You must have the ability to make a fire in any weather, terrain or physical condition. No matter where you are, or what your situation, you must be able to start a fast and efficient fire. Practice your skills before you need to rely on them, experiment with different methods of fire starting, and become comfortable with your ability to do it in a panic situation.

The area that you choose to build your fire should be cleaned down to a hard mineral surface, away from overhanging branches, constructed to take advantage of the wind direction, and if possible, in a somewhat open area for better sight visibility. Where and when possible, you should attempt to build a "fire-pit" outlining the edges with rocks. Choose your rocks carefully, making sure none of them have a high moisture content. Rocks do absorb water and in the intense heat of a fire they may explode, sending shards flying like shrapnel. When constructing a "fire-pit", elevate the back rocks to the point where they are higher than the front. This allows heat to be radiated into your shelter or toward you rather than being lost into the air. At night, bank your fire inward towards your shelter, place your SPACE ALL WEATHER BLANKET on the back wall of the shelter to reflect back the heat towards you. Sit between the fire and the SPACE BLANKET to capture heat on both sides of your body.

Wooden matches burn longer than paper matches, are less susceptible to moisture and are easier to use. You should waterproof your matches by dipping both ends of the match in melted paraffin, making sure the match is completely covered. Make sure that before you strike the match that you scrape away the wax from the head. If you don't, the wax may pull away the white striking tip. You should have plenty of matches with you at all times stored in a waterproof match safe. Practice various ways to start a fire - before you really need to rely on it for survival.

BACK UP FIRE STARTING

You should always have with you a minimum of one back up fire starting system as a safety valve to your matches. Butane lighters do not always function well in wet or cold temperatures, and you can not readily see the fuel supply. If you have a butane lighter make sure it is one you can see the fuel level. If you have to use it in cold temperatures warm it up first by placing it under your arm. Be extremely careful as I know of one person who was leaning over his fire and the butane lighter fell from his pocket into the fire and exploded, causing severe burns. Do not rely totally on a disposable lighter for your back up system of fire starting. Here is a few tested back up systems you may wish to assemble for yourself and for other members of your family and friends:

Place 6 wooden strike anywhere or waterproof matches, a piece of emery cloth or sandpaper (for striking in wet weather), some shavings of dry lumber or some cotton wool or lint from your home dryer, for tinder. Wrap this flat in plastic wrap to keep out moisture. Then take your SPACE EMERGENCY BLANKET out of the poly package, unfold only a few wraps halfway down the blanket, place your "back up fire" pack inside the blanket and re-fold the blanket. Place the blanket pack into its bag, and place in a zip poly bag or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil (cooking pot) to keep out moisture. When you need to use your EMERGENCY BLANKET, you will also have the ability to start a fire. You get two types of personal survival protection in one lightweight and compact package.

There are also many other products available on the market, some are easy to use, others require some mastery. Some of the easy to use systems to start a fire are the SPARK LITE, an ingenious little device made by Four Seasons Survival in State College, PA. I recommend this flint wheel stick and starter tab product highly, it is compact, easy to use and very reliable. Others are the MAGNESIUM MATCH, and the METAL MATCH, just be sure you practice with these before you need to use them, they take some mastering to use efficiently. There are also various commercial products consisting of sawdust, wood shavings and wax mixtures that allow easy use as quick ignitable tinder.

One thing you can do is take a 35mm film canister, pack it tightly with lint or sawdust and add a little kerosene or lighter fluid then seal the cover on tightly with duct tape. When you need it place the contents under your small gathered wood tinder and carefully light it. Be careful it will flash and will burn quickly so have your tinder in place.

My favorite is still two small zip lock poly bags. In one of the bags I place six or eight weatherproof or wax coated strike anywhere wooden matches, dryer lint and small wood shavings. I invert the one bag into the second bag to get two positive seals and keep this in my jacket pocket at all times, strictly as emergency backup.

No matter what you decide to use as a "back up system", practice makes perfect - try them out at home bred you really need to rely on them in the Outdoors.

One other "safety tip" is to always carry a small candle in your survival kit - light the candle with your match and use the candle to light your fire - One Match - One Fire. Place the candle in a cup or shield it from the wind after lighting.

Also, making two or three smaller spaced fires creates more area heat than one large fire and three fires in a triangular layout is a recognized distress signal.