Alright, headed out for some fire starting. We had our first sunny day, but the wood was still damp from the last month of rain. I had to baton large chunks off it to get to the dry stuff underneath.



here's the tinder pile with my stacks of kindling in successively larger sizes



The only thing I used to construct the fire was my Swamp Rat Ratmandu, which worked VERY well to make those curls. The wood used was slightly damp Red Oak. This wouldn't have been my first choice because it catches slowly. This would have been great to add to an already-established fire to give it greater longevity, but ideally I would have started with something like Ponderosa Pine. Similar to a survival situation however, I used what I had on hand. The tinder, which I typically carry with me whenever I go hiking, is cotton fluff rubbed with petrol jelly. Set it alight with a normal ferro rod, no magnesium used.

I let the fire burn for a bit, but then allowed it to sputter out. I was only in my back yard, so I didn't want a bonfire





A fine way to begin my sunday!