Fire making,fire lighting orfire craft is the process of artificially starting afire. It requires completing thefire triangle, usually by heatingtinder above itsautoignition temperature.
Fire is an essential tool forhuman survival and theuse of fire was important inearly humancultural history since theLower Paleolithic.[1][2] Today, it is a key component ofScouting,woodcraft andbushcraft.
Evidence for fire making dates to at least the earlyMiddle Paleolithic, with dozens ofNeanderthalhand axes fromFrance exhibitinguse-wear traces suggesting these tools were struck with the mineralpyrite to produce sparks around 50,000 years ago.[3] At theNeolithic site ofLa Draga, researchers have found thatfungi were used as tinder.Hearths are one of the most common features found at archaeological sites.[4]Ötzi, a well-preservednatural mummy of a man who lived in theÖtztal Alps between3400 and3100 BCE, carried material to make a fire (tinder fungus along withflint and pyrite for creating sparks).[5]
Fires start from increasing tinder's temperature until it combusts. Tinder is a material that combusts first (as anember orflame) and in doing so heats other material (heavier tinder, twigs, kindling, etc.) until it burns (as a flame). Fine tinder is characterized by its ability to combust from a spark, friction, or other action from the below methods.
Many forms of tinder are available –charcloth is preferred by many;tinder fungus and other species such asPhellinus igniarius have been usedas firestarter;[6][7] most friction methods using wood generate their own fine tinder; today a pile ofmagnesium orferrocerium shavings is common; and a moisture-resistantDIY tinder features cotton balls impregnated with petroleum jelly. Afeather stick can be made from availablebranches ortwigs with aknife.
Autoignition temperatures of common tinder:
| Substance | Autoignition[8] | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Wood | 300–482 °C (572–900 °F) | [9] |
| Charcoal | 349 °C (660 °F) | [9] |
| Peat | 227 °C (441 °F) | [9] |
| Cotton fibers | 455 °C (851 °F) | |
| Paper | 218–246 °C (424–475 °F) | [10][11] |
| Petroleum | 400 °C (752 °F) | [9] |
| Leather /parchment | 200–212 °C (392–414 °F) | [10][12] |
| Magnesium | 473 °C (883 °F) | [13] |
Tinder is preserved within atinderbox, which today is often a plastic bag.
Tinder, when formed into a tight bundle, can also be used to preserve/carry an ember. Often in the form of a cigar and made of compacted tinder materials held within a tinderbox, a smouldering ember could safely be saved inside.[14][15]
Fire occurs naturally as a result ofvolcanic activity,meteorites, andlightning strikes. Many animals are aware of fire and adapt their behavior to it. Plants, too, have adapted to the natural occurrence of fire (seeFire ecology). Thus, humans encountered and were aware of fire, and later its beneficial uses, long before they could make fire on demand. The first and easiest way to make a fire would have been to use the hot ashes or burning wood from a forest or grass fire, and then to keep the fire or coals going for as long as possible by adding more combustible material.
Fire can be created throughfriction by rapidly grinding pieces of solidcombustible material (such aswood) against each other (or a hard surface) which are heated and create an ember. Successfully creating fire by friction involves skill, fitness, knowledge, and acceptable environmental conditions. Some techniques involve crafting a system of interlocking pieces that give the practitioner an improved mechanical advantage; these techniques require more skill and knowledge but less fitness, and work in less ideal conditions. Once hot enough, the ember is introduced to the tinder, more oxygen is added by blowing and the result is ignition.
Thehand drill is the most widespread among indigenous cultures, characterized by the use of a thin, straightened wooden shaft or reed to be spun with the hands, grinding within a notch against the soft wooden base of a fire board (a wooden board with a carved notch in which to catch heated wood fibers created by friction). This repeated spinning and downward pressure causes black dust to form in the notch of the fireboard, eventually creating a hot, glowing coal. The coal is then carefully placed among dense, fine tinder, which is pressed against it as one blows directly onto the coal until the tinder begins burning and eventually catches into flame. The advantage of the hand drill technique is that it requires no rope.
