Mother Nature is neutral. She does not care if you’re able to survive what she throws at you. That’s her nature… uncaring, unpredictable, wild and beautiful.
I love a rainy night. But, come on! When I started this article, it had rained 16 out of the last 17 days in Georgia. Figuratively and literally, we were soaked to the bone. Nothing outside was dry… tinder, kindling, and fuel were saturated… perfect weather for some survival training.
You can’t control Mother Nature, but you can learn skills to survive her storms. I recently wrote about three skills that forgive your shortcomings in Core Temperature Control. All three are important. But if you could only work on one of these skills, I would recommend fire craft.
Why?
Fire covers a multitude of ‘sin’ in your survival skills. ~ Me
Here’s my short list of what a sustainable fire can do for you…
Heat your body (Core Temperature Control)
Cook your food
Disinfect water
Signal for rescue
Make medicinals
Keep predators at bay
Illuminate camp
Make hot cocoa – a real survival tool
Harden wooden tools
Sleep aid – rid shelter of biting insects
Make wilderness glue
Morale booster
Becoming a proficient fire crafter requires practice. Even in optimal (dry) conditions, a Bic lighter won’t start a sustainable fire if you don’t do proper fire prep. Add rain to the equation and your attention to detail becomes crucial.
You need an edge. Every person who successfully burns stuff in the rain has that edge. That edge is the difference in… staying warm vs freezing, signaling rescuers vs staying lost, living vs dying.
I don’t have any magic tricks up my sleeve for burning stuff in foul weather. The few secrets I do employ are outlined below.
Burning Secret #1
Cheat!