Nick and Kevin's Sure Fire Campfire

Have you ever gone camping and dreaded building a campfire because you know it will just smolder and go out, even if you used your favorite accelerant? Or, worse yet, have you been in the wilderness and needed to build a fire to stay warm, but all the wood was wet? There are many books on survival that tell how to make a fire without matches, so I won't go into that. I will assume you will be prepared and have matches or a lighter. I will also assume there will be fuel for a fire nearby, although it might be damp, or even wet.

Nick and Kevins are college kids who grew up together and spent a lot of time in the woods. Nick learned how to build a fire from his dad (me), and then experimented, along with Kevin, with building the best, most sure fire campfire they could make. This post is to share their nowledge, which could save you embarassment at the campground, or even save your life if are stranded in the wilderness.

The first thing you will need to do is gather fuel. If it has been raining, standing dead trees and shrubs are usually drier than downed wood. Some of the best fire starter is birch bark. Birch trees have trunks that look like they are wrapped with white or yellow paper. Don't peel the bark from live trees (except maybe in a real emergency). If there are live birch trees around, there are most likely dead ones to harvest the bark from. Birch bark is rich in resin, which burns almost like gasoline. Even if the outer layer is wet, the inner layers would probably be dry. Gather several handsfull of birch bark and store it in a dry place. Large sheets of birch bark can be used as a covering to keep rain off your fuel.

If birch bark is not available, dry pine needles work almost as well as a fire starter, but you will need a few more handsfull. Cattail fluff or the inner bark of many dead trees will also work in a pinch.

Next, gather very small dead twigs, again several large handsfull. Place them in a dry area. Then gather an arm load of small dead branches, about as big around as fingers. Then gather several arm loads of larger sticks, up to wrist size. Finally, gather a good pile of logs. You want to make sure you have enough fuel so the fire doesn't go out when you leave to gather more. Again, keep everything as dry as you can, especially if it is raining or snowing.

To build the fire, make a base of sticks or logs close together and sheltered from the wind to build the fire on.



Then break some of the finger size branches into about 20 sticks the length of your hand. Make a log cabin about 4 inches square and 3 rows high on the base of sticks.

Next, take some of the birch bark and shred it into small strips, and peel the strips so they are only one or two layers thick. Fill the middle of the cabin with the shredded bark.

Then break up some of the smallest twigs about finger length and mix them in with the birch bark. Make a loose layer of these twigs on top of the bark.

Next, add more layers to the log cabin, about 5 layers high. Break up larger sticks and loosely fill the top of the log cabin.

Make a platform on top of the cabin with two layers of sticks.

Build a teepee of larger sticks around the cabin, leaving enough space to reach inside with a match.

We had been camping and it rained all night. We gathered fuel for the campfire the next morning. All the wood, including the sticks and birch bark, were wet or damp. The three bottom photos show lighting the wet campfire without using gasoline, lighter fluid, or any other accelerant. It was lit with one match. The time from lighting the match to the third photo was about two minutes. At this point you can start adding larger logs.

Unusual Home Workshop Tools

I have collected some unusual tools in my home workshop. Of course I have many of the usual saws, planes, hammers, wrenches, and other hand tools, electric drills, sanders, table saws, and other power tools that are in many home shops. There is the ever present duct tape, WD40, sand paper, oil cans, and grease guns. I have also found that I have accumulated some other items that are indispensable at times. Here is a partial list of some of the more unusual items in my shop:

Toothbrush. It is great for cleaning things that are hard to reach into with fingers.

Stethoscope. When you have a piece of machinery or a car engine making that strange noise, and you can't seem to locate the source, place the receiving end of the stethoscope on the bearing, cover, etc., where it may be originating and soon you will locate its source.

Lipstick. Yes lipstick. Don't take a new tube of lipstick that your wife just purchased, but there should be a few old sticks that she may be willing to part with. Usually the darker the better, although for a few applications, a light color may work best. Work for what? Tool and die makers often have this stuff in their tool boxes called toolmakers bluing. It is a dark blue past that they spread thinly onto the surface of one part. Then they place a mating part onto or into the first part. Any high spots show up where the bluing transfers and can be removed or smoothed out. In the same way, lipstick works great when fitting pieces of wood or metal together to see what is interfering and which areas need to be chiseled or sanded down. Apply the lipstick only to one part and try fitting them together. The lipstick will transfer at the high spots, which can then be removed. When the transfer is even across the entire surface, you have a good fit.

Never Seize. This is silver stuff that comes in a gray bottle. Spread some on the threads of a bolt or metal shaft before putting it together and the metal doesn't seize up or rust together. It's great for exhaust systems, automotive bolts, and anything else that may have to come apart in the future.

Coat Hangers. This stiff wire comes in handy for many things, not the least of which is hanging up your shop coat. It can be used to hold parts together while working on them or reaching inside something to clean it. A few should be kept in the car for emergency repairs on the road.

Wires of Different Sizes. Sometimes finer wires are needed to reach into smaller areas or hold small pieces pieces together temporarily or permanently. They can be used at times to take the place of small screws.

PB Blaster. It is the best stuff I have found for loosening rusted bolts. Often times it takes only one application. On really rusted bolts, it may take several applications over a few days. Of course, you can always use Coca Cola in a pinch. Apply it to the rusted bolt and let it sit a couple of hours. Repeat a few times as needed.

