Campfire during winter

>>674552
You'l have to baton off the outer wood to get to the dry inner wood. It's a fuckton of work and serious pain in the ass, but once you get a hot enough fire you can just throw the wet stuff on and it'll dry then burn.

would tinder + portable wood stove work?
i don't make fires often, so it's just a idea

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>>674580
only resources i have is a lighter, matches, and a skrama (pic related, it doubles as a small axe)

Try with dry dead branches of pine that are not fallen down yet, if you know what I'm talking about.
But I don't know how thats going to work with this slush now lol

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Don't build the campfire directly on the snow. Build a platform of some thick, dryish logs (they don't have to be completely dry), so your tinder and firewood doesn't get put out by the thick snow.

Try to find dead standing wood, such as dead trees that haven't fallen over, dead branches on trees, etc.

You can also find some fatwood or pine resin and rub it on the large pieces of wood to make them last longer.


Make sure your fire has enough oxygen.

>>674552
just dry the large wet pieces of wood at the edge of the fire

>>674685
well the fire needs to be burning in order to dry them by the fire

>>674552

make sure to start on a bed of sticks so the fire doesn't melt the snow and put itself out. Had this happen to me my first time /out/ in -26c.

By the time it burns through the bed, it will be strong enough to survive the melting snow.

>>674552
I wouldn't rely on a fire in Winter unless it's an emergency. Get a good stove, hang out with your gear, and enjoy your surroundings. That's what snow camping is all about.

Build a quinzhee if you want something to do.

>>674674


fuckin hell ultimate nostalgia - ted nasmith lotr artwork. i had this as calder back in the mid 90s as a teenager lol

>>674584
>and a skrama (pic related, it doubles as a small axe)
Does it perform well?

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>>675937
it actually preforms really well, strongly recomend it for a a good allround survival knife

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>>674674
>Don't build the campfire directly on the snow
>Try to find dead standing wood
Yup.

Starting fires innawoods in the winter is a lot harder than it is in the summer, even if you find dry(ish) wood or good tinder.

Built one a few weeks ago, wood was deceptively wet. Couple guys tried with carbide rocks and firesteel, got it to flame for 20-30 seconds but that wasn't long enough to dry out the tinder we had, let alone torch it off.
Another guy had some vaseline-soaked cotton balls, same result.

I got tired of not having a fire, and cracked off a road flare. Those burn fuck-hot for 15 minutes, and they're real easy to light (Sort of a big matchstick glob on top of the flare, with a striker on the cap).
About 5 minutes of that burning on the tinder pile was enough to get going strong, tinder plus the remainder of the flare got the rest of the fire going. >Pic extremely related

Being on a snowmobile or dirt bike means I have gasoline too - I've doused wood in gasoline from a jerry can to get things going before. Being lazy and gathering a bunch of big-ish branches (not really scavenging for decent tinder) took about 1/2-gallon of fuel before it was able to sustain itself and dry out additional wood put on it.

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>>678249
>(Sort of a big matchstick glob on top of the flare, with a striker on the cap)

I carry two in my pack (snow and dirt), another two on my sled.
The ones I carry in my pack I keep in a ziploc baggie to keep them dry, rolled up with some heavy-duty trash bags. These come in handy as a wind break, poncho, sack to gather parts if I yardsale a sled/bike, whatever... used one last week to cover the vents of my sled when I had it on the tail end of a tow rope. That roll of flares in ziploc plus trash bags goes into a sleeve that keeps it all together.
Local hardware store sells flares in 3-packs, I buy a new pack every year or two and rotate them out between pack, sled, and finally into the truck. The manufacture date is printed on the flares.
If i'm out camping I'll take the oldest ones from the truck to start the campfire, which keeps my supply in check. (Otherwise I just use the propane torch from my toolbox.)

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Get yourself a kerosene heater pic related. It's directional heat so you should be toasty warm.

>>678249
>fresh, living needles
>sticks larger than your fingers

maybe it was hard to light a fire because you didn't use any proper tinder
dark green needles aren't going to easily light large sticks

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>>678289
The dark greens are to keep the tinder (can't see under the twig tepee) off the snow.

Had a small handful of dead pine needles and a few small twigs underneath. When I grabbed my flare, the other guys just built the bigger tepee since even the flare alone could probably get those started.

I think it took me longer to hike to my sled, dig through my pack to grab a flare, and hike back to where we had the wood set up than it took me to get a fire going with it.

Some people like the challenge of starting a fire rubbing sticks together or with a small spark from firesteel. I'd rather get shit done and have fire than fuck around for an hour or two with other methods, especially in the winter. Hence the flares, gasoline, etc.

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>>678325
hehe it looks like you guys inadvertently lit the whole forest on fire :3c

The easiest way I make fire is I carry a small container of vasoline or patrolum jelly from the dollar stor as its smaller and easier to carry. Weighs about as much as a candle.
With this you can use anything as a wick I find cotton balls work best but your can use toilet paper or even leaves.
Just dip the wick in the vasoline and light it like a mini candle, will burn with decent flame for a few minutes works even when wet. Can get about 100 fires from a small tub of Vasoline. In a pinch you can use Chapstick.