Thebow drill uses the same principle as the hand drill (friction by rotation of wood on wood) but the spindle is shorter, wider (about the size of a human thumb) and driven by a bow, which allows longer, easier strokes and protects the palms. Additional downward pressure is generated by the handhold.
Apump drill is a variant of the bow drill that uses a coiled rope around a cross-section of wooden stake spin the shaft by pumping up and down a cross-member.[16][17]
Thefire plough or fireplow consists of a stick cut to a dull point, and a long piece of wood with a groove cut down its length. The stake is pressed down hard and rubbed quickly against the groove of the second piece in a "plowing" motion, to produce hot dust which creates an ember. A split is often made down the length of the grooved piece, so that oxygen can flow freely to the coal/ember.
Afire-saw is a method by which a piece of wood is sawed through a notch in a second piece or pieces to generate friction. The tinder may be placed between two slats of wood with the third piece or "saw" drawn over them above the tinder so as to catch a coal, but there is more than one configuration.
Afire-thong uses a non-melting cord,ratan, or flexible strip of wood to 'saw' the wood creating friction. On the board, opposite side the cord, is a well with a hole through the board to gathered the charred, soon-to-smoke, wood dust.
TheRudiger roll friction fire method, also known as the "fire roll" method, is believed to have been invented by World War 2POWs. A Germansurvival expert namedRüdiger Nehberg wrote about this method in one of his books. A small amount of wood ash is rolled up in a piece of cotton like a cigar. The cotton is then placed between two boards and rolled back and forth. Pressure and speed are both gradually increased. With proper technique ignition can occur in seconds.[18][19][20]
Afire striker or firesteel when hit by a hard, glassy stone such asquartz,jasper,agate orflint cleaves small, hot, oxidizing metal particles that can ignite tinder. The steel should be high carbon, non-alloyed, and hardened. Similarly, two pieces ofiron pyrite ormarcasite when struck together can create sparks.
The use of flint in particular became the most common method of producing flames inpre-industrial societies (see alsofire striker). Travelers up to the late 19th century would often use self-contained kits known astinderboxes to start fires.[21]
Some fire-starting systems use aferrocerium rod and a hard scraper to create hot sparks by manually scratching the ferro rod with a knife or sharp object to ignite man-made or natural tinder. Fire starters based upon ferrocerium are popular with Woodcraft practitioners, bushcraft hobbyists andsurvivalists. Similar sparking devices have a built-in striking blade which provides an easy method for sparking with one hand. Another common type has the ferro rod attached to amagnesium bar that can be scraped with a knife to make a powdered tinder that will burn for a few seconds.
Hiking stores sell both magnesium starters,firelighter blocks, and other specialisttinder.[22]
Lighters typically use a percussion-type sparking device to ignite gas/liquid fuels such asbutane or naphtha/gasoline. These are simple to light, often using a wheel mechanism that when spun with the thumb creates friction on the internal rod of ferrocerium "flint" and throws a shower of white-hot sparks into the gas or wick. Alternately, an electric spark ignites the fuel. With almost 2 billion lighters sold each year, this is the most popular means to light fires today.[23][24]
Afire piston ignites a combustible substance by rapid compression of air. Similar to how aDiesel engine works, rapid compression of air heats the interior to 400–700 °F, well above the tinder'sautoignition temperature. Tinder that holds an ember such as charcloth must be used. After compression, the piston is opened quickly and the ember is transferred to a larger pile of tinder.
Sunlight can be concentrated using alens (such as aburning glass) to focus the energy from the sun onto tinder. Aconcave mirror can also concentrate the sun's rays onto tinder.
An exothermic chemical reaction can generate enough heat as to catch itself or tinder on fire.[25][26]Matches are small sticks of wood or stiff paper with a coating that undergoes an exothermic reaction when triggered by friction.
Other reactions that can be used to start fires include:
Electrical firemaking involves the contact of anelectrically heated object to tinder. A current is run through the object until it is red hot, like the burners on anelectric stove, and it is brought into contact with the tinder, lighting it. For example, a foil-paper chewing gum wrapper will heat-up and ignite; or a flashlight battery coming into contact with a thin wire mesh (such as steel wool) may produce enough heat to ignite charcloth or other tinder. Larger batteries can generate sparks when its leads touch.
