>>167402The first thing you need to do is gather enough materials to start a fire and maintain it for an hour. Nothing worse than starting a fire and then having it go out while you are off gathering more wood.
You need tinder, kindling, and fuelwood.
Build up a fire structure like the above poster said. I like to build mine like a lean-to with 3 walls and an overhang like a cave to protect against the wind.
In the center build a birds nest of tinder with kindling on top of it. I carry cotton balls soaked in vaseline and stuffed into a drinking straw with the ends sealed.
Tinder can be anything like dry grass, old mans beard, certain types of tree fungus, cotton fuzzies you pull from your socks, anything easily ignitable. Once the tinder is burning you feed the fire with kindling. Sticks about the size of a pencil but no bigger than your finger. From there you can add your fuelwood.
You should be using the most dry wood you can possibly find.
Starting a fire is the oldest form of art known to man. If you learn how to do it right you will get to the point where you can start a fire with a dead bic lighter or a flint and steel.
NOTHING in this world pisses me off more than when I painstakingly build up a firelay and then some dickbag walks up an pours lighterfluid on it. It's lazy and unnecessary.
