Naked and Marooned by Ed Stafford

Author:Ed Stafford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

SHELTER

I’d never had to rely on a fire’s warmth for heat in the night before this project. On expeditions I had always had a hammock and a sleeping bag and in the military it would have been out of the question because a fire was not tactical – the enemy would be able to see you. As a result I was still thinking of the child-like drawings in the Ray Mears book after I’d panicked and read it on the plane on the way over. He had this lovely fire that, on paper, looked as if it would be great at night because it was long and thin and kept the entire length of the body warm. As with so many things on this island, though, if I’d stuck to what I knew from experience I’d have fared a lot better.

Having a fire that is long and thin means that it is inherently alight in a lot of places at once over a long thin surface area. Hence the huge amount of heat. But, as the first two nights had so far proved, that meant that you went through a vast amount of wood because when adding wood you have no option but to lay it lengthwise on top and the whole stick burns at once. This may be appropriate in extreme, cold conditions where there is plenty of wood but my nights were just bloody chilly and my firewood situation was somewhat restricted.

My favourite fire has always been a feeder, or star, fire. It’s predominantly used for cooking, which is why I’d allowed myself to become distracted by Ray’s pretty drawings. Essentially, though, it’s dead simple. As soon as you’ve got an established heart to the fire you add wood like the spokes of a wheel – with only their tips in the burning heart. This means that each piece of wood burns gradually from the end like a cigarette. It means that after a while the fire will slow down and in order to get it burning you only have to slide the spokes inwards a little and you have a roaring fire again. There is often no requirement to add new logs at all. It is far more efficient with wood and burns far less. It is also great for cooking, as it is adjustable: pull the logs out to turn the gas down, push them in to crank it up. At night if you want the fire to die out you can just pull the logs a bit further out; without other logs to hold the heat they will go out. Conversely, if you stoke it up and have enough wood on when you go to bed, it is often the case that in the morning you can just push the charred ends together and gently blow on them and you can get flames again in a matter of seconds without a lighter. In a nutshell, it’s a cracking fire.

So after trialling a method that I didn’t like I reverted to what I knew and trusted.

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