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It's not difficult to get a fire blazing when conditions is dry and hot. However, building a fire when conditions are wet, chilly, and everything's totally soaked is a true test of the skill of even the best outdoorsman. For even the best backpackers or campers, getting a campfire blazing hot in damp conditions is enough to make you pull out your hair. Here are a few tips that might help you start that campfire when everything is soggy and wet. Tinder - keep it dry If you're like most, your desire is to be able to get your fire going with a spark. Of course, it's faster and easier to use expediencies like lighter fluid or firestarting gels, but when those options don't exist you really should know how to do it the old-fashioned way. Getting your fire going from a single spark means you should have tinder. The material you use as tinder can be many different things, but in its simplest form it's a substance that can catch a spark and allow it to smolder. It should be totally dry, extremely flammable, and loose and airy enough so air can feed the growing flames. Kindling is important Kindling is anything you use to build the smoldering tinder into a flame. Let me reiterate, it must be loose and dry so it can ignite quickly and promote quick burning. The material you use for kindling is best if it is as long as a handspan, and as thin as possible. A good sharp knife makes it a breeze to make slivers of kindling from the dry center of a recently split log. Logs and Branches As soon as you build up a loose pile of kindling going, you should feed the fire with with branches a half-inch in diameter. Branches like these perform best if they're around a foot in length. They should be twice as long as the kindling you used to get the fire started.. The starting configuration of your fire isn't as important as letting the fire 'breathe'. Keep the branches near the fire if things are damp so they get pre-warmed by the flames. As your fire's heat increases, you can add split logs. Always use the split side towards the fire, since it will be dry and it will catch fire more easily. The side with the bark will probably be soggy and won't burn for a while. Always carry a good folding saw along on your hiking trips. Standing wood is best for starting fires It can be tempting to burn wood that's fallen on the ground. But when conditions are wet, it'll be soaked and soggy and it won't give you a very good fire. Also, if the wood is rotten, it won't burn well either. Standing dead wood is optimal for getting a fire started in rainy weather. Since it's still standing, it won't have become soaked like logs and branches on the ground. Your best bet is to have a good backpacking saw to process this dead wood, but today's backpacking saws are light and extremely effective. There's no excuse to leave one behind when you venture out on a hike.
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