Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

BIVOUACS 33leady to light, the kindh'ng being stood up on endagainst the larger sticks in a half-cone shape, withopening at the bottom, in front, for tinder. Thislast may be very dry shredded bark, fine slivers offat pine, or any dry splinters, pounded between tworocks until the fibers separate. In a rain you canget dry stuff from the inside of a hollow tree.Worry the bullet out of the cartridge; sprinklemost of the powder (smokeless, I assume) on thetinder, leaving only a few grains in the shell. Thentear a bit of dry cotton cloth (lining from yourclothing, for instance) with fluffy edges, and withthis loosely fill the nearly emptied cartridge. Putit in your gun, and fire straight up into the air.The cloth will drop close to you, and either will beaflame or, at least, burning so that you can blow itinto a blaze. Drop this quickly on your tinder, andthe trick is done. Remember, you want onlyenough pov/der in the cartridge to blow the bit ofrag a few feet into the air. Very little will do.Sparks may be struck from flint, quartz, or pyrites,by striking a glancing blow with the back of a knifeor other piece of hard steel. The chief difl^culty isto catch the sparks. Hold the flint between thumband finger of left hand, and some tinder in thehollow of the same hand. Tinder for this purposeis made by tearing (not cutting) cotton cloth intoa long, narrow strip, and rolling it up like a rollerbandage, but a bit spirally, so that the fluffy edgewill overlay a littleat each revolution, thus forminga nest of lint at one end of the roll, into which thesparks are to be struck. As soon as it catches, blowitinto a flame.The lens of a field-glass, or the outer lens of acamera, may do service as a burning glass; but it isanother of the little ironies that the sun probablyisn't shining when you get lost.As for the fire-drill so dramatically exploited bypopular lecturers, who make fire with sticks in lessthan a minute, it is all right provided you have the