- “I can always light a fire if I have paper”
One time at camp, a particular kid- scout’s honor it wasn’t me- was in charge of making a ceremonial campfire, so he gathered some logs and wrapped them in toilet paper. He then lit the paper. He was sorely disappointed and more than slightly embarrassed when the fire quickly went out in front of the crowd. I later explained to him the following: Paper is great tinder (starting material) for a fire, but you must also have dry material ranging from the diameter of spaghetti to green beans to cheese burgers (can you tell I’m hungry) and everything in between. The basic idea is that you must incrementally lower the surface area to weight ratio in order to control the rate of the combustion.
- “It’s raining- I can’t start a fire”
Although it might seem impossible at times, with the right skills and drive one can almost always light a campfire. Once during my first campout as a scout (I was 12), there was a camp-wide competition to light a fire and boil a can of water in as little time as possible. After 24 hours of rain, and with no sign of it stopping, this was not an easy task. I first delegated two guys as “the tent” and had them lean over the pit to shield it from the rain. We gathered the driest wood we could from standing dead trees, under rock outcroppings, under leaves, and even pulled the lint out of our pockets. This eventually cooked us some water and we won-or at least were the only ones who tried.
- “I’ll dump some gas on it and light it”
The vapor pressure of gasoline is too high to do this safely- the liquid you pour on to the wood quickly turns into a gas that hovers, waiting for a spark and ready to explode. My favorite accelerant is diesel fuel. Diesel has a larger carbon chain length molecules than gasoline, making it less volatile, but still effective way to cheat. Diesel is also in my opinion the best fuel for vehicles- my dad’s truck gets 20 miles per gallon whereas a comparable gas truck would get 10mpg.
- “This firewood is too wet”
If you have a fire going, but run out of dry wood, you are still ok. You can simply stand pieces wood up close to the fire so the heat of the fire dries out the wood. Then, you can put the now dry wood on the fire, and stand more wet pieces up to dry.
- “It would be a good idea to put these river rocks in the fire”
Oh you didn’t think this was a misconception? It really isn’t, but my friends and I did it for some reason or another. A few minutes after being thrown in the fire, the water or air locked in the rocks expanded and exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Thankfully it didn’t hit our eyes, but it sure didn’t feel good on my arm! Don’t get me wrong- rocks are great for making a fire ring, just avoid ones from a stream bed, especially sedimentary rocks like slate and shale.
Eric, I really like your approach here. I like how your stylistic approach matches the content too. Do you know who Henry David Thoreau is? If not here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
Your experiences remind me of some of his scholarship. I believe you might find it interesting and it may provide you with a second layer of depth to write against in addition to your practical survivor skills.
This is a very practical idea for a passion blog, and it’s advice that will definitely help me in the future! I like how you tied in both personal, humorous experiences and scientific principles, like the length of the carbon chains in diesel fuel.
I think a lot of people think these statements are true, but as you said, they are misconceptions. I’m also a scout, and my troop and I have run into situations like these numerous times. Most often it’s the Tenderfoots committing these errors while the higher ranked scouts show them the ropes. When we camp in Erie in March we always put rocks in the fire; they’re great for keeping your sleeping bag warm when it’s only 19 degrees outside. We’ve never had one explode on us.
This is both entertaining and really informational. You can tell you really know a lot on the subject! I also think making lists like this is great for organization, and that the quotes catch attention and keep people interested. Keep it up!