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My boss gave me a digital camera for Christmas, so I was
anxious to try it out. I asked my daughter, Emma, to accompany
me to Campton Hills Forest Preserve, Kane County, Illinois,
for a short survival walk. I have very little winter
hiking and camping experience, so I wanted to practice some
cold weather fire starting: it seemed as good an excuse as
any to get out! Nothing particularly exciting or unusual here:
just a chance to get outdoors with my daughter and to play with
the new camera.
Bill Qualls
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I've never seen so many people at this Forest Preserve!
There was a lot of snow and a lot of kids enjoying their
last day of vacation. Emma saw a friend and joined her
for about a half dozen rides down the hill sledding.
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We don't get much opportunity for sledding so I told
Emma that if she wanted to just sled with her friend that
I would understand. Imagine my surprise when she told me,
"No, I want to go hiking with you instead." That's my girl!
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We hiked about a half mile into the woods and found a place
where I could practice my skills. My first attempt at fire
starting was a little careless and consequently a failure.
I used small twigs for kindling. That would have worked just
fine in the summer, but not in this cold (approx 20 degrees?)
I was more deliberate the second time around. I used my
Anaconda knife to split a few one-inch oak branches into
quarters. This is me splitting the wood. First lesson
learned: Always take a fixed blade knife capable of
splitting wood whenever you go hiking in winter!
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Another shot of me. One nice thing about having a digital
camera is that the kids (Emma) can take as many pictures
as they want at no cost!
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The Anaconda knife does such a good job of splitting wood!
Here's some of the kindling. Note the leather gloves. Second
lesson learned: Bring leather gloves in addition to mittens.
Mittens are great for warmth, but not for work.
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With all this split wood, I will have no trouble starting
a fire! Note the foam pad I am kneeling on. Looked good at
the K-Mart, and I'm sure it's fine for sitting on, but my
knees got wet as I was kneeling on it to prepare the fire.
It's just too small. Third lesson learned: Much
better to use a thinner but larger piece of closed cell
foam from an old sleeping pad.
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Time to get the fire going. I used a sparking rod. Cotton
balls dipped in Vaseline make the best tinder!
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A single cotton ball dipped in Vaseline will burn for several
minutes. Half a cotton ball is usually more than
sufficient!
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I take an old army surplus canteen cup on most of my trips.
I used it here to melt snow. Of course, it takes quite a bit
of snow to get two cups of water. I used another cup to
add snow as it melted down. Fourth lesson learned:
For winter hikes, bring TWO pots or cups. If you need to
melt snow in an emergency, you can use one to melt and one
to scoop. (Of course, there are many ways to improvise a
scooper if necessary.)
You can't see it in this picture, but I used a small
shovel to clear the snow so I could build the fire on the
ground. A small shovel is really nice to have along on a
winter hike!
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Emma looks forward to some warm Ramen soup!
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At last, Emma enjoys the fruits of our labors.
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Finally, a parting shot of Emma as we leave the woods.
We both had fun and learned something.
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Summary of lessons learned: Whenever I go hiking
in the winter I will take with me (1) a fixed blade knife
capable of splitting wood, (2) leather gloves in addition
to mittens, (3) a thin closed-cell foam pad at least
2 feet by 2 feet, (4) TWO containers capable of melting
snow.
Copyright © 2001 by
Bill Qualls. Last updated January 1, 2001.
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