4. Bonfires

If a competition was announced for the best tourist emblem, a bonfire could certainly be such an emblem. More than anything - a fire!

One reputable publication, which contains all the cream of tourist wisdom, says categorically and succinctly: “A fire is a device for warming tourists, cooking food and drying wet clothes.” Even a convinced pragmatist, after reading this definition, cannot feel any interest in tourism. You can warm up, cook food and dry clothes at home.

So, the fire is an emblem, a symbol. And the symbol must be deeply respected.

The priest of the campfire is Kostrovoy. He has a wide range of responsibilities. And indeed, Kostrovoy, with the exception of a few minutes of sleep and rest and hours (in his opinion, wasted) when he needs to go somewhere, swim, drive, spends all his time in front of the fire on his knees, occasionally blowing into it or whispering intimately about something with him.

Throughout the entire hike, Kostrova [6] proudly ignores the temptations of the landscape, assessing it only on one basis: whether there are objects nearby that can be grabbed by a handful, and how many there are. When choosing a parking lot, Kostrovoy is absolutely not interested in the picturesqueness of its place; convenient approaches do not frighten him with clouds of mosquitoes that cover the parking lot with a continuous curtain; he is not concerned about, say, the close proximity of a barnyard. Even the suspicious rustle of a snake in the tall grass is not an obstacle for him. What are these snakes if there is so much small brushwood scattered everywhere! An ideal place for Kostrovoy would be a place where dry firewood, branches and wood chips are neatly stacked on the bank of the river. And small ones - separately.

Where does a fire start? From the spot. And if the parking lot is cramped and inconvenient, then the best piece is given to the fire, like a beloved and capricious child. With the air of a medieval fortune teller, Kostrovoy staggers aloofly on the platform and, raking the ground with a stick, whispers: “No, it will be bad for Him here. He doesn’t like this, this one too. But here, I think He will like it.”

The remaining members of the group do not dare show signs of impatience, waiting for Him to finally be given a place, for the entire camp layout is determined by the fire.

Finally, Kostrovoy makes his choice in a place that only he understands, falls on his knees and remains in this position - head and back below, and everything else above - until he goes to bed.

The fire should be located not high, not low, not far, but not close. It should illuminate the weight of the tent as much as possible, its smoke should disperse mosquitoes throughout the entire campsite, and there should be enough heat for all members of the group plus three cauldrons or buckets.

But it’s bad if the sparks from the fire, without having time to “go out on the fly,” reach the tent. It is not good if the smoke chokes not only mosquitoes, but also people.

Yes, the set of laws for choosing a place for a fire is a science. But putting them into practice is an art!

Before lighting a fire, Kostrovoy secures the stands for the boilers. The classic method is to install two flyers with a crossbar placed on them, but you must agree that then, firstly, at each site at least three fresh branches are destroyed (dry ones are not suitable for racks and crossbars), secondly, on the banks of many reservoirs there are no longer any trees suitable for this (however, on a water trip you can use the prepared racks constantly, transporting them with you), and, finally, thirdly, this method does not meet the current level of technical development.

Experienced tourists have designed many non-dismountable and collapsible fire pits, stands, tagans, devices for organizing fires, heating tents, and cooking.

The latest achievements of fire science convince us that you can do without stands and sticks at all.

The undoubted advantage of, for example, portable tagans is the speed of installation, significant fuel savings, and environmental “cleanliness” (no need for living branches). This is discussed in more detail below.

But first of all, the fire must be lit. Everyone knows that a fire must be lit with one match. They also know that a spendthrift who spends two matches on this does not deserve to be called a tourist. I would really like to know how the legend about craftsmen who always bring a fire to life with one match first appeared! Like all legends, it has great attractive power. Therefore, it is necessary not only not to dissuade you from good intentions to light a fire with one match in the rain, but, on the contrary, to inspire you: go for it!

There are, however, several ways that can dramatically reduce the waste of matches needed to light a fire. Some beginners will hasten to express a guess: kerosene. Well, try taking a bottle of kerosene with you... Two hours after the start of the hike, there is unlikely to be at least one item left that does not smell of fuel. The smell of kerosene will be absorbed by all products. Even a freshly opened can of condensed milk will smell like a gas station. There is a great way - “dry alcohol”, or, as it was called in the retail chain, “dry fuel” to avoid unhealthy associations. This product is unfortunately very hygroscopic.

That is why there is no better way than a rather barbaric one: to increase the intensity of combustion with paper, a candle stub or a piece of plexiglass.

When the first timid flame engulfs thin dry twigs, the most crucial moment in the procedure of lighting a fire begins. This is where the question of whether there should be a fire or not is decided. Therefore, do not rush to throw wood at the newly born fire. Only after some time, when he announces himself with a cheerful crash and fireworks of sparks, feed him plenty. And his appetite cannot be jinxed.