Clothes Pins. The spring operated wooden clothes pins often make great little clamps for holding small or thin items while gluing. If you separate the clothes pin halves, you can glue sandpaper to the flat surfaces to make little sanding blocks that reach into smaller spaces.

Magnifying Glass. Maybe not everyone will need one, but as I get older the more I find some magnification comes in handy.

Tackle Box Trays and Grease Pencils. Fishing tackle box trays with covers, the ones that are clear or translucent and come out of the tackle box work best. If they have movable compartments, that is even better. When working on a project that requires disassembly of lots of small parts, place the parts in the compartments of the tray. Label each compartment with the contents using the grease pencil. (Dry erase markers also work, but sometimes they wipe off too easily.) This way you won't have a pile of very similar looking little screws that are nearly interchangeable. One compartment will say something like, "Top Carbuerator Screws," or "Intake Manifold Bolts." It will make it easier to put things together where they belong the first time.

Digital Camera. This you may not want to actually keep in your toolbox, but with the price of some lower cost digital cameras these days, it may not be a bad idea. When you open the hood on the car, or before you start ripping apart the rototiller, take a digital picture of what you will be working on. Heck, take a couple. With the price of digital film being so low, it doesn't hurt to take a bunch. Then as you start removing layer upon layer of screws, hoses, wires, and other components, keep taking more pictures. When you are putting it back together again and you can't remember if the bracket goes on with the flange in or out, take a look at the pictures in your camera. Assuming it was correct before you took it apart, you will know how it fits. You could always print out a few pictures for reference while you are working if you don't want to fumble with the camera with your greasy hands.

As I think of more unusual tools and other items for the workshop, I will add them to this list. Anyone else that has any additions, please feel free to add them with your comments.

Vinyl Repair

When I was a kid, we had vinyl pools and blow-up toys (no, not life-size dolls!) that inevitably got small holes and began to leak. I remember my dad patching these holes with patch kits that consisted of a clear plastic patch and a tube of some kind of cement. He would cut the patch to fit, smear on some cement and apply it over the hole. Sometimes the patch would hold for a few weeks, sometimes longer, or it might start to peel almost immediately. I always thought there must be something that works better.

I found it about 13 years ago when I bought a vinyl inflatable kayak at an auction. I saw that it had some big holes in it, like a lawn dart had gone through about 6 layers of it when it was folded up. I bought it really cheap, then looked for something to patch it with. At the local hardware store, I found some stuff that came in a tube called VLP, Vinyl Liquid Patch. It claimed to be stronger than the original material. I followed the instructions (yes, sometimes even guys do that!) and patched the holes. Even today, 13 years later, those original holes remain securely patched, never peeling or breaking open. The attached picture show my daughter and her friend in this same kayak. While a few other small holes appeared over the years, they were also patched with the same VLP patching material. In each case, it worked beautifully. I have since used VLP to fix holes our cats put in the waterbed liner, tears in shower curtains, holes in our pop-up camper windows, etc. I can say it really works wonders, certainly much better that those old patch kits, which are still being sold.

Popup Camper Lift Emergency Repair

What do you do when you start cranking up your pop-up camper out in the woods, or at the camp site, and the lift cable breaks? Go home and skip camping? That almost happened to us, but it broke two days before leaving on our camping vacation last year (2008). I couldn't find any local place that sold lift cables. I located one online, but it wouldn't arrive in time to go camping in two days. After a few tries, I came up with this temporary "lift kit" to raise the top of the camper.













First, I cut 2" X 2" wood pieces in various lengths: 2 @ 4" long, 2 @ 8" long, 2 @ 12" long, 2 @ 16" long, 2 @ 20" long, 2 @ 24" long, 2 @ 28 " long, 2 @ 32 " long, 2 @ 36" long, and 2 @ 40" long. Unlatch the four corners, then raise one corner and place the 4" block in the corner to hold it up. (If you can't raise the corners by yourself, get someone to help, or even use a jack and a long board or stick to jack it up.) Then go to the corner on the same side or end (not opposite corners) and raise that one 4" and block it. Then go to one of the corners on the opposite side and raise it 8" and block it. Do the other corner on the same side and raise it 8" and block it. Go back to the first side and raise it to 12". and continue to raise the top 4" at a time, first on one side, then the other, until the top is fully extended.

Since I was at home when the cable broke, I was able to use a table saw and 2 X 2 boards. If you are at a camp site, you may be able to drive to a local lumber company and have them cut boards for you. Otherwise, you may be able to cut heavy sticks using a camp saw. (You do have a camp saw, don't you? An axe woudn't work nearly as well.)

When you get back home, you should replace the cable with one made for your camper. In case there is no local source for the lift cable, the source I found on line is RV Workshop at http://www.rvworkshop.com where they list cables for many brands of pop-up campers. They even have instructions for changing many types of lift cables. My camper uses the Goshen lift system. This is the link to repair the Goshen system: http://www.rvworkshop.com/Goshen_Change.pdf

I don't know how useful it will be to post this blog, since most people who need an emergency repair for their lift cable will not be near a computer at the time. Although I do have some friends that get onto Facebook when they are camping (right Tammy?) but I think that is the exception. Just maybe someone with a pop-up camper will see this before they need it, then make a copy of it and stash it in their camper for future reference (way too organized for me), or just remember the concept and save a camping trip some day.