How to start a fire

[Tau]

How would you have characters in your own fantasy world/story go about the everyday task of starting a fire?

It could be for a campsite, fireplace, candle, or combat.

 

[sashamerideth]

A small ember kept smoldering on a dense fungus. They put tender on top, blow on it, the tender lights, the fungus goes back on the side of a caravan or bag.

Flint and steel, fireplough, and fire piston also see use. There are wheel based sparkers and fires that are always burning available as well.

Lastly, one character has a compacted plasma pistol he uses to start a first fire. I am throwing a technologically avanced group into a pre-industrial revolution era.

 

[Sparkie]

I guess it depends upon the situation. For instance...

Tor and Raj gathered some old wood that was lying around close to the grove in which the party was camped. They piled it in the central space among the tents, chopped a little kindling, and struck flint and iron together to light the nights cooking fire.

Or it could be handled this way...

Tor and Raj gathered some old wood that was lying around close to the grove in which the party was camped, but the recent rains had made the fires fuel too wet to light with flint and tinder.

"Here," said Anastrilana, "Allow me."

With a wave of her wand, the mage cast a spell of Consuming Flame, and the preperation for the nights meal began.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

My main character can start fires with her mind, so she just looks at things and they burst into flames. ;-)

 

[Giant]

One of my characters is a Fire Mage so he can start a fire by connecting with the set of fire rings that he wears. The others start the fire using a flint rock and a metal starter. They transfer the fire from camp to camp using a "fire bundle".

 

[Ravana]

Tor and Raj gathered some old wood that was lying around close to the grove in which the party was camped. They piled it in the central space among the tents, and chopped a little kindling.

Tor handed Raj two sticks. "Here, rub these together. I'll go catch some game."

Forty-five minutes later, Raj's arms were cramping and his knees were stiff from leaning over the pile of wood, when Tor strolled up with a pair of rabbits. He tossed them to Raj, saying "Now skewer these," then bent down and pulled out a Zippo.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Basically, sashamerideth's got the right of it: in most cases, some embers from the previous night's fire will be packed in something they can't easily burn, to aid in starting the next one. (I'd always heard moss or lichen for the lining, though that could be wrong; or it may depend on what's available.) Flint and striking metal should always be carried as backup, since guaranteeing your embers remain hot enough can be chancy (swimming a river will just about put paid to any possibility of them working… and remember, that which is waterproof also tends to be flammable). Whittling slivers from a piece of wood will give you better kindling than anything you find lying about… and will also give you at least marginally drier inner wood even when the outside is wet. Perhaps toss a dram of oil on for good measure, if you can afford to be hauling about such a luxury—though you still need an actual spark to light it: merely heat it, and you're cooking. Everclear would probably work, too—as long as you're willing to take on faith that it touched off, since you won't be able to see the flame.

If you really want to get high-tech about the low-tech end, a little before-the-journey prep can go a long way: take wood shavings and impregnate them with wax. Pull out a few whenever you need a jump-start: they'll light easily, and burn hot (as well as longer than the wood alone would). The modern equivalents are the best way I know of, bar none, to light a bonfire with ease. (Oil-impregnated rags would work, too; it's just that wax-soaked wood works even better.)

And, finally, take your time. Get in a hurry, and you're eating last night's leftovers cold.

 

[Sheilawisz]

The best fire starter method and my personal favourite is Flint, perhaps because I love watching that Bear Grylls survival show and I want to try it someday!! When I go camping I use a special wood to start my campfire, because this wood is impregnated with some kind of oil that is very easy to ignite and then the normal wood quickly catches the fire =)

In my stories this does not happen:

They are not humans, they are a different species that has many deadly powers and one of them is that they can attack with searing sparks of white light, which causes a blast of over 30000°C and so they start fires easily.

 

[Tau]

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Basically, sashamerideth's got the right of it: in most cases, some embers from the previous night's fire will be packed in something they can't easily burn, to aid in starting the next one. (I'd always heard moss or lichen for the lining, though that could be wrong; or it may depend on what's available.) Flint and striking metal should always be carried as backup, since guaranteeing your embers remain hot enough can be chancy (swimming a river will just about put paid to any possibility of them working… and remember, that which is waterproof also tends to be flammable). Whittling slivers from a piece of wood will give you better kindling than anything you find lying about… and will also give you at least marginally drier inner wood even when the outside is wet. Perhaps toss a dram of oil on for good measure, if you can afford to be hauling about such a luxury—though you still need an actual spark to light it: merely heat it, and you're cooking. Everclear would probably work, too—as long as you're willing to take on faith that it touched off, since you won't be able to see the flame.

If you really want to get high-tech about the low-tech end, a little before-the-journey prep can go a long way: take wood shavings and impregnate them with wax. Pull out a few whenever you need a jump-start: they'll light easily, and burn hot (as well as longer than the wood alone would). The modern equivalents are the best way I know of, bar none, to light a bonfire with ease. (Oil-impregnated rags would work, too; it's just that wax-soaked wood works even better.)

And, finally, take your time. Get in a hurry, and you're eating last night's leftovers cold.

Thanks! These are a lot of interesting answers. This one in particular was very helpful, not just for my writing but for the next time I go camping as well.

 

[Ravana]

Quite welcome.

Those paraffin-soaked wood chip bricks are awesome—you'll love them. Probably won't even need a whole one to get a campfire started: break it in halves, even quarters. (It helps to break them up anyway, so you can have your kindling lighting up at more than one point. Speeds things right along. )

 

[Graham Irwin]

I believe it was Bil-E Jo-el who taught us that we, in fact did not start the fire.

It has, in fact, always been burning, since the world has been turning.

Sorry for the silly.

 

[Caged Maiden]

I once wrote about a girl who runs away and spends four nights freezing and starving because she doesn't know the first thing about survival. Fire-starting is not a skill everyone has (especially not a spoiled little rich girl who fancies herself a mage) and it makes her reliant on her partner who is much better cut out for a journey without conveniences.
That being said, villages could be close enough together that one rarely needed to camp, or torches could be used, lit off each other, flint and steel, etc.
ALL GOOD IDEAS HERE SO FAR. (I might utilize some that hadn't occurred to me)