I teach that there are 5 ways to make fire, the categories are: friction, percussion, electrical, chemical, and optical. I usually have a bin full of these firecraft materials on hand for classes but for simple outings I keep these materials to a minimum so I have assembled a small kit in each category to use for spur-of-the-moment demonstrations.

Fire kits can vary based on your interest or needs, each one custom assembled for your purpose, perhaps for fire demonstrations, home emergency kits, Bug-Out-Bags, or car kits. Kit containers can vary from cloth or leather pouches, boxes, or zippered glasses cases to mention a few. Some kits may be historic in nature or just modern-day practical.

Small zip-lock plastic bags can be helpful for tinder containment and to guard against moisture. For kits that I use in remote areas when camping I use tools that incorporate blaze orange so that if dropped they will be easy to find. I also employ redundancy if some tools fail or are lost.

The advantage of kits is to have your tools and associated elements assembled in one place so it is convenient to use and can be strategic in cases of emergency. I would love to see comments on your fire kits.

I arrived early to set up my equipment and in the process discovered some edibles on the grounds… some large puffball mushrooms and some garlic mustard plants. I was able to put these on display for the students to see later. I usually use a trash can lid inverted and placed on three rocks in which I build a campfire for the day. I can use this for multiple activities such as how to build a fire lay, how to suspend a can-turned-pot with which to boil water, and it adds a great atmosphere of campfire smoke aroma that spreads throughout the grounds.

There is a bamboo grove at the edge of the grounds which in the past has provided me with materials to make a bamboo pot that I had boiled bamboo shoots to eat in an earlier season. I was able to show the pot to the class and described how it was made and how water can be boiled in a wooden vessel in order to cook food.

I had various items spread out on a table to stimulate questions and give some hands-on learning opportunities. It was a pleasure to see inquisitive minds in action and with the help of the teachers we had an orderly and productive time. This was truly a brief but meaningful opportunity to impart knowledge of heritage and survival skills that may capture the thoughts of these students and may be a springboard to their pursuits of these important skills.

Some of the activities included blacksmithing, buggy rides, chicken processing, fire by friction, knife sharpening, spoon carving, salt making, shingle riving, all of which comprised only a fraction of the educational classes offered.

As usual, I provided demonstrations of primitive and survival skills. Many of these demos centered around the use of available resources that can turn typical “trash” into survival tools. I turned a coffee can into a suspended cooking pot, a soda bottle cap into a whistle, a soda can into a hobo fishing rig, a broken headlight into a fire starter, a hacksaw blade into a flint & steel striker, and bottle bottoms into a cutting blade and an arrowhead. I also demonstrated the traditional bow & spindle fire by friction method and shadow-stick directional navigation.

Turtle Island Preserve is a great environment to experience heritage skills and self-sustainable living skills. You can learn more about TIP at their website and keep up with their activities on their FaceBook page.

The event was “sold out” with 400 tickets sold. There were numerous volunteers in attendance as well. I was surprised at the slower pace of previous years and I suspect that next FLT event will increase the number of tickets available as there is a greater capacity for Public participation.

I was able to demonstrate and teach flint and steel firecraft, optical firecraft, hobo fishing with a tin can, alcohol burner construction with a aluminum can, outdoor cooking methods and more. As usual, I enjoyed learning from others their experiences and techniques in these endeavors.

TIP is already discussing the prospect of scheduling another event for this Fall. You can keep up with their activities at http://www.turtleislandpreserve.com. I might see you there!

During the Open House events, it’s fun to hear the rumble of the horse drawn carriage throughout the day, loaded with visitors and driven by Eustace Conway throughout the grounds. Eustace was recently featured on the History Channel program “Mountain Men” and thus has drawn quite a bit of attention. Although television tends to exaggerate events to increase viewership ratings, my experiences have been delightful, and I hope that the television series will help to increase awareness of Turtle Island Preserve’s purpose and offerings to the public. You can visit their website at http://turtleislandpreserve.org for more information.