As the weather gets colder and the air wetter, finding dry wood when going on your outdoor adventures becomes harder. The wood in the forest will become wetter and harder to manage. So, knowing how to start a bonfire with wet wood is incredibly useful.
To light your bonfire, you first must learn what materials to use, where to find them, and how to incorporate them best. You do not want to be stuck in the wilderness with no source of light and warmth, especially now with the temperatures lowering significantly. You will keep yourself dry and warm if you know how to make a fire with wet wood.
How to Start a Bonfire With Wet Wood
To start a bonfire with wet wood, follow the next steps.
- Collect and assemble tinder.
- Set and light up your tinder.
- Form your fire structure and add kindlings.
- Start adding your gathered logs to get your fire going.
Building a Bonfire With Wet Wood
Collect and assemble tinder
If you do not already have any ready-made tinder, you will have to go foraging. Make sure to search inside dead trees, under logs, under tree branches, and wherever else that tinder might have a greater chance of withstanding the rain.
Other items like dead leaves and pine needles can help start a fire when it’s damp. But once more, they will also not function if they are wet.
Set and light up your tinder
Step two is to light your neatly constructed tinder bundle. It makes igniting your tinder bundle more difficult if you do not have any lighter or matches. You must rely on another lighting method to start the tinder bundle without a direct flame. Here is where a char cloth can be helpful.
One of the oldest and most dependable ways to ignite a fire is using a char cloth. Be sure to keep some in your backpack at all times for storage. Catching the spark on the char cloth is the first step in lighting. Once an ember has formed, you move the burning ember to your tinder bundle.
Form your fire structure and add kindlings
After lighting up your timber, you should gradually add kindling to your tinder bundle after it starts to burn. Once more, the kindling you gathered will probably be wet. If so, you will need to take a knife and scrape the bark’s outer layer off to reveal the inner layer if you have gathered wet sticks.
This should be completed in advance to avoid taking too long and mistakenly letting your tinder pile burn out. Once the tinder bundle starts burning, you should know the fire structure you will use to build your fire.
Start adding your gathered logs to get your fire truly going
Your logs are most likely wet, so before adding them, you should use a sharp knife to strip away as much wet wood as possible. You can use the heat from the kindling to dry out the logs. As the logs dry, you can add them one after another to your growing bonfire.
Where You Set Up Your Bonfire Matters
The location of your fire is something you should consider when designing it. You will struggle more if the location where you start your fire is already chilly and wet. To make the best conditions for your fire, given your circumstances, make sure to clear the area of snow, debris, and damp dirt.
Then, make a bed for your fire using the available dry items. You might want to construct a trench and build your fire there if there is a lot of wind. Your pit will need to be deeper the worse the wind is.
On the bright side, you may need to dig into the earth to provide a dry foundation for your fire, but you can build a shelter for it by simply putting logs at an angle over the pit.
Good Fire Starters
Paraffin wax
When compared to other kinds of kindling, paraffin wax is good since it naturally repels water and does not require additional instruments to function. It will significantly improve your ability to dry the damp wood because it burns slowly and powerfully.
If any paper cups are lying around, you can use them as a fire starter, as they are usually coated in a thin layer of paraffin wax. Most paper cups are cheap, so check the garbage cans around you or the ground. As many people throw them away, you will likely find some.
A magnesium bar
A bar of magnesium is another excellent fire starter. It will burn quickly and powerfully. You will need a sharp knife to shave off a little pile of your magnesium bar, which you can then start with a spark.
Even though the heat generated is far greater than that of paraffin wax, the duration is significantly shorter and may even be less effective at drying wet wood. But if you do not have any paraffin wax with you, it makes an excellent substitute.
Chips
That is right. For example, you can use your bag of Doritos as a fire starter. It does not necessarily need to be a bag of Doritos. Any bag of chips should work. Chips make an excellent fire starter because of their mix of chemicals, artificial flavors, and oil. This combination is highly combustible and will work great when you are in a pinch.
Also read: How to Keep a Fire Going in the Rain
Conclusion
In conclusion, while starting a fire with wet wood is challenging, it does not mean it is impossible. Moreover, knowing how to start a bonfire with wet wood is an invaluable skill for every outdoors person.
And with a bit of patience and attention to your surroundings, you can start an excellent bonfire even with wet wood. This will allow you to keep warm even during the rainy season and still be able to explore the outdoors.