Survival Fires

    If I had to pick a topic that is essential when considering  survival  in adverse conditions, I'd lean toward staying warm, or possibly cold if the environment proved necessary. For the sake of argument, lets say not, and go with stating warm. Since I come from the Adirondacks, I'm more inclined to share my knowledge in this forum anyway. The triangle we need to fill in for this topic includes, fuel, oxygen, and an ignition source.      Lets start simple, with ignition. This is the twentieth century... you don't need to smoke to carry a lighter, its that simple. Could you keep a flint bar or something similar in your truck, sure, but why not more lighters...
   Next we need air.... luckily the planet is full of it, so lets take the simple step to ensure some fresh air is flowing to the material we intend to  incinerate.
   Here is where it gets a little tricky for many of us... something to burn. We need to consider more than just enough material to get a fire going. The real consideration beyond initially finding some kindling is finding enough stuff to keep the fire burning for the duration of your emergency. In our neck of the woods, the best place to find some nice dry stuff, is up under a local balsam tree, where many dry, dead branches accumulate. The same can be said for man made products. Dry woods and other burnables can often be found under something else. Be creative.... check under porches or old buildings. Plywood products can be busted up pretty easy, and ignite well. Old furniture and other old wood products can be very dry and useful...
     The smart move here, when possible, is prepare all your materials for use prior to beginning... shave yourself a bunch of dry kindling to begin with. About the size if a softball is plenty as a rule. Next bust up some bigger kindling in 1/2 to 1 inch diameters. Use this to make yourself either a small teepee from the kindling or a square tower by crossing up kindling in pairs, about 4 inches apart.. More material of a larger diameter can be added once a fire has been started. Using either method, place your shavings inside the base of your small kindling, and put the lighter to it. You can blow gently on the base of the fire, to help it build up heat and flame.
    Protect it, it can mean you live or don't. Keep it going, and keep a good supply of burnables on hand. Larger chunks of wood will go a long way toward keeping your fire burning for longer periods.
    Hope it helps, and maybe some day it will be a real benefit to you or someone that needs it.