Thank you so much for explaining in this detail. Knowing the direction of heat and how it'll spread helps in making better decisions depending on need. Sincerely appreciate this from you!
Thank you so much for the kind words!! If you wanted to see the Full in depth video - its a really cool one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
if you’re out camping in like an area that holds moisture, teepee is absolutely the way to go because of how good it works with even with wet wood (i’ve been able to do bow drill fires with just grass fluff, soaked wood, and a bit of pine resin to give the tinder more time to catch). but i do have to admit that if you have like a wood shed or dry wood that the top down fire will burn long and hot, that being because it basically converts the wood to charcoal.
Thanks for sharing some valuable info on here and adding a good discussion point!! You’ll probs get a kick out of the full vid too : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
@@TheBearEssentials absolutely! thanks for responding. top down fire is also really great for making a lot of charcoal in a pinch, just make one in a pit with an air hole and then cover up both holes so the fire goes out
When i was a boyscout, we would build a small teepee in the middle, and place some firewood around it so we could convert it to a cabin type fire when the heat had dried our wood abit
I live in a swamp and don’t have a building or cover yet for my firewood so I tarp it on pallets but the ground always holds moisture so the wood is always a tad bit wet. The teepee method is how I have to start all my fires and it works every time even with fresh rained on wood as long as I have something to start the fire with.
It's just flirs blended image mode. It is real thermal just overlaying a normal image. Flir does does it because their low end thermal sensors have worse resolution than a potato. @@peteressert5172
Top down is also the least ignitable if any of your wood is even remotely damp. The cabin and teepee can still function if a peice here or there isn't bone dry. EDIT: wow! Thanks for the likes, folks!
@@saeedhossain6099 yes and no. It actually depends on how the wood ends up breaking into embers (whether it's a loose wood that will break apart easily early on into large pieces, or tight wood that will hold form until the embers are marble sized when it gives). Teepees tend to burn fastest. The top down ones are a close second but as mentioned before if the wood breaks into large chunks early on the embers can actually greatly inhibit airflow. Your "longest burning" fires would likely be "map marker fires" (where you lay the big logs in an * pattern with however many legs and build a smaller fire in the middle) but that requires regularly pushing the big logs into the center as they're consumed. Or what we called tombstone fires - you build a wall of heavy logs / big pieces (this doubles as a wind break), take two more big pieces and lay them perpendicular off the ends, shallow out the dirt a bit, then build a fire at the base of the wall. Done correctly, this fire will last days (depends on size and dryness of logs), provide a windbreak, and the wall of embering wood essentially acts like a radiant space heater.
Friendly reminder to all our campers not to use rocks found near rivers around your fire. There might be water inside of 'em, the fire can boil this water and cause the rock to explode, creating what's essentialy a hand grenade.
@@charlesstidham2788 Is this true for every rock type? I know some rocks shatter when put under stress. I don't know how they react to heat, but I'd be surprised if they broke differently than usual.
Also depends on how much wood you got, what type and how dry it is depending on your current situation. I found the teepee is more easily ignited in an emergency situation or if the wood is not very dry. Then you can rearrange into a better hotter setup
i know that sick is term used for great now! i’m 77!! how come i know and some of you don’t. i love it. we used say “that’s cool, man.” and i still do. but groovy, does not work any more. and, yeah, this info is sick, man. :) 🪵🌷🌱
I was watching this video and then my neighbour came and we watched it together. He said that this video changed his life and touched his heart. I then went and rented a projector in a big field and my entire town watched it and it changed their lives too. We all are so grateful. Thank You for this video....
Such a really good information video. most of us know how to build a fire, but very few of us know how fireworks on a different build. over the years I’ve built many different builds, but until this day, never ever thought it would make a difference of how I built it. love this information fantastic video thank you and well done. 😊👊🔥
Thanks you so so much! You can see the really in depth version here if youd like - some great info!: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
My preferred social fire is the teepee in a cabin in a teepee in a cabin in a teepee in a cabin in a teepee with plenty of branches piled outside the circle. I did that at a geologist retreat, and I friggin loooooove how because I started the fire, everyone assumed I’m the one to tend to the fire. Keeping the light and warmth for everyone was such a good feeling for me, seeing them chatting and laughing, bonding and talking science, and of course I joined because we were all geologists. I was just the fire master as well ☺️ But thanks for this!