Some more useful tips. It is possible to light wet firewood, but, firstly, it is difficult, and secondly, it requires dry firewood. That’s why we heartily recommend hiding some dry small branches under the tent canopy at night. You can wrap them in film. Finally, you should always have plexiglass or a regular stearine candle with you; they will light up in any weather and transfer their fire to the fire.

A fire is a person’s reliable friend only if it is handled skillfully and “respectfully”; it can become a predatory robber if treated carelessly and with disdain. A fire is potentially dangerous. It is advisable to choose a site for a fire in an open place, but protected from the wind, near water. By fanning the flame, the wind can set fire to grass, brushwood, and dry leaves. Fire spreads over dry grass very quickly. In such cases, there is no need to put it in A fire with a lot of firewood should limit the flame. It is better to make a fire in an old fireplace or on a trampled sandy area, without burning the grass and fertile soil layer. In suburban forests, it is very advisable to remove the turf at the site of the future fire in order to then put it in its original place. Dry leaves and grass, branches, and pine needles that can catch fire should be cleared away from the fireplace.

Do not light a fire under trees, especially dry ones. Fire can damage the roots of a tree and set fire to its lower dry branches. There is no need to make a fire in young coniferous plantings, in areas with dry reeds, reeds, moss or dry grass. The fire spreads along them at high speed. Fires in clearing areas are also dangerous, because the ignition of dried logging residues can lead to a fire. You should also not burn fires on peat bogs: even a thoroughly extinguished fire that is flooded with water can smolder unnoticed for a long time in the thickness of the peat and lead to a large fire in a few days. As a last resort, a fire is lit on a “cushion” of earth and sand, previously poured onto a peat bog.

For fires, use dry dead wood, dry tree branches, and dead wood in winter.

Excessively large fires are harmful and unnecessary. They waste a lot of firewood, you can’t cook food on them, and it’s difficult to dry things. A bonfire “to the skies” is also dangerous. With a gust of wind, dry trees standing to the side can catch fire, and “shooting” firebrands can set fire to grass and brushwood far from the fire. Such a fire easily gets out of control.

Near settlements and in populated areas, it is necessary to use only fuel that is not suitable for the needs of the local population - small dead wood, dry crooked forest, logging residues, old stumps. You can buy firewood in forest areas or take primus stoves and gas stoves with you. In taiga regions, far from villages, there is always enough brushwood, dead wood, and dead wood.

It is clear that damp and rotten firewood smokes a lot, and small brushwood quickly burns out. A large, hot fire is made primarily from dead wood of pine, spruce and cedar.

In the winter taiga, with deep snow, you can make a deck made of damp logs for a fire. It is better to place the platform on two transverse deadwood. If the snow depth is insignificant, you can clear the fire pit down to the ground.

In winter, in the forest, a place for a fire is chosen so that warm currents of air do not reach snow-covered branches. Otherwise, when the fire flares up, rain of snow melting on the branches will fall on it and on the standing people - kukhta.

In a suburban forest, a fire can be lit on a metal mesh stretched between the trees like a hammock. The mesh is rolled up and carried in a backpack.

In sparsely wooded areas, a fire requires economical use of firewood and especially careful handling of vegetation. In the steppe, fire pits are made of turf, in the mountains - from stones (Fig. 10).

Rice. 10. Hearth made of stones

The fire will burn better if the distance between the side walls of the fireplace on the windward side is wider than on the leeward side. The fuel is dry bushes, grass, dung, and reeds.

If the fire is started all night to warm the sleeping people, then a vigil is necessary. Otherwise, sleepers are threatened by sparks and coals falling on them and on their sleeping bags. The fire must be under constant control, even if it burns out.

When leaving the bivouac site, do not be lazy and be sure to light the fire, even if there are no more smoldering brands and coals left. This rule must be strictly observed. The main cause of large forest fires was and remains poorly extinguished fires.

Careful handling of fire - big or small - should become a habit for tourists.

Matches for lighting a fire must, of course, be dry. You can keep them dry even in wet clothes and equipment if they are sealed or sealed in plastic film. For simple hiking and winter hikes, boxes of matches can be carried in unsealed bags. You can try to dry damp matches. If the matches are wet, but not soggy, you can dry them in the sun and even in your own hair, putting them under your hat.

During water trips, matches are stored in waterproof packaging. Each tourist should have with him (in a rain jacket or a special bag) an emergency supply - a hermetically sealed box of matches, since the tourist and his things may end up in the water. Commonly used matches may not be completely sealed. However, a self-respecting tourist cannot allow his matches to become damp.

