The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man (26 page)

Lay the tarp.
It’s a good idea to bring a tarp as a ground cover for your tent. If it rains, the bottom of your tent will be kept dry. Even if it doesn’t rain, the tarp prevents moisture from the morning dew from soaking through the floor of the tent.

Arrange the tent.
Lay the tent over the tarp. If there’s a light breeze, arrange the tent to face the wind. This will help increase ventilation and reduce condensation in your tent.

If the wind is blowing strongly, pitch the tent to face downwind. Otherwise, when you open the tent door, the tent will inflate like a balloon and rain can blow in.

Stake the corners.
After you have rolled out the tent on top of the tarp, it’s a good idea to stake down the corners of the tent. You’ll especially want to do this if it’s windy; you don’t want your nylon hut to blow away.

Pitch the tent.
Most tents are pretty easy to put up these days. It’s just a matter of threading the right poles through the right loops. After you’ve set up you tent, make sure to put on the rain fly. Even if it doesn’t rain, the fly will keep out any dew that might settle on the roof of your tent.

Figure 6.1 After you’ve set up your tent, make sure to put on the rain fly. Even if it doesn’t rain, the fly will keep out any dew that might settle on the roof of your tent.

Make a Latrine

If you’re camping in an area without available restroom facilities, you’ll need to create a latrine. Having a latrine helps prevent sickness and reduces your impact on the land. The easiest type of outdoor john to build is the trench latrine.

With a shovel, dig a shallow trench that’s about a foot wide and 3 to 4 feet long. Don’t make the trench deeper than the ground soil. Every time nature calls, “flush” your latrine by sprinkling a layer of dirt over your waste. This will keep flies from using your trench as a gourmet restaurant and will reduce odors so that all you smell are the pine trees and wildflowers.

Man and Fire

“To poke a wood fire is more solid enjoyment than almost anything else in the world.”

—Charles Dudley Warner

There is a primal link between man and fire. For ancient man, fire provided warmth, protection from wild animals, light in pitch-black nights and a place to cook food. While fire is no longer vital to most men’s existence, it still has a magnetic power that attracts us. The flames of fire can inspire legendary stories, generate uplifting discussion, build camaraderie among the men circled around them and create a romantic setting for cuddling up to your gal. No camping trip is complete without one. For these reasons, and many more, every man should know how to start a great fire and be well practiced in doing so.

Whether you create your flame using one of the matchless methods or just a Bic lighter, you need to know how to take your burning tinder nest and transform it into a roaring campfire you can be proud of. Here’s how:

Create Your Fire Bed

When building a fire, always think about safety first. You don’t want to be that guy who starts a raging wildfire in a national park. If your camping site has a designated fire area, use it. If you’re camping in a more rugged area that lacks fire sites, you’ll need to make your own. Select a site away from trees, bushes and other plant material. Your fire bed should be made on bare earth, not grass. If you can’t find a bare area, make your own by digging and raking away plant material, taking particular care in clearing away all dry (and thus highly flammable) grass, branches and bark.

After you’ve cleared the area, it’s time to make your bed. Gather dirt and place it in the center of your cleared area. Form the dirt into a platform that’s about 3 to 4 inches thick.

Gather Your Wood

You’ll need three basic types of materials to build your roaring campfire: tinder, kindling and fuel wood.

Tinder.
Every good campfire starts with good tinder. Tinder catches fire easily but burns fast. Material like dry leaves, dry bark, wood shavings, dry grass and some fluffy funguses make for good tinder. If you’re a smart camper, you’ll bring your own tinder in the form of dryer lint. Bringing your own lint is especially important when everything outside is wet. Wet tinder does not catch on fire.

Kindling.
You’ll need something with more substance than tinder to keep your flame going. You can’t move directly to big logs. You’ll end up smothering your little flame. That’s where kindling comes in. Kindling usually consists of small twigs and branches. Go for something that’s about the width of a pencil. Like tinder, kindling needs to be dry or it won’t burn easily. If all you have are wet twigs and branches, try whittling away the damp bark with your pocketknife.

Fuel wood.
Fuel wood is what keeps your fire hot and burning. Contrary to popular belief, fuel wood doesn’t have to look like the huge logs you use in a fireplace. If you go too big, it’s going to take a long time for the wood to catch fire. Look for branches that are about as wide as your wrist or your forearm.

