Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022 - 60

When it comes to lighting the fire, make
sure first that you have a base to build it on.
It can be a 5-inch piece of wood or bark.
Your fire will grow beyond that base in time,
which is fine, but you need something flat
and dry to hold your fire to start.
KEEP IT GOING
Now, there many different methods of
igniting a fire. Butane lighters, waterproof
matches, convex lenses, metal matches or
sparkers, batteries and gunpowder are a few
modern ones. Primitive methods include
flint and steel, a fire plow, or a bow drill. I
carry a lighter, matches and a sparker, as it's
wise to have a primary and back-up method
of starting fire.
As to what shape your fire should take,
some build teepee fires, others lean-to or
log cabin styles. Most think a big fire of any
kind is better. But it's hard for one person to
feed a large fire and they waste a lot of heat.
In a survival situation, a long, low fire
provides the most benefit. Once you get
yours going, stretch it out until it's about 4
feet long. Then, stoke it every two to three
hours.
If you're dealing with wet or damp wood,
stack it close to the fire so that the heat
generated by the flames helps to dry it out.
Remember, just because wood is wet
doesn't mean you can't use it. There's even
a way to speed up how quickly you can burn
wet wood.
Once your fire is going strong, you can
use a full-tang survival knife to expose the
drier wood inside a stick or log using a
method called batoning. It works this way:
place the sharp edge of the blade on top of
an upright piece of wood, then pound the
top of the blade with a hammer or makeshift
heavy object, like a heavy stick, to drive the
blade down like a wedge and split the wood.
The wood exposed that way should be
dry. Place the dry side against the fire and,
as it burns, the outside of the log will dry.
Just be careful. Working with sharp
tools like survival knives or folding saws is
60
Under normal circumstances, outside of a
survival situation, people with a valid hunting,
furtaking or fishing license can build small open
fires for cooking or warming purposes on state
game lands. So, too, can through-hikers when
those lands encompass the corridor of the
Appalachian Trail.
But all fires must be built where adequate
precautions are taken to prevent the spread
of fire. Fires also must be attended at all times
and completely extinguished before leaving.
The exception - the time when fires are
prohibited - is when the fire index rating
used by the Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources is high, very high or extreme
for that area. A person causing a wildfire, in
addition to facing possible criminal penalties, is
liable for all damages, the cost of extinguishing
the fire and any applicable fines.
generally the most dangerous part of building
a survival fire. Remember to always cut
away from your body and focus on one task
at a time.
It's a good idea to practice batoning,
and fire-making in general, before you find
yourself in trouble. Practice makes perfect,
as with everything else in life.
There's nothing better in a survival scenario
than a nice warm fire, for heat, water
purification, signaling and even morale. A
fire will dramatically increase your odds of
survival in a wilderness emergency.
Jason DeCoskey is the Game Commission's
Bureau of Wildlife Protection Director.
He attended Mountain Warfare school in
the U.S. Marine Corps, plus countless other
survival courses, and has taught those skills
to game warden cadets, military personnel
and staff from other law-enforcement
agencies.
Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - October 2022
