Survival Skills: Three Ways to Keep the Fire Going
September 17, 2012; 12:38 PM
FieldandStream.com
Getting airflow into a smoldering fire is key to a meat-cooking, firelight-cheering, lifesaving blaze. The problem: Sticking your face into the flames invites smoke-filled lungs and a disturbing lack of eyebrows, and still doesn't deliver the right kind of breeze. Here are three ways to turn a sputtering pile of half-burned sticks into Dante's inferno.
Photo by Nathaniel Welch
Paper Plate
It cools off little old ladies at church dinners, and it'll get your fire going in a pinch. Grab a paper plate and start fanning. Make sure to get on ground level so the breeze doesn't create a mushroom cloud of ash, and keep it up at medium speed.
Air-Mattress Pump
You won't believe this trick until you see it. Hose down a meager coal with air from a battery-powered pump like those used to inflate air mattresses. Just remember to go easy-too much of a breeze will stifle a fire, not supercharge it.
Surgical Tubing Attach
3 feet of surgical tubing to a 5-inch length of copper tubing for a precision instrument that can turn a puff into a fire blast. Place the copper tube near the cinders, and blow gently for as long as you can. Just be careful not to inhale through the tube.