When gathering wood for a fire, collect wood that snaps and breaks easily. Dry wood burns the best. If your wood bends, it’s too wet or green. If you try to make a fire with this sort of wood, you’ll just get a lot of smoke. Unlike tinder and kindling, fuel wood can be a little damp. The fire will dry it out. But it’s definitely not ideal.

Lay Your Fire

There are several ways to lay your fire. The teepee is probably the most effective:

1. Place your tinder bundle in the middle of your campfire site.

2. Above your tinder bundle, form a teepee with some kindling. Leave an opening in your teepee on the side the wind is blowing against. This will ensure that your fire gets the air it needs to blow the flames onto the kindling.

Figure 6.2 Above your tinder bundle, form a teepee with some kindling. Leave an opening in your teepee on the side the wind is blowing against to ensure that your fire gets the air it needs.

3. Continue adding kindling to the teepee, working your way up to pencil-sized twigs.

4. Create a larger teepee structure around your kindling teepee with your fuel wood.

5. Place a match under your tinder. Because this lay directs the flame up, the flame should rise to the kindling and then on to the fuel wood.

6. The teepee structure will eventually fall, and at this point you can simply add some fuel logs to the fire.

Five Ways to Start a Fire Without Matches

Anybody can light a Duraflame log with some matches or a lighter. A manly man knows how to create fire in the absence of either. Knowing how to make fire without matches is an essential survival skill. Maybe your single-engine plane goes down while you’re flying over the Alaskan wilderness, like the kid in
Hatchet
. Or perhaps you’re out camping and you lose your backpack in a tussle with a bear. Whether or not you ever need to call upon these skills, it’s just damn cool to know you can start a fire, whenever and wherever you are. Few skill sets are as deeply satisfying to possess.

Friction-Based Fire-Making Methods

Friction-based fire making is not for the faint of heart. It’s arguably the most difficult of all the non-match methods. There are different techniques you can use to make a fire with friction, but the most important factor is the type of wood you use for the fire board and spindle.

The spindle is the stick you’ll spin to create friction between it and the fire board. If you create enough friction between the spindle and the fire board, you’ll produce an ember that can be used to create a fire. Cottonwood, juniper, aspen, willow, cedar, cypress and walnut make the best woods for fire board and spindle sets.

Before you can use wood to start a friction-based fire, the wood must be bone dry. If the wood isn’t dry, you’ll have to dry it out first.

If you have the patience and dedication to turn elbow grease into embers, here are two friction-based fire-making methods with which to try your hand.

Fire Plough

1. Prepare your fire board.
Cut a groove in the fire board. This will be your track for the spindle.

2. Rub!
Take the tip of your spindle and place it in the groove of your fire board. Start rubbing the tip of the spindle up and down the groove.

3. Start a fire.
Have your tinder nest at the end of the fire board, so that you’ll plow embers into it as you’re rubbing. Once you catch one, blow the nest gently and get that fire going.

Bow Drill

The bow drill is probably the most effective friction-based method to use because it’s easier to maintain the speed and pressure you need to create enough friction to start a fire. In addition to the spindle and fire board, you’ll also need a socket and a bow.

1. Get a socket.
The socket is used to put pressure on the other end of the spindle as you’re rotating it with the bow. The socket can be a stone or another piece of wood. If you use another piece of wood, try to find a harder piece than what you’re using for the spindle. Woods with sap and oil are good as they create a lubricant between the spindle and the socket.

2. Make your bow.
The bow should be about as long as your arm. Use a flexible piece of wood that has a slight curve. The string of the bow can be anything. A shoelace, rope or strip of rawhide works great. Just find something that won’t break. String up your bow, and you’re ready to begin.

3. Prepare the fire board.
Cut a V-shaped notch and create a depression adjacent to it in the fire board. Underneath the notch, place your tinder.

4. String up the spindle.
Catch the spindle in a loop of the bow string. Place one end of the spindle in the fire board and apply pressure on the other end with your socket.

5. Start sawing.
Using your bow, start sawing back and forth. You’ve basically created a rudimentary mechanical drill. The spindle should be rotating quickly. Go at it
full chisel
until you create an ember.

Figure 6.3 Using your bow, start sawing back and forth. The spindle should be rotating quickly. Go at it until you create an ember.