pine resin
• Underneath rock shelves
• Underneath downed trees or logs or even inside of them
• Inside of thick shrubs or sedges
• Underneath heavy snow pack if the temps are below freezing
• Heavy patches of dead weeds or tall grasses
• Inside or arround old animal burrows, just be cautious with this one make sure the owner is not at home!
• One stick fire method

Another consideration maybe on your person, a piece of your clothing, or even something from your wallet. And yes that does include the paper cash you might have as well, if your in a survival situation then you had better really consider it. It is far better to loose a few pieces of paper money then to loose your life don't you think?

If you are not completely drenched you might be able to find lint in the very bottom corners of your pockets. Dry lint will ignite very easily as long as you have acquired enough to use as tinder.

In wet conditions it is best to build your fire on top of something and if possible underneath some type of refuge. Before creating your fire clear an area, look for a foundation to start it on, a flat piece of wood, metal, debris or a rock. Make use of what ever is in the area to keep the rain or snow off your fire until it gets hot enough to sustain itself.

In wet conditions you will have a very difficult time finding dry natural tinder, this is the very reason why Survivalists and Bushcrafters carry many different types of tinder in their survival and bushcraft kits and practice many different methods of Firecraft.

Here is a very good 2 part playlist demonstrating many of the topics discussed here.

How to find dry materials in wet conditions and successfully build a fire in a wilderness survival situation.