Outdoor Training: Fire

in Home Edders3 years ago

Hi fellow Edders,

Today I have a bit of a shorter post but still one I find incredibly important, particularly of late! Survival skills.

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Boy vs. Wild

I’m not any kind of army ranger or anything but I would like to think that I have some basic skills that would be important in the event of being in a survival situation. I can’t make a fire through sticks only and friction but I’ve accumulated some tools over time that are important to have around in the house or car in the event that you need to do some basic things like start a fire.

I want to pass on as much of these types of things as I can to our son because I want him to be more of a wilderness person than I was when I was younger. I was good in that we lived next to a massive wooded reservation so I was able to get out there and would do so often just to hike around. I would mainly hike though, I didn’t spend much time identifying plants and that type of stuff, which I’m trying to learn now with him. One of the most important things to do when you are outside though is be able to keep yourself warm. Making a fire is crucial to staying alive if you happen to be stuck in a situation. It’s also important to know how to properly respect a fire. Fires are great and cool to look at but that needs to be respected with a big helping of it. Fire is very destructive if you let it get out of hand.

We spent some time learning how you build a basic fire. We have a little outdoor fireplace in the complex we live in so that’s been nice to have. I am pretty sure the 3 times we’ve lit it over the past few years have been the only times people have lit it lol. No one likes to use it except is. That’s okay to me! I love fire pits.

The building process is easier since we have a little steel grate so we can put stuff below and on it to give it good air flow so that’s good for his first experiences. We had a bunch of paper to help us keep it going but I made sure to have him gather leaves with me so we can use leaves as a big portion of the fire since you will find leaves outside but not really paper.

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The other things that were nice to show him was when he was feeling cold we built the fire up bigger and I held him and we got closer to the fire than normal. Safe for sure but closer. He felt how much heat a nice big fire gives off and was warming his hands. When the fire died down though I showed him that the coals that were nice and orange would give him some great warmth so try to put your hands closer to those.

He had an all-in-all great time with the fire. I was always stressing how important it was we make it safely and we don’t walk away until the fire was finished and it was just coals burning. You never want to leave a fire burning outside of a specific fire pit like this since it could spread and burn things down. He did suggest we go to the pond next to it and get some water to put it out but I kindly declined for many sanitary reasons lol. We let it go down to coals and went back home.

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The first thing he said when he walked in the door to see my wife was how much fun it was learning about fires and how to make one. She could smell the smoke on us as soon as we walked in lol that’s okay, it’s a wonderful thing to teach kids. The more we respect fire the better off we are I think.

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Hey mate, you don't need to be ex-military to have (need) survival skills and I think it's so important that you're opening little E up to how to work with his hands, how to create for himself. We've spoken about this before and you involve him in a lot of DIY stuff but to add in some survival skills, the appreciation for preparedness and the ability to take care of some of the most basic things...Well, it's just smart and will probably either lead him further down that path or identify that he hates it. Either way is fine. (Methinks he'll love it).

I have so many skills, survival, outdoors, navigation, hunting, trapping, shooting etc. but no little person to teach them too so most will die with me...But you have the ability to help that little dude shape himself into a confident adult with skills so well done.

Having the skills I have brings me a lot of confidence and self-reliance can only be a good thing right? Keep it up.

P.s. If you haven't checked out @paradoxtma you should do so. Some good shit bro.

Hahaha I love that you threw in there the real option of him hating it! That's definitely a possibility but I'm hoping not. He's enjoyed it a lot thus far so let's hope it continues!

We took a little walk tonight because the weather was a balmy 40 degrees Fahrenheit so any time it’s near 40 I try and take him out. He insisted we collect more sticks for the next time we make a fire. I told him since it rained we have to wait several days but we will definitely be there making a fire once it’s all dry!

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I hear you man, everyone’s situation is different but I’m hoping you can pass on these things to your brothers kids that live there in Australia with you. It gives you someone to pass it on to thankfully, even if they aren’t thrilled about it in the beginning they might look back on it quite fondly later in life.

I don’t have much survival knowledge as far as edibles and that type of stuff but I think I have a pretty good sense of direction, terrain and those types of things. It’s been fun for me to spend time learning more of this stuff because I want the little man to be my partner in all these adventures. I want the wife with us as well of course but she might opt out of the all day hikes and stuff lol. She doesn’t eat any meat either so any hunting rewards will be split between us guys!

I get the feeling E will enjoy the outdoorsy stuff, at least until he discovers girls, and even then if the love for it is there it will stick with him. What he doesn't know is that the memories he is creating now, with you, will stick with him for life.

Faith's dad died when she was 11 (he was 33) and she still recalls those times he taught her to ski (water), or fish or put the boat on the trailer and stuff like that...They are an 11 year olds memories but cherished just the same. One never knows when a memory may be the last we can ever create.

You should look into land navigation, you know, topographic map and compass. It's enjoyable and brings a person a lot of confidence when in the wilderness. It doesn't have to be complicated and can be a teach yourself thing. Whether you do or not though, what you are doing is good for E.

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Hey @cmplxty, you mentioned to do a shorter post? 😉 Well, great! We always love to do a fire! This year our son discovered matches as a favorite play and becoming a teen he can have lots of it from the groceries. Fun! At the right places. 😊

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