Split Wood Ferro Rod Fire under a Poncho During a Thunderstorm.

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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The title says it all. I am actually not a frequent user of the split wood fire methodology. The reason being I live in the land of Birch Bark. The hydrocarbons within the bark makes using the twig fire methodology more practical. It's a rare day when birch bark needs help however occasionally weather conditions demand split wood. It rained for days and was raining during this water scouting walk. The purpose was to check out local rivers and streams to see first hand the water conditions for opening day trout. Do I hit the lakes or rivers during the big day? So packed up my kit then headed out!


It's looking bad. The water is too high to fish and not sure it will drop in a few days.





The sky started to darken so decided to hunker down as heard a crack of thunder off in the distance. It was only in the 40's but change was in the air as it would be 85 in a few days. But such dramatic change often doesn't come without some weather. One trick is to place my tarp/poncho and all the fixings in a top pocket so I don't need to open the pack up in the rain. Easy access to rain gear and FAKs is a good idea IMO.





Adjustable sliding ridgeline system allows for a very fast pitch using no field tied knots. Everything is looped.








Done.





Time for a fire under poncho in the rain. First the hydrocarbons. An enormous amount of energy within just a bit of bark.





The wood. I think this is Red oak and Tulip poplar. All gathered off the ground.





Wet on the outside but drier inside. Tulip poplar is low density and splits like cr@p but often lacks bark which makes for drier wood.





The wood under my poncho. Strange how it was outside for maybe years but now I feel the need to keep the wood dry. Yet once split it will be more important to keep it protected as the exposed surface area will be greatly increased.





Splitting the wood with my knife. I only have a small folding saw and a knife for tools.





Tarp run-off makes for good drinking water or at least it hasn't killed me yet. I can collect a great deal of potable water fast.





Getting darker and the lightning is cracking all around me. Best to just keep batoning.





The split wood. I am going to use a ferro rod and birch bark to ignite this.





And it works! Split wood will catch fire easier than larger chucks. This really helps during bad weather.








Cooking bacon and wings. I will miss the cold weather as stuff like chicken wings becomes more problematic in the 90's.





The power of the split wood fire methodology is the ability to get a fire going in most any weather conditions more reliably than other methods IMO. But the price is paid in terms of time and effort. If it can be avoided I do so but invaluable if needed.








Hot tenting gear applied to tarp camping in this case a day camp. A fire created and burned deep under a tarp with minimal risk of burning my poncho.








Once there was a break in the storm I decided it was safe to go over the ridge/higher ground to leave the valley. I think it's best to keep off the ridges during lightning if possible.


The water was even worse after the storm so decided fishing the lake was a smarter play during opening day trout.








A few days later at the lake.





Here is a video which includes the firecraft and entire process.


 

scout24

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Fantastic as always, WW. Love the fast potch tarp. Everything's running high and fast here, too. Opening day will be interesting. OT with apologies- You've got me on a quest for finding chaga this spring, by the way. There's a decent amount of white birch around here, bark is plentiful, but chaga seems hard to come by. The quest continues!
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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New England woods.
Fantastic as always, WW. Love the fast potch tarp. Everything's running high and fast here, too. Opening day will be interesting. OT with apologies- You've got me on a quest for finding chaga this spring, by the way. There's a decent amount of white birch around here, bark is plentiful, but chaga seems hard to come by. The quest continues!
If you don't find any I will hook you up. Mobile now but will give some info later on what to
look for and best area. chaga is kinda amazing stuff.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Great adventure as always Walker. Thank you once again.

Thanks brother!

Much appreciated on all counts, sir. Any tips would be appreciated!

Ok it might be hard as I think your AO is really really on the edge in terms of habitat plus it appears in a very low percentage of trees (almost always a birch with a preference for white or yellow) Also much of this is based on voodoo hack logic via observations. It seems to like deep cold so look in areas which might offer a micro environment. A small stream valley or higher up could work. A place which is somehow colder than other areas to compensate for being on the fringe. I find when birch is mixed in with other trees like Hemlock etc etc there is a greater chance than pure stand of birch. Not saying it's like cedar rust on an apple but just tend to find it more like that.










Hands down it's my favorite BIG magic item in the woods. In any case one way or the other you will get some.
 

Hooked on Fenix

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The taught-line hitch and no knot combo work pretty good for a fast setup. I'm glad you used a wood burning stove with a chimney instead of a fire on the ground. Silicon nylon tarps are flammable and not treated with fire retardants like tents are. I almost learned that lesson the hard way during a summit of Mt. Whitney. Did you know that titanium tent stakes can throw sparks if you pound them into rocky soil with a rock?
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
5,433
Location
New England woods.
The taught-line hitch and no knot combo work pretty good for a fast setup. I'm glad you used a wood burning stove with a chimney instead of a fire on the ground. Silicon nylon tarps are flammable and not treated with fire retardants like tents are. I almost learned that lesson the hard way during a summit of Mt. Whitney. Did you know that titanium tent stakes can throw sparks if you pound them into rocky soil with a rock?

Yes. People make Ti flint and Steel strikers which produce hotter sparks than carbon steel strikers but probably not as effective compared to a ferro rod. That said I never tried it myslef. It often takes direct contact with flame for a sil nylon tarp to ignite. A coal won't do it but yup they will go up if flames touch them.
 

scout24

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Thanks for the tips, WW. I've a few places in mind, and am hoping to get out looking this weekend. The honey-do list and weather need to cooperate though. It's greenhouse and garden prep season here at casa scout, and we are getting a seedling and bush order from our county extention office on Friday. Lots of mixed hemlock and birch here, so fingers crossed. :thumbsup:
 
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