Humanity has been making fire for many thousands of years to heat its home and cook food. Without this, it is generally difficult to imagine human civilization. It is thanks to the ability to produce and maintain the flame that people became people.
Why you need to know how to make a taiga fire
Of course, in the modern world, the need to build a fire for cooking and heating has disappeared. However, we all sometimes go hiking or hunting, and the ability to light a fire in any difficult conditions will not be superfluous, even for a modern city dweller.
People who go camping, especially in unfamiliar areas, must know how to make a fire. After all, sometimes it happens in nature that it will depend on this knowledge whether a person will survive. Experienced hikers know how to make a fire with only one match, and they will do it regardless of the weather. If they don't have matches, they'll find a way to start a fire with whatever they can find. To make a fire, you need to know some rules. Among them are: choosing the right place for a fire, preparing for the site, preparing fuel (wood and kindling), and, of course, the main thing is to know how to make a fire in any weather.
Chooselocation
Choosing a campfire site is a very important condition for the fire to flare up quickly and not go out at the most inopportune moment. The first thing you should pay attention to is that the chosen place is as open as possible, but at the same time protected from gusts of wind. A large clearing in the taiga, which has a natural shelter (a large stone or hillock), is best suited. They will protect from the wind and serve as a kind of heat reflector.
In no case should a fire be built near trees, especially dry or small conifers. It is also dangerous to make a fire next to the rubble of deadwood, in places where there is a lot of dried grass, reeds or moss. You can not build a fire on peat bogs. In such places, especially if there is no experience, it is very easy to make a big fire. Therefore, an experienced person, before making a taiga fire, will clean a special area so that the fire is in the center of a circle with a radius of three meters, from which everything that can quickly catch fire is removed.
In the center of this circle, where the fire will directly burn, a small hole is dug. If the soil in this place is peaty, they make a special “pillow” of earth and sand. The nearest tent should be set up at least five meters from the fire. Be sure to check that no branches hang over the fire. They can dry out and flare up very quickly, especially if it is needles. In winter, snow accumulated on the crown can fall and put out the fire.
In general, in winter, in order to make a taiga fire, it is necessarytake certain actions. First, you need to install a small pallet of damp logs and lay dry firewood on it. Such a device will allow you to successfully maintain a fire even in the snow.
Preparation and collection of fuel
When stocking up on wood for lighting a fire, you need to give preference to the types of wood that are best suited for this. If you need to make a fire in dry weather, deadwood can be used as fuel, but you need to remember that hardwood is most often rotten, such material will not catch fire.
Another option for ignition is dead wood. In a deciduous forest, birch is perfect for a fire. When burned, it leaves very good coals that will keep warm for a long time. In principle, any dry wood burns well, but some species do not provide much heat. As for conifers, which are most often found in the taiga, they burn very well, and after burning out, such a fire retains a high temperature for a long time.
Firing materials
In addition to firewood, fire also needs material for kindling. In the taiga, such material is most often dry bark, small cones of spruce or pine, dry moss or lichen. In a birch grove, you can use birch bark. This is the perfect kindling.
In taiga areas that border the sea, dry bark of Chosenia (marsh willow) is used. If kindling was needed in damp, humid weather, then it can be done by splitting a dry trunk and typing thinsplinters from the inside of the tree. You can also use the litter of needles, which accumulates under the roots of a tree, such material lights up perfectly. It must be remembered that if you cut the stick in such a way that thin burrs remain on it, it will flare up much faster. And, of course, the presence of such simple and light substances as dry alcohol, or, for example, pieces of plastic, will greatly simplify the ignition process, giving a hot flame.
How to kindle a taiga fire
A little higher in the article it was already said how best to prepare a place for a fire. In order to understand how to make a taiga fire, you need to know the ignition methods that will help you make a fire in the most difficult weather conditions. The fire must be protected on all sides from moisture. For example, if you have to build a fire in a swampy area, it must be raised above the ground on an impromptu platform.
From the rain, the flame will save the installation of an awning, which can be made from improvised means, such as a piece of tarpaulin, or polyethylene. Such precautions are necessary, because if the fire goes out, it is very difficult to rekindle it a second time in a humid environment. In addition to protecting the fire, you need to keep dry and fuel for it. This is especially true for kindling. You need to work with it very carefully, trying to protect it from wind and moisture. If a taiga bonfire is made in the rain, it is best to use either a dry combustible or a grease-soaked rag placed in an old tin can.
The more difficult weather conditions (heavy rain,wind) the more tightly you need to lay the material for kindling. In some cases, experts even advise tying fuel (bark, brushwood, cones) into small bundles, in the middle of which you need to insert a piece of paper or a soaked rag. Having laid the kindling bundle to the very bottom, a small hut is arranged above it from thin branches and dry splinter. Then the fire is lit. When the brushwood flares up, thicker branches begin to be placed in the fire. In very bad weather conditions (rain, wind) it is better to set fire to the fuse from several sides at once using several matches. The main thing is to remember the following rules: the taiga fire does not tolerate haste, so you need to do everything calmly and prudently. Firewood should be laid gradually, as it burns, starting with thin ones. It's better to do it right once than to make a mistake and start all over again.
Today, there are many ways to stack firewood. Each of them is applied depending on the circumstances and weather conditions. Much depends on the goal that needs to be achieved by building a fire. For example, types of a wide fire are more suitable for heating, it is better to use a cone-shaped fire for cooking. Of the large number of ways to make a fire in the taiga, the following have become the most popular among tourists and hunters.
Bonfire "hut"
This type of taiga bonfire is used more often than others and is known to many. The meaning of its design lies in the fact that firewood is stacked in the form of a hut. Moreover, they start with the thinnest branches and brushwood, and thicker branches are laid on top.
On the windy side, a hole is left in the hut so that it flares up better. This type of fire is perfect for illuminating the resting place, as well as for cooking. In addition, the smoke of a taiga bonfire protects the camp well from insects. The main disadvantage of this type of stacking firewood is its voracity. Firewood in it burns out very quickly, so you need to constantly put it under.
Taiga bonfire "asterisk"
This type of fire is very economical, and is used if there is a problem with fuel. Its feature is that firewood is stacked in the form of a star. For the "asterisk" you need to select firewood from hardwood. Having spread the fire in the middle of the star, as the logs burn out, they are moved to the center. Thus, they achieve that the flame burns for a very long time. This ability makes the "asterisk" indispensable in case of spending the night in the taiga.
Taiga bonfire "nodya"
This fire uses a scheme where large, thick logs are stacked on top of each other, and kindling is placed in the gap between them. Kindling, burning through, ignites the logs, after which they already burn for a very long time, while releasing a lot of heat.
Such a fire can be used during an overnight stay. It burns quite slowly, while it heats well. Usually a node is made of two logs, however, there is a taiga fire of a node made of three logs. In this scheme, two logs with kindling lie down, and the gap between them is closed from above with a third log. Nodiaoften made by hunters.
