Some consider the self-feeding fire the holy grail of outdoor fires. (Gotta give the "Primitive Technology" guy a shout-out. It was his videos that inspired me do mine similar to his.) In a survival situation, being able to get a full night's sleep while keeping toasty could mean the difference between life and death. In this video, I am making two attempts at this. The first one resulted in a fail and I think it is because the log had a hard time staying lit even though the wood was bone dry. On the second try, however, the firewood advanced a total of two feet on its own! Proof of concept, as far as I'm concerned.
The fire pit itself is also something different. The term "scout" comes from the Tracker School. Legend has it that ancient scouts would use these scout fire pits in order to conceal their fires while on reconnaissance missions. They also tend to be smokeless once the fire is burning hot and it tends to stay that way if you feed it right. The problem here was that it is never spelled out what a scout fire pit is and how it's supposed to work no matter how many classes you take. The only clue Tom Brown gives you is that somehow it's a trench. Most people - including myself - tend to interpret that as scratching up the surface with a stick. Of course, that is never going to work.
I happend upon this design quite by accident. If you take a closer look at pit, it is a lot like a Dakota fire pit except the air-intake channel and the main chamber are one and the same. This is a lot easier to dig, for one. You are also able to burn long sections of wood instead having to cut the wood into smaller pieces, which is actually your best bet if you want to conserve energy. You may also notice from the video that there is a draft going down the wood and into the heart of the fire. This keeps the fire going the wrong way and lighting the entire lot aflame. When I saw the flames moving sideways, the proverbial light bulb went off.
The setup works well and I even tried it with 10-foot-long pieces. However, it is far from fool-proof. When using a bundle of saplings, better make sure that they are seasoned so they burn well, and that they are about the same diameter. A thicker piece will burn slower and may go out altogether stalling the feeding process completely.
Acknowledgement: As I said earlier, I owe a great deal of thanks to Dave the Australian "primitive technology" guy. I also need to mention Tom Brown, Jr., the founder of the Tracker School. I have taken a ton of classes at his school, and none of this would be possible without what I got there. Cavemen and primitive technology people of the world, unite!
7 авг 2024