If the matches are still very wet or are completely lost, then you will have to make fire using flint, steel, tinder, a magnifying glass or other long-known “primitive” method. A hard rock can be used as flint; an ax butt, a piece of steel, or a knife can serve as flint. Fire is struck by sliding strikes of flint on flint, keeping it as close as possible to tinder - crushed dry leaves, dried moss, cotton wool, etc.

Making fire by friction is even more difficult, but if necessary it is still possible. To do this, a bow is made from a meter-long birch or hazel branch 2-3 cm thick and a piece of rope as a bowstring, a drill is made from a 25-30 cm pine stick as thick as a pencil, sharpened at one end; support - from a dry log of a hardwood tree (birch, oak, etc.), which is cleared of bark and a hole 1-1.5 cm deep is cut out with a knife. Wrapping the drill once with a bowstring, insert its sharp end into the hole around which the tinder is laid (Fig. 11)

Pressing the drill with your left hand through a spacer (made from tree bark, fabric, gloves, etc.), move the bow back and forth perpendicular to the drill. As soon as the tinder begins to smolder, it must be inflated and placed in the prepared kindling (cotton wool, rotten wood, wood fungus, etc.).

On a sunny day, fire can be made using a burning glass by focusing the sun's rays on cotton wool, a piece of paper, etc. Glass can be the lenses of a camera, binoculars, or glasses.

Rice. 11. Making fire: a) using a magnifying glass; b) by hitting a piece of metal on flint; c), d) friction.

It’s better to make a fire like this. First light the kindling - any flammable material (birch bark from fallen or rotten birch trees, paper, a dry racing splinter, a “cobweb” - thin dry twigs, plexiglass, a candle). Light the kindling from below, then it will all burn. The kindling will light up thin dry twigs, wood chips, and splinters that need to be laid out in a hut. Place twigs a little thicker on them, and then thicker ones (about the size of a finger). Gradually add thicker branches and firewood. There must be a gap between the twigs, splinters and firewood for air access so that the fire flares up well. If you put fuel very tightly into a fire that has not yet lit, the fire may go out. At first, all fuel must be dry, otherwise it will not burn: there is not enough heat yet to dry and ignite damp wood. Also, do not put too thick wood on the fire prematurely; it may not have time to ignite (also not enough heat), and the burning thinner branches will already burn out. Gradually increase the thickness of the wood and you will get the desired fire.

In summer, kindling can be laid directly on dry ground, and in winter - on a flooring of logs laid closely, preferably even damp ones. Do not start building a fire until you have at least enough fuel to start with, otherwise the fire will go out and you will have to start all over again. Once embers form in a fire, it will not go out easily. Gradually adding firewood, maintain the desired intensity of fire.

It is more difficult to make a fire in the rain. To do this, you need to carefully prepare, since a hastily built fire will easily go out. To make a fire in the rain, it is good to have artificial kindling: pieces of plexiglass, candles, dry alcohol tablets. You can use shavings for kindling, since even dry pine branches have a wet surface in the rain. The shavings will easily catch fire from the kindling. Split thicker branches: they are dry on the inside. Stretch an awning over the fire or simply ask someone to hold a piece of film on top until the fire flares up.

To begin with, build the fire into a hut, since this way the fuel is better protected from being moistened by rain. Place firewood that is not immediately put into the fire on the sides or in another hut so that it dries out and protects the fire from rain. Cover the rest of the harvested firewood with film or stack it under the protection of an awning or tree needles.

Some tourists, having gotten wet while trekking in the rain and hastily pitched their tents, huddle in them and don’t want to “go out in the rain” anymore, preferring not even to cook food, and lie gloomily in the tent. Don't be lazy to light a fire in the rain. This will immediately improve the mood of the team, provide an opportunity to prepare food, dry things, warm them up and have a normal rest.

There is no need to fell large trees unless absolutely necessary: ​​this is labor-intensive and dangerous work. Thick logs for a fire are needed only in winter. Fallen trees - dead wood - are almost always damp, and because there is snow on the fallen trunks, they get wet in the rain, they are often not illuminated by the sun and there is almost no wind blowing them. Therefore, dead wood does not burn well.

