Build A One-Match Fire...

The One-Match Fire

Always try to light a fire with a single match- even when an entire box of matches is at hand.

This skill could someday mean the difference between a warm, comfortable camp and a chilly, miserable one.

Place a softball-size piece of tinder on dry bark or on the ground. Good tinder ingredients include lint (check your pockets and belly button), cotton threads, dry-wood powder, bird or mouse nests, dry shredded bark or pine needles. Around the tinder, pile a handful of dry twigs. Over this nucleus, lean a few slightly larger, seasoned branches in tepee-fashion. Over the branches, lay some bigger pieces of deadwood.

With the pile sheltered from wind and rain, ignite the tinder so the flames eat into the heart of the pile. Once the fire gets going, shape it however you want.