Definitely going to try this. I’m usually a teepee guy and then throwing large logs which require monitoring for a long time. I do enjoy watching the fire when all the kids go to bed though. The size of the wood pieces in this vid has me thinking more strategically about what I need to accomplish with the fire and how long I’ll need it for. I’m a snob about mallows and tell the family we have to wait for coals. Goal: get to coal stage faster. Ha ha.
The upside down fire is also best in a wood stove or fireplace as it also burns cleaner and has a more complete combustion resulting in less creosote in your chimney.
At first I wondered why this common sense was being stated…. Then I realized I was just lucky to have had a grandpa who shared so much of his knowledge with me
There is also an improvement to the log cabin style that borrows from rocket stove techniques. If you seal all the gaps except for the outlet and a small slit at ground level using logs, tree bark, or other organic material you can find (it can be damp too) then you can benefit from also causing an airflow that stokes the fire for you. You'll just need to make a starting fire inside the structure to get it going.
I like the reverse fire method but with two large logs on the bottom and tinder between them. It makes lighting easier and allows you to have a very long burning fire. If there is heavy wind you can angle it to shield the tinder or if the wind is light you can angle it to stoke the embers. When the upper layers burn down to coals you have the two large logs to keep pots eleveated or you can move them to expose more coals. Also refeeding the fire is as easy as laying additional layers since the base logs will still be entact.
@@TheBearEssentials You never know when you'll need it. I was 14 when a war suddenly broke out in my country. Prior to that - everyone laughed at my Mom for buying a wood stove. As soon as Serbs cut off electricity to the whole city - those people stopped laughing and started bringing bread to be baked (some would bring a log, some a bit of coal, whatever anyone had. Mom never refused anyone, even without that). Literally whole neighborhood was fed on our stove for 3.5yrs! All the fancy electric shit was useless.. especially after we used up every car battery & generator available. So big thanks @The Bear Essentials. 🤗 Request/suggestion: In Bosnian war, we used to make candles out of regular cooking oil caps...by filling them with little oil & water ... adding a bit of rope or something as a wick. I kinda forgot how exactly that went though, been in USA for 30yrs so I'm now just flipping switches or telling Alexa to turn on the lights. If you know this method, would you please post a guide on it? TYSM in advance!! It's a very tiny candle but can be made quickly and is sufficient in many cases when you need just a bit of light. It provides as much as a tea candle (if that's what those mini ones are called.. usually come in bags of 20 or so).
I was the Boy Scoutmaster of Troop 08 in Sausalito, of Marin County CA. I had that pleasure, and challenge for 12 years as my sons matured from Cub Scouts to wilderness survival skills, as girls became more important than the out of doors, or camp fires, I kept our troop together for another three years past their interest in outdoor adventures, I put together quiet a number of first aid, land navigation, and how to catch, and cook from rabits, to fish. I have never seen, or created a better guide for creating a campfire for filling the need of the moment, If you agree I'd be honored to sketch a reproduction of these three fire lays and the advantages of each. Well done, and thank you!
The best fire is the one you don't have to burn all your wood early. You want to get a good Cole base and set a larger log and cross it on one side the cross can be wetter as it will dry. Brake your smaller stuff as needed keep crossing it and every second one use wetter wood. Lay your wetter stuff around the fire to get a system of drying. Never burn all your good stuff at once.
Great video and very informative! Just a friendly reminder to everyone watching: Please remember to only make campfires in designated fireplaces or areas specifically designed for this purpose. Avoid creating fires in random areas, especially pits, as this is one of the leading causes of accidental fires in the wild. Safety first for ourselves and the environment.
My dad always told me the first way was the only way to start a fire. Once I started lighting fires the reverse way he never started the fire again. Said "You do it better, so do it your way" 🤣
The method I've developed over the years as a scout was to make a hybrid lean-to/cabin fire with a solid 1" thick stick base. I used this method with great success in wetter environments that made starting a fire difficult. The lean-to would use a large log (preferably split) with a bird's nest next to it on top of the wood base. As the fire would first start, it would be easy to slowly add kindling and tinder depending on the spread of the fire. The heat would then be soaked into the log and the embers would rest on the stick" floor. Eventually as the fire grew, it would become more of a cabin as a second log would be placed parrallel to the first and medium sized sticks placed between them depending on needs of the fire and people using it.