You need to fell the tree in the direction of its natural slope, see if it will hang on another tree when it falls. Do not try to fell a tree against a noticeable slope. It's difficult and unsafe. Make a cut on the side where the tree will fall, a third or a quarter of the diameter of the trunk. Then cut the tree on the opposite side above the first cut. The cuts made with an ax must be deep. It is easier to fell trees by making cuts using a two-handed or even one-handed saw instead of making cuts. Make a cut halfway through the trunk on the side where you plan to fell the tree. Make a cut at the top and select a wedge with an ax or saw. A second cut is needed on the opposite side, about five centimeters higher than the first. Before this, see if you can move back without hindrance when the tree falls. When the second cut approaches the first, you need to press on the tree, preferably with a pole, and knock it down. When a tree starts to fall, you have to be careful: it can bounce back, especially if it was felled with an axe. The tree, bending as it falls, breaks off chips, which can spring back and throw the trunk back to where the loggers stand. As soon as the second cut has begun, all people not engaged in cutting should move away to a distance greater than the height of the tree. In winter, fellers must take off their skis and make a path in the snow for a possible retreat if a tree decides to fall on them.

When cutting firewood, we use a log or log. No need to chop wood on the ground or rocks. It is not advisable to hold the log you are chopping with your foot, since your foot is close to the point of impact. It is better to cut logs, especially thick ones, with a saw. If you still press down on the log with your foot, place it not directly in front of you, but slightly to the side, and make a cut on the side of the log opposite to you.

Rice. 12. Types of fires: a) “hut”; b) “well”; c) “taiga”; d) “fireplace”: e) “Polynesian”; f) “star”; g) “gun”; h) “nodya”; i) lighting a fire with dry sticks - a “fire stick” and a hut for kindling.

Fires are sometimes divided into “smoke” (for signaling, repelling mosquitoes, horseflies, midges), “heat” (for cooking, drying things, heating people, especially if they spend the night near the fire), “flame” (for lighting the bivouac, cooking). There are even several basic types of fires according to their design (Fig. 12), but in their pure form any of the types of fires, in any of the classifications, is rarely used.

“The well” is a fire. Two logs are placed on the coals in parallel at some distance from each other, two more are placed across them, etc. The fire has good air access to the fire; the logs usually burn evenly along their entire length. Burning slowly, they form a lot of coals, giving a high temperature. This fire is convenient both for cooking and for heating and drying clothes.

“Hut” or “cone”. The logs are stacked or even installed at an angle to the center. At the same time, they partially rely on each other. In the upper part the flame turns out to be concentrated and hot. This fire is convenient for lighting the camp site and cooking with a small number of boilers. For such a fire you can use dead wood, brushwood, and other thin firewood. The fire produces a high flame, but has a narrow heating zone, produces few coals and needs constant replenishment of fuel.

"Star". Logs (5-8 pieces) are placed on the coals on several sides along radii from the center. Combustion occurs more in the center. As they burn, the logs are moved.

The so-called “taiga” fires have several varieties. For example, a row of long logs (2 or 3) is placed on the same row along or at a certain angle. The fire burns over the coals and when crossing rows.

You can lay three logs close or almost close to each other. The fire will burn along its entire length, especially where the logs touch. Another variation of such a fire: thick logs are placed among the coals. The rest of the logs are placed on them with one end, and a pile of coals appears under them.

A wide fire front allows you to cook food for a large group on such a fire, dry things and spend the night nearby without a tent. This is a long-lasting fire; it does not require frequent addition of firewood.

“Nodya.” For such a fire, logs of the same length and thickness are prepared, preferably spruce, pine, cedar. Two logs are placed side by side on the ground, good kindling or, better yet, coals from another fire are placed in the gap, then a third log is placed on them.

Kindling can also be placed between two logs lying on top of each other, for which you need to make a cut on the lower one and hammer four stakes along the edges to hold the upper log. Nodya flares up gradually and burns with an even hot flame for several hours. You can regulate the heat of the fire by slightly moving apart and moving the logs, or, if the log lies on a log, by moving the third log - the air regulator.

We can also recommend such types of fires as “fireplace”, “Polynesian”, “cannon”. If there is not enough firewood, you can build a fireplace from stones or damp logs: you can quickly cook food on it.

The listed types and types of fires are, so to speak, basic designs, which, as already mentioned, are rarely used in their pure form. Only at first the fire may look like a hut or a well, and then the logs are laid in various combinations. “Shalashik” and “well”, “taiga” can be used for making fires by inserting small twigs and splinters in these ways.

As each tourist gains experience, he develops his own favorite type of fire and his own way of working with it. The general principle of starting a fire and maintaining it in various modes is to regulate the quantity and quality of fuel and the size of the gaps between logs or logs. Depending on the size of these gaps in the combination of dry, not very dry and damp logs and their sizes, you may get more or less flame. By moving a few logs around in the fire, you can get more light, increase or decrease the flame, and achieve faster or slower burning.

Cooking fires are usually made from brushwood and logs with a diameter of up to 10 cm. In winter, in the snow, a fire must be built on a lining of damp dead wood. If the snow is shallow, up to 30-40 cm, then it is better to clear the area from snow to the ground.