Sierra Solitude

~ Chapter 4 ~

The Firebarn

Each time I travel into the wilderness, I often discover a certain "trick" or technique that makes living in semi-primitive conditions just a little more efficient or tolerable.

Fire making, for instance, can sometimes be a frustrating experience, especially in the often cold, pre-dawn hours when the only thing you can compare your fingers to are a package of frozen hot dogs!

On this trip I came up with a technique that allows me start a fire very quickly using a minimal amount of tinder, in this case, vaseline impregnated cotton balls. I call it a "Fire Barn". You'll see why in a moment.

Since a good many of my trips take place in the High Sierra, there's usually an abundance of pine needles on hand to use when building a fire but at the higher elevations, the needles themselves are usually quite small. This in turn can sometimes make things difficult when trying to keep an air space in between the needles to allow the oxygen to do its job.

I've often found that simply blowing on a flaming cotton ball that's been placed in the center of a nest of pine needles doesn't always work and usually just wastes precious tinder. Most of the time I just end up holding a large handful of needles directly over the small flame (yes, this can burn you) that I've already established using a small piece of Juniper bark or jute rope from my fire kit.

So lets get started.

First of all, why did I choose to name this fire-lighting technique "The Firebarn". It's simple really. Once the final fire "structure" is assembled, one may notice that it resembles a sort of barn type building; foundation, floor, hay-loft, and roof.

Also keep in mind that most of my cooking is simple and only requires a small fire. There's no doubt the Firebarn could be used to start larger fires but for all intents and purposes the technique being discussed here is used for building fairly small fires.

Here's how it all works...

Step 1: The Foundation

Place two, flat topped rocks 6-8 inches apart from each other to form the Firebarn's "foundation". If the rocks are small, it helps to scoop out some dirt between them in order for the fire to recieve more oxygen.

Step 2: The Floor

Start by placing two parallel sticks of thumb thickness across the "foundation". Next, constuct a "floor" by placing several pencil thick sticks side-by-side. Place two more length-wise across those. It doesn't have to be perfect, just make sure to leave space in between sticks.

Step 3: The Hay-loft

OK, now it's time to throw some hay into the barn. Simply place a large handful of dry pine needles on the "floor" to form a nice dome. I find that 1253 pine-needles is just about right.

Step 4: The Roof

The last step in the Firebarn's construction, is creating a "roof". Just take a bunch of sticks of the two sizes described above and place them diagonally against the entire structure. Here again you want to make sure there is space in between these sticks to allow oxygen to penetrate once the fire is lit. This process also helps keep the pine needles in place when the wind's blowing.

Step 5:Lighting the Firebarn

From this point just about any flame source will do. On this trip I lit the Firebarns using a sort of home-made "match"; a very small piece of petroluem jelly-inized cotton wrapped around a small twig.

When it comes to lighting the "match" using spark-based methods, in order to free up both hands, I just shoved the "match" into the sand. I also made sure I lit the "match" close to the Firebarn just to be sure it didn't have time to go out.

Once the "match" is lit, light the pine needles from underneath the Firebarn's floor. I usually lit the center first followed by each end.

For me, the beauty of the Firebarn is that once it's lit, I can just sit back and watch it burn. I can't recall ever having to assist a lit Firebarn by "blowing" it into flames.

Once the Firebarn collapses, larger fuel can then be added to the now well established fire.

Final Thoughts

It's really a great feeling to stumble onto a technique that works so well. I was in the wilderess for twelve days and used the Firebarn technique for close to 24 successful fires. What's also great is that I only used one cotton ball to light all those fires. Keep in mind though that with the exception of some wind, these were close to ideal fire lighting conditions. Had this been some really foul weather I imagine my success rate would have been lower.

I believe the Firebarn's success is due to fire prefering to travel "up". Light a match and hold it upside down and you'll get the idea. And If you've ever witnessed a brush-fire, you'll know the flames can travel up slope extremely fast. Once lit, the Firebarn's flames can only go up.

So there you go. Next time you're out in the woods give the Firebarn a shot. I think you'll find that you'll be able to skip a stage or two in the typical fire lighting process. I did!

Eric