8 fire

FIRE          
            Man's greatest discovery is something you'll have to rediscover all on your own to keep warm when you're out it the woods.

           Fire has many uses which will aid in survival.

It supplies warmth, cooks, sterilizes water, the smoke creates rescue signals, warms and dries clothes and other materials, and can overall help supply hope and comfort when you’re bare in the woods.

            If you’re without matches, it’s going to be difficult to start a fire, let alone keeping it continuous. Here are some methods to start a fire without matches.

            Maybe you've read Lord of the flies lately, and know of the Lens method. This method uses a lens to enhance and focus the sun on a specific spot. This heat on the item causes it to burn, leading to your fire

What you'll need-Lens
(Glasses, magnifying glass, binoculars, camera lens)
-Sun

(Crucial to this procedure. Don't bank of fire from this method on an overcast day)
-Kindling
(Leaves and other forest debris like bark and twigs which will catch on fire easily)
-Tinder
(Thicker sticks and think logs which take more time for the fire to chew through)

            1)Create a nest of leaves and debris.

This bundle of sticks, twigs, dry leaves, bark, and other dry forest material will be the kindling, which initial easily flammable material which your lens will be focused on to ignite. Material MUST be dry. Do not put anything damp in your nest. You do not want your spark being smothered.

2)Set up tinder
       To keep the fire burning, you’ll need tinder (thicker sticks which will take longer to burn) around the perimeter of your fire. Grab thicker sticks, and place them around your fire in a tee-pee shape. Balance them so one end of your sticks are on the ground, and the other ends are reaching upward and balancing on each other. 
***Make sure to keep space between the sticks! Oxygen needs to stay at the fire to keep it going. Have a few gaps between sticks do you can also reach at the kindling!

3)Harness your lens for fire

-Find the space where tinder is openly available from kindling
-Hold lens approximately 30 cm from tinder.
-A concentrated light will come from the lens if you angle it correctly; maneuver this spot to focus on your tinder.
-Hold till in ignites. Keep oxygen flowing through by blowing the fire regularly.

This should start a fire in no time!

If you do not have a lens, you’ll have to go basic. Rubbing sticks together, basic.

The Fire plough is a long, but useful method when all you have is wood..

What you’ll need
-Soft log, cut in half so one side is open to the inside.
-Sturdy stick
-Kindling
-Tinder

               1)      Follow steps one and two of the lens method.
               You’ll need kindling to start your fire, and tinder to keep it going for all methods

               2)  Position the soft log, rest your knees on the one end to keep a sturdy hold.

               3) Cut a small thin line in the long, inner side of the log, going with the grain.
               If you don't have a knife, try to use a sharp rock.

               4) Place a small piece of kindling at the very end of your log

              The best (most flammable piece you have)

               5)Place the end bottom end of the stick into the groove in the wood.

              6) Quickly push the end back and forth down the thin line in the wood.
              The temperature will rise, and the heated wood particles will fall onto the kindling and ignite it


This may take a little longer. Make sure log and stick are dry!

Sources:
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-start-a-fire2.htm
http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/survival/fire/2006/10/seven-ways-light-fire-without-match?photo=1#node-1000014415