Fun lil story! I made the 3rd fire shown in our back yard with my dad one day. He and I are both responsible pyromaniacs. He brought home a couple skids from work, we used 3 for some diy projects, had about 11 left. He told me to stack them, and fill them. We had a really big yard we were fixing up (no grass), no power lines overhead, and a crap ton of dry rotted firewood. 😈 The flames were at least 50ft high. After it was all burnt the flames were hot enough to melt a pop can
Link to a more detailed (saveable) vid if interested. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html DJ's Gear List on Amazon www.amazon.com/shop/thebearessentials
Ah I’ve never heard that before. Thx for sharing! Are you in scouts?? You might like the full vid of this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
Top down only works well if you can get it hot enough to create a pillar of flame. I usually use this when using a incinerator, usually I create a guide path with cardboard/dry leaves.
The spread of the heat just depends on the amount of fire at once. See heat has 3 different ways of propagating: Conduction (via physical objects which is not the case in a fire), Convection (hot air is less dense so heat goes up or towards the direction of wind that moves the hot air around) and radiation (which spreads everywhere from the hot object's surface). Therefore, the only way to make wood spread more towards the sides is to increase the heat or heated surface so the radiation is also increased. EDIT: not to make wood spread, but heat from the fire
I like stoking and tending to a fire so I never do a stacked style fire. Plus those styles need perfectly cut wood, my fires have a longer log put in the middle to burn in half and then I move the 2 separate parts onto the fire to burn. Much less chopping before the fire and gives you something to do while the fire burns.
My favourite is the lean-to-fire, where you put one big log sideways on the ground, place smaller sticks to lean to the side on the big log, and light the fire under those sticks. It's great if you want most of the heat facing a specific direction, like when sleeping in a "laavu".
Sweet, thx Connor, if you liked this and want a more thorough understanding this may help you too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
Can confirm 100%. Reverse fire is also the easiest to build... you don't even have to place anything properly, just toss in several handfuls each of lil twigs, then big twigs, then lil sticks, then big sticks, then lil logs etc. I learned this the hard / interesting way ... very low on rest and energy / blood sugar.
Thanks for the options if I want to be an outdoorsman in the future. If I could, I'd use all three versions for the purposes you described. Once again, thanks!
Tbh we have to make the best of whats to hand.. Meaning weather conditions, wood type.. Any fire is a life saver an any info is great fully taken.. Thank you
First fire building technique is the most energy efficient as the heat from the fire inside isn’t escaping the logs its burning and the heat from the burning logs around it radiates
You’d be surprised actually, check out the full video to see the in depth results, it’s actually the least efficient ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7v4twfXG2uY.html
The last one is how I build my fires, gets a nice bed of embers going in the middle and just falls in on itself, teepee can slip and fall sideways, the cabin stack.. if all sides are not the same size wood one side falls first
@@skinnflint no, I keep building the "log cabin" as it burns and turns into a bed of coals I build another one right on top and the hot coals help it catch faster.
We relied on fire to warm our house in minus korean winters. I was si surprised that the reverse fire worked so well. Didn't have to keep feeding it. This method went against every fire making experience. Try it you will love it.
The teepee works best in inclement weather when you don't want to mess around. The log cabin is great when you have a little more time to spend building your fire. Notice the cabin is built around a teepee. The reverse fire is when you have decent weather and have the time to make a leisurly fire. All 3 are great fires and all will, eventually, make a nice, even, hot fire with great cooking coals. My personal favorite is the pile of tinder and wood with a nice garnish of gasoline! 😊
I stack mine. As long as it has airflow, you're good. Had a fire last night and it barely put off smoke. I used a few fire rope pieces and that was the best way to start it, I used one inch thick well seasoned sticks broken down to 6inches long and they made a perfect coal base.
Thanks so much this was/is really helpful I always knew that there were more ways to build a fire but I kinda was relying on the social fire I really don't know why I never tried doing it in a deferent way soo thx much appreciated
when you said thermal camera i was expecting you to just build a bunch of fires and say whichever one was hotter was the best, and i was thinking "its not just the heat but also the burn time that matters, smh" and then you started considering the direction the heat moves in, sure showed me
