Fire Preparation

Knife skills used to prepare reliable fire materials.

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Shelter Construction
Knife skills used to prepare stakes, poles, and structural components.

Camp Utility Tasks
Knife skills used to create useful camp tools and equipment.

This domain trains the use of knife skills to prepare fire materials under realistic field conditions.

The goal of the scenario is to build a fire. However, this training is not focused on teaching fire starting. Instead, it focuses on using knife techniques to solve the common problems that prevent fires from starting.

In many situations the fire fails not because the ignition method is wrong, but because the available wood has not been prepared correctly.

These scenarios teach how to use knife skills to create the fuel needed for a fire when conditions are not ideal.

The knife skills used in these scenarios come from Layer 2:

• controlled slicing
• feather stick production
• batoning
• practical carving

Each scenario focuses on preparing usable fire materials so that ignition becomes reliable even when natural tinder or dry fuel is limited.

If you need a refresher before running these scenarios, use the videos below.

Fire Building Basics

Feather Stick Technique

Batoning Wood

Read the situation and task, view the refresher videos if needed, then go outside and prepare the required materials using only the tools and conditions listed in the scenario.

Focus on producing the required materials using controlled knife technique.

After completing the preparation, review the Preparation Check to evaluate your work.

Repeat each scenario as many times as needed until you feel comfortable with your competency in this task.

Situation

Rain has recently stopped. Wood on the ground is damp and natural tinder is unreliable.

You must prepare fire materials from available wood.

Starting Conditions

You have:

• one knife
• one ignition source (lighter, matches, or ferro rod)
• access to natural wood in the surrounding area

No prepared tinder, fire starters, or processed materials are used.

Fire Basics

A small fire needs three stages of fuel:

1. ignition material - very fine material that lights easily
2. kindling - small sticks that catch flame quickly
3. fuel wood - larger pieces that keep the fire burning

If ignition material is too coarse or kindling is too large, the fire will fail even if it lights initially.

Task

Using a knife and available wood, prepare the materials needed to start a fire.

Knife Mission

Prepare:

• 3 feather sticks
• 12 kindling sticks ranging from matchstick thickness up to pencil thickness
• 6 finger-sized fuel sticks

Knife Work

1. Locate a piece of wood that is solid and dry inside. Avoid wood that is soft, crumbly, or rotting.
2. Split the wood using batoning to expose the dry interior wood.
3. Use the dry interior wood to produce three feather sticks with thin, continuous curls that remain attached to the stick.
4. Split or slice the wood into small kindling sticks.
5. Prepare larger pieces that will act as the first fuel.

Build

Build a small, staged fire.

Place the feather sticks in the center. These will act as the ignition material and should be the first pieces to catch flame.

Lean the smallest kindling sticks around the feather sticks, leaving small gaps so air can flow through the ignition material.

Add slightly larger sticks outside that layer.

Place finger-sized fuel sticks around the outside.

Preparation Check

Before attempting ignition, confirm the following:

• feather stick curls are thin and continuous
• kindling sizes increase gradually from small to larger
• ignition material allows airflow
• feather sticks were made from dry interior wood

Ignition success depends on additional fire-building skills and is not the primary evaluation for this drill.

Situation

You cannot find dry grass, bark fibers, or other natural tinder.

You must create ignition material entirely from wood.

Starting Conditions

You have:

• one knife
• one ignition source
• access to natural wood

Task

Create ignition material from solid wood using knife work.

Knife Mission

Prepare:

• 3 feather sticks
• a golf-ball sized pile of fine wood shavings
• 10 small kindling sticks

Knife Work

1. Select straight-grained wood.
2. Produce three feather sticks using controlled slicing.
3. Shave additional fine curls into a pile of fine wood shavings.
4. Prepare small kindling sticks.

Build

Place the shaving pile under the feather sticks.

Arrange the kindling sticks loosely around the feather sticks, leaving small spaces between the sticks so air can reach the ignition material.

Preparation Check

Confirm the following:

• feather stick curls are thin and continuous
• the shaving pile contains fine, dry curls
• kindling sticks are small enough to ignite easily
• airflow is not blocked by tightly packed sticks

Situation

Available wood pieces are larger than ideal for starting a fire.

You must convert larger wood into usable fire materials.

Starting Conditions

You have:

• one knife
• one ignition source
• access to natural wood

Task

Process larger wood into staged fire fuel.

Knife Mission

Prepare:

• 3 feather sticks
• 10 small kindling sticks
• 6 medium kindling sticks
• 4 fuel pieces

Knife Work

1. Split the wood using batoning to expose the dry interior wood.
2. Use the split surfaces to produce feather sticks.
3. Slice thin sticks for small kindling.
4. Prepare medium sticks to support fire growth.
5. Set aside thicker pieces to feed the fire once the kindling is burning.

Preparation Check

Confirm the following:

• wood has been split to expose dry interior surfaces
• kindling sizes increase gradually
• enough small fuel exists to support early fire growth

Situation

The ground is wet and may absorb heat from ignition materials.

You must prepare a small, elevated fire base.

Starting Conditions

You have:

• one knife
• one ignition source
• access to natural wood

Knife Mission

Prepare:

• 4 short support sticks
• ignition material
• kindling sticks

Knife Work

1. Cut small sticks to create a base.
2. Prepare feather sticks or shavings for ignition material.
3. Prepare kindling sticks.

Build

Lay the support sticks side by side to create a small platform that keeps the ignition material off the wet ground.

Place ignition material on top of the platform.

Arrange kindling above the ignition material.

Preparation Check

Confirm the following:

• ignition material is elevated off the ground
• airflow can reach the ignition bundle
• kindling is positioned to catch the first flame

Once you are comfortable preparing fire materials under these conditions, move on to Shelter Construction, where knife skills are used to prepare structural components for shelter building.