Camp Fire Class 101

By DUANE NOLLEN
The Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA June 27, 2008 10:28 am

— If you’re camping and need to make a fire, but you forgot to pack some matches, you can make a fire with some flint, a piece of steel and some old cloth.
Mahaska County Conservation Board Naturalist Pete Eyheralde gave a fire-making demonstration to a group of area day camp students Thursday morning at Russell Wildlife Area. There were about 24 children from Eddyville Day Camp and Kids Corner on hand to watch the demonstration.
Eddyville Day Camp teacher Dee Dee Lehigh said her students were studying the Great Doors and were learning about camping. She said Eyheralde agreed to conduct a class on making a camp fire.
“He always does something daring,” Lehigh said as Eyheralde lit a small fire in the garage area of the Wildlife Center.
“We’re talking about fire making without matches,” Eyheralde said. There are a couple methods to do that — with a bow and drill, or with flint and steel.
Eyheralde said you can wrap a piece of char cloth around a piece of flint rock, and then strike it with a steel object and you can get the cloth to spark and smolder. Then, you place the cloth on the kindling you want to burn and then you gently blow to get a flame to ignite.
Eyheralde explained how to make char cloth. He said you can cut an old T-shirt into small strips and place in a tin cookie can. You then poke a small hole in the lid of the can, place the strips inside, seal it up and place the can next to a camp fire. The cloth will smolder, but not ignite, due to lack of oxygen. You then plug the hole and take the can away from the fire to cool.
Eyheralde ignited several small fires on the concrete floor of the wildlife center garage. He then ignited some gunpowder with his flint, char cloth and steel.
Lehigh said she wanted to give the day camp kids an experience they wouldn’t get otherwise with the Thursday field trip.
“We’re out here all day — weather permitting,” Lehigh said.
Eyheralde said that the kids will do some hiking, go fishing and do some tracking.
Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.