How to Build a Fire [3 Methods]

Building a fire in a wilderness of calm and beauty on one of your wild but fun outings would be an enjoyable adventure. Maybe you even have a companion to chat with as you enjoy the exciting feeling of reinventing one of those technologies that changed the life of humans. “Yes!” Your leap of joy when the fire is made.

But this is not one of those party moments in a wilderness-discovery-voyage.

No! It’s your survival hide out.

And you are not even hiding. Because they are all over. They can show up any moment, and in their numbers. The thought of it sends a chill to your spine. But no, it’s not time to chill. You are cold, and famished, and worst of all parch-thirsty. You brought some water from a river you crossed along your escape trail. It’s brown, the sight of a cup of chocolate. It would be great if it were. In reality, it would already be part of your blood by now. But no, you need it sanitized, before you gulp it down your throat. How though? It’s your fourth week of ‘operation zombie escape.’ No more matches, even your cigar lighter is spent.

How dumb could you be? The book! Yes, you need to build a fire. And you got the book of survival. Its first chapter: How to build a fire in the zombie apocalypse. Choose your method carefully. Your task is not just building a fire to warm up, roast some fish you caught at the river, and sterilize your desired drink. You also got to disperse the smoke, if you don’t want the undead trailing you down. There are also the survivors fighting for their lives like you. If they are still sane, they may want part of your supply. If they are infected, well, more zombie numbers to run from.

It’s time to start working. So let’s read ‘how to make a fire in the zombie apocalypse.’ The writer was generous, and there’s choice in the methods.

Method #1: Friction on Wood Fire

You will forego long hours of warming up and just roast a couple of fish and boil your drink. This place doesn’t seem safe. The undead could be on your trail. Creating friction on wood is your easiest and cheapest choice. The wilderness is rich with the material you need. Here’s what the book says on how to build a fire with the friction method.

• Find a piece of wood to serve as your fireboard and cut a groove into it. Your choice of wood should be dry but not too hard. Hard wood will take longer to produce fire.
• Find a finer piece of wood to serve as a spindle. This should be hard enough to resist the friction.
• Create a tinder nest with material that easily catches fire, it could be dry grass or leaves.
• Place your tinder nest around the groove on your fireboard and introduce the spindle into the hollow.
• Spin to make friction until it can make a fire and create an ember on your tinder nest.
• Place the burning tinder nest into a pile of fine pieces of wood that you made beforehand. You can introduce bigger pieces of wood to make the fire stronger.

Your fire is made and you can roast your fish once the coal is created. You can also use any steel container you may still have to boil your water.

Method #2: Stone Spark Fire

This method is also good because the material is handy. You could consider it in place of the friction on wood fire. Just that the trick might be harder to hit here. What does your book say about this method?

• Find two pieces of stone. One bigger the other smaller. One must be harder than the other.
• Let the bigger stone be the softer choice and the smaller harder and pointed at one end.
• Prepare a tinder with material that catches fire easily, glass or dry leaves.
• Strike the bigger and softer stone with the smaller, harder and pointed stone. Strike hard enough to create a spark. Your spark should be directed to the tinder.
• The spark will create fire on the tinder. You may use your hand or a cap (if you have one) to fan the spark to an ember.
• Place the ember on your pile of fine branches to make the big fire and add the bigger pieces of wood to sustain it.

Your fish can now be roasted, your drink sterilized and, if you need to, warm your body while the food and water gets ready.

Method #3: The Tunnel Fire

This method uses the skills in method#1 or method #2. The uniqueness of the method is that it could be your best option when you have found a location that the undead may not easily spot. A cave behind an isolated hill or a valley inside a dark thicket. It’s finally time to read about how to build a fire that lasts. Your salvation book dictates the steps.

• Dig a wide and relatively deep hole, 15inches wide and 20inches deep.
• On the side from where the wind blows, dig a 1meter tunnel, shallow at the beginning and deeper as it connects to your fire hole. This will be your wood space and will let in the wind to blow you fire and supply oxygen to keep it burning. On the other side of the hole, dig a tunnel halfway deep compared to the depth of the hole. Dig the tunnel at least 100meters long. Cover the tunnel by placing wood, braches and soil to ensure no smoke escapes along the tunnel. The end of the tunnel should be open.
• Let the end of your smoke-exit-tunnel be under a thick shrub. This will help disperse the smoke and avoid the undead spotting your location. The 100meters distance is also your tactic to distract the zombies should they spot the smoke. You will have some minutes to make your escape before they track the source.
• Use method#1 or method#2 to light your fire inside the hole. Once lit and burning, cover the hole with a stone so all the smoke escapes through your longer tunnel.
• You can use the hot stone to cook or roast some food you may still have with you. And you never know, if they should find you, some zombie may roast their foot on the hot rock. You’ve bought yourself another minute for your escape.

Your tunnel fire will serve you for days or weeks. And, if the undead never find you, till it’s save to get back home.