Preparing tinder, kindling and fuel wood

Each stage of a fire must supply enough heat to ignite the next thicker stage. A match burns for only a few seconds. That is enough to light very fine tinder, but never to get a thick branch burning. The tinder burns a little longer and hotter and lights matchstick-thin twigs. These light pencil-thick ones, those light thumb-thick ones – and only then is there enough heat for fuel wood.

Thin material catches faster because the heat quickly passes all the way through it and because air reaches it from all sides. In thick wood, the heat spreads into the interior and the surface stays too cool for a long time. That is why it is so important not to skip a stage.

Dryness matters more than the type of wood. Damp material first uses up its heat evaporating water. A pile of dry, pencil-thin twigs is therefore worth more than an armful of thick, damp logs.

Good natural tinder is very fine, fibrous and dry: dry grass, thin peeled birch bark, fine dead conifer twigs, wood shavings. Rub or tease it apart until it is loose and airy like a small bird's nest. Make sure you only take material that is really dry, and do not tear anything off living plants.

Carried tinder is less dependent on the weather: for example cotton wool balls with a little petroleum jelly or ready-made fire-lighter cubes, packed waterproof. It belongs in every emergency kit, because after long rain dry natural material is hard to find.

A knife is helpful but not essential. With it you can split thicker branches and carve shavings or feather sticks: sticks with many fine curls left attached, which catch fire well. Fatwood – heavily resin-soaked pine from old stumps – burns even when slightly damp, but may only be collected where that is permitted.

The most important rule: first collect and sort, then light. Anyone who strikes the match first and then looks for wood almost always loses the flame. Lay out three piles of kindling – matchstick-thin, pencil-thick, thumb-thick – and next to them fuel wood of wrist to forearm thickness. These sizes are guidelines, not fixed rules.

Test wood with the snap test: a dead, dry twig breaks with a clear crack. If it only bends, it is green or damp. Dead wood still hanging on a tree or standing upright is usually drier than wood from the ground because it is not lying in wet leaves. Rotten wood that feels spongy burns poorly.

Do not underestimate the amount. A fire for a whole night needs considerably more wood than most people think. Collect while it is light, and keep tinder in your jacket pocket and kindling on a base or under a tarp so it stays dry.

When carving and splitting, always work away from your body, sit firmly and keep a distance from other people. Never hold the hand that guides the wood in front of the blade. A cut hand makes everything harder in the field – including making the fire itself.

Collect only dead wood and only where it is permitted. Live trees burn poorly and in many places must not be damaged. In some protected areas collecting deadwood is also prohibited. Whether a fire is allowed at all depends on the local rules and the current wildfire danger – check them beforehand.

Practise the preparation in good weather where fires are allowed, for example at an official fire pit. Set yourself a goal: light the fire with just one match. If that fails, it is almost always because of too little tinder or missing thin stages.

Later you can practise the same thing after a rainy day. Then you notice how much longer the preparation takes and how valuable split wood and carried tinder are. That experience is worth more in an emergency than any new ignition